Comments Off on Advocacy Focus Retains Mind Gold Award for Workplace Wellbeing in 2021/22
Advocacy Focus is proud to once again be recognised by Mind in their annual Workplace Wellbeing Index, ranking second place overall for our wellbeing initiatives out of 114 organisations.
The Workplace Wellbeing Index is a benchmark of best policy and practice for supporting mental health at work. As part of the index our staff completed Mind’s anonymous wellbeing survey to assess our culture, initiatives, and overall attitude to mental health, plus how we’re responding to the COVID19 pandemic.
Justine Hodgkinson, CEO, says:
“It’s been a tough year for our team, having to completely change the way they work, not being able to physically be there for the people they support, having to learn new technologies and juggle home, family and work life, so it was vital that we had robust support procedures in place.
“We are delighted to see that our team are happy with our approach and are confident in our ability to support them. When our team feels supported, they are in a much better position to support the people in our communities. We are extremely pleased to be recognised by Mind and to come second overall out of 114 organisations is a real testament to the work we have put in behind the scenes.
“But our work is never done. Now, as we face the easing of restrictions, resume face to face meetings and bring people back to the office, we know we’re going to have to ensure we tailor these policies and procedures for a new working world.
Over the next 12 months we want to give other workplaces across the North West the opportunity to achieve gold standard, workplace wellbeing. Which is where our mental health training comes in and how this will give every organisation that works with us, the opportunity to support their team to turn up to work as the best versions of themselves.
“I am so proud to be in a workplace that challenges mental health stigma and work alongside a team that feel comfortable and confident to normalise the conversation about mental health. Over the next 12 months we want to give other workplaces across the North West the opportunity to achieve gold standard, workplace wellbeing. Which is where our mental health training comes in and how this will give every organisation that works with us, the opportunity to support their team to turn up to work as the best versions of themselves.”
To find out more about the Mind Wellbeing Index, click here.
To view Advocacy Focus workplace mental health training courses, click here.
Comments Off on Awards Season Kicks off with a Bang for Advocacy Focus
It’s been a challenging year for many charities and we know first-hand just how many of us have had to adapt quickly to support more people than ever during constantly changing restrictions and guidelines.
Many in our sector have done an amazing job, quickly adapting processes, procedures and embracing technology, whilst absorbing large operating costs, to continue to support those who need us. Embracing new technology to ensure that our team were agile and responsive, and out in the communities that needed us the most.
That’s why this year’s awards season is going to be extremely tough; with many charities and businesses alike deserving to be recognised for the way they have faced and handled the pandemic.
We are so proud to be one of those charities.
We have been shortlisted for three awards at this year’s Hyndburn Business Awards and one award at this year’s BIBAs.
Our CEO, Justine Hodgkinson, says: “The awards season is always so impressive, with many amazing businesses and charities from our area; we absolutely love seeing all the success stories in Lancashire and Hyndburn.
“After the last year, more stories begin to emerge about all those amazing businesses and charities who have weathered a difficult 12 months and who deserve to be recognised. We are extremely proud of our team for the way they have faced this pandemic and continued to support those who needed us, and they too deserve to be up there.”
We are shortlisted for Large Business of the Year, the Non-Profit Award and the Workplace Development Award at this year’s Hyndburn Business Awards and the Community Business of the Year at this year’s BIBAs.
We have made many changes in our charity over the last 12 months, including launching new projects in response to the pandemic, supporting people with and via technology, working with professionals to ensure wrap-around support and looking after the mental health and wellbeing of our own team whilst they adapt to working more flexibly.
Justine finishes: “We are excited to be able to celebrate with everyone face to face and network with all these amazing professionals in one room once again. We wish all those shortlisted good luck for the awards and all the best for the year ahead.”
The Hyndburn Business Awards celebrates the achievements, quality and diversity of local businesses and people in Hyndburn.
The BIBAs are Lancashire’s longest running business awards programme and run by the North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce. The awards celebrate businesses and entrepreneurs across the county.
It’s Volunteers Week and to showcase some of the amazing work our volunteers do, we’d like to share Ben’s story.
Ben* was 10 years old when he met our volunteer. He lived in foster care with his female foster carer and her mother. Ben’s social worker made a referral into our Independent Visitor service, as Ben wished to have a male influence in his life. Ben has been diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD.
What is an Independent Visitor (IV)?
An Independent Visitor is a volunteer who befriends a young person in care. It is an increasingly vital and valuable role that can make a positive difference to a child’s life.
What our IV did
Our IV introduced Ben to the local stables for horse riding where he would go two times per week. They also encouraged him to join the Air Cadets, and a youth club. The IV initially took him out twice a month, increasing to three times a month shortly after. Since the pandemic, Ben has continued to move between children’s homes and foster carers, his only constant has been our IV. Over the years they have played football, swimming and occasionally diving; watching ice hockey; cinema; clothes shopping; playing badminton and much more.
Volunteer Feedback
Our volunteer said:
“During the initial contacts, Ben found it hard to trust me and lacked confidence in trying new activities. However, he did gain more confidence, for example, by attending a diving session where he eventually showed no fears in jumping from the 10 metre board. He also learned to trust that I wasn’t reporting back to people all the things he was saying or doing whilst out on visits. Over 4 years we have developed a close relationship. To the extent that with all the changes of placement and phone numbers over the past 18 months, Ben always answers my texts and/or phone calls. Whilst we haven’t been able to see each other very often and certainly haven’t been able to do activities [because of the pandemic] nevertheless we have retained a good relationship and retain trust and respect.”
Comments Off on How to bring nature indoors when you can’t get outside
We don’t think we’ve ever paid more attention to the weather than we have in the last year – with restrictions on indoor activity in place, many of us have been forced to rekindle our relationships with the great outdoors.
Being outside in nature can help to reduce stress, fear and anger and can even physically reduce blood pressure, heart rate and muscle tension. Nature is also the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week.
But what happens when you can’t get outside? We know that not everyone has access to green space and not everyone is able to physically go outside and enjoy nature. Some of us have limited access or need extra support to go outdoors, for example, if you live in a care home or if you are in hospital.
So we want to bring nature to you, and here’s 10 ways we can do it.
1. Indoor Plants
If you are able to buy or grow plants in your indoor space we highly recommend it – and there really is no limit to how many plants you get! Benefits of plants include improving mood, concentration and compassion. Not to mention that houseplants release oxygen through the day and will help improve the air quality in your home. This in turn helps to improve your immune system and of course, your mental health. You can even download apps to your phone to help keep your plants alive, such as Waterbot. Read about the best 25 indoor plants here and if you have pets, make sure that any plants you buy are of the non-toxic variety to keep them safe.
2. Ask Alexa
Research has found that spending 60 seconds listening to outdoor sounds can help us to reach a higher state of relaxation. Did you know that you can Ask Alexa to play some soothing outdoor sounds such as rain, waves, thunderstorms and more? Simply ask Alexa to ‘open nature sounds,’ and she will ask you what you want to hear.
3. Watch nature documentaries
We know that this one is obvious – but this is one of our favourites, watching nature documentaries can transport us to almost anywhere in the world alongside animals and wildlife we would never be able experience up close. Just watching how nature thrives and acts when uninfluenced can help to improve our mood and deliver some much needed cuteness. Head to the ‘Nature and Ecology Documentaries’ section on Netflix and you won’t be disappointed.
4. Start an indoor herb garden
Herbs are easy to grow and don’t require much work, all they do require is direct light, so they grow easily when placed in windows around the house. Head over to Amazon and you will find lots of indoor herb kits, including this Herb-a-Licious Grow Kit that is also 100% recyclable. And if you’re buying on Amazon – don’t forget to add us as your Amazon Smile charity!
5. Decorate with images of nature
Studies show that just looking at nature can improve brain function and positive thinking. In fact, some scientists also say that just looking at the colour green instantly soothes us. Download free nature photos from places like Unsplash and Pixabay and decorate your living space until your heart’s content.
6. Guided meditation
We couldn’t create this list without mentioning the power of visualisation. Our imaginations are extremely powerful and under the right circumstances we can simply close our eyes and transport ourselves to anywhere in the world. Use a nature guided meditation to help you relax and focus. If you have the Headspace app, you’ll already find lots of nature based meditations on there, or simply have a Google to see what’s out there. Or if you fancy something more visual, check out Mindful Escapes on BBC iPlayer.
7. Get yourself a SAD lamp
The light produced from a SAD lamp simulates outdoor light and can encourage your brain to produce melatonin and serotonin (the hormones that make you sleepy and happy). Research shows that SAD lamps can be used to treat insomnia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dementia. Light therapy usually works best in the morning, but be sure to speak to your doctor if your eyes or skin are sensitive to light.
8. Let the fresh air in!
We know this is another obvious one but how many of us routinely open our windows? The great British weather sometimes – or should we say, most of the time – stops us from doing so. But we would always recommend opening windows when you can and airing out your living space and breathing in the fresh air each morning. Opening two windows on opposite sides of the room (if you can) can also create a cross wind, letting the bad air our and the good air in.
9. Wildlife Webcams
Fancy watching some cute animals live? Of course you do! As a result of the pandemic many zoos and wildlife centres have been live streaming their animals and wildlife activity, the London Zoo even launched their own Virtual Zoo. But don’t stop there, there are wildlife cameras set up in numerous countries around the world; you can even watch polar bears in Alaska. Check out this article to find the best wildlife cams in the UK.
10. Breathe in the smells of nature
Use an essential oil diffuser to fill your home with the scents of the outdoors. You can pick them up on Amazon from £15. Essential oils have many other benefits other than just making your room smell nice, depending on the oil you use they can help to reduce stress and anxiety and improve your immune system. There are so many oils to choose from including lavender, lemongrass and eucalyptus.
Comments Off on Advocacy Focus’s Roadmap out of lockdown
Following the recent publication of the Government’s “roadmap out of lockdown”, the way we are delivering our services will be changing.
All during the lockdowns we have continued to carry out face to face visits with the people we support in essential circumstances, in line with government guidance. We now plan to complete all our visits face-to-face visit wherever it is safe and appropriate to do so .
We recognise that this approach may not suit everyone, and you may prefer to continue receiving support from an advocate remotely, to keep yourself and others safe. We will therefore continue to offer virtual appointments for those that would prefer them.
The health and wellbeing of the people we support, and our team, remain our top priority and we are committed to slowing the rate of transmission of COVID-19.
Please do not be alarmed if our team are wearing face masks, or other protective equipment. Our advocates will also be adhering to the 2-metre social distancing rule for your safety and their own.
The past 14 months have been challenging for us all, but we are hopeful for a brighter future. If you need any information, advice or support in relation to your advocacy needs or health and wellbeing please visit fill in the contact form or call us us on 0300 3230965
If you’re struggling with your mental health, please don’t suffer alone. There is someone out there who will listen, if you’d rather talk to someone who doesn’t know you, visit https://hubofhope.co.uk/ type in your postcode and find help near you. You can also download the Hub of Hope app to access support.
Last week saw the launch of the #ThereIsAlwaysHope campaign. A partnership between our Patron Jake Mills, from Chasing The Stigma, in partnership with Network Rail
The campaign aims to humanise and normalise mental health, remove stigma attached to mental ill health and signpost people to help before they reach crisis point. The ‘Hub of Hope’ is a free mental health app which lists the most relevant and readily available support near you, when you need it. The app is available for Apple and Android devices.
Comments Off on Advocacy Focus sign the Armed Forces Covenant
We are delighted to demonstrate our support for the Armed Forces Community by signing the Armed Forces Covenant. Here at Advocacy Focus we currently employ 3 Armed Forces Veterans, including our CEO Justine Hodgkinson.
Comments Off on Your Time Is Now – by Justine Hodgkinson
Today is International Women’s Day (IWD) and it looks – and feels – very different to last year when I was stood in front of a room full of amazing women, talking about legacy and what we leave behind as leaders, and as human beings. I am booked to attend a United Nations online event to celebrate IWD this year, but as good as I am sure it will be, it just won’t be the same as sitting in a room full of women, enjoying good food, good company and capitalising on great partnership opportunities. Because when women work together, amazing things happen. Sure we spend time talking about our children, pets, and the daily challenges we face as working mums, or carers to dependent relatives, but once that is done, we get down to business and make things happen.
I’ll be honest, I used to baulk a little at the thought of all women networking. Being a feminist I simply want what all people want, equality, so all women networks felt slightly uncomfortable at first. However, my mind was soon changed when I joined a Unique Ladies group for the first time and met so many amazing colleagues and embarked on so many fantastic opportunities. Maybe it’s because we do share a little more, we do open up about the trials and tribulations of home schooling during a pandemic, or the anxieties some of us may personally face or are witnessing within our teams – emotional intelligence front and centre in many of the conversations taking place. Real solutions to many of the challenges we all face over a brew and a virtual catch up.
So I began to reflect on this of late as we approached this important date in the calendar. I thought about the many people I have met, shared my life with and worked with over the last several decades. Interestingly, each time I think about this, great women come to mind. From my art teacher at school who said to me “you can’t really do art Justine, but my goodness you are a trier’, to the supervisor who firmly put a peer in his place by saying “don’t take Justine’s kindness as a form of weakness”, to my boss and friend Rosemary Clarke who said “family first Justine, always”, despite her absolute driven focus and passion to put books into the hands of families. My mum of course, who to this day is the voice in my head telling me “there is nothing you can’t do if you put your mind to it”. All great women, building each other up, paving the way and cheering each other on from the side-lines.
As a leader of an organisation whose workforce is primarily female, I am humbled everyday in how the team have “turned up” week after week during the pandemic. Women who have had to learn how to work from their living rooms or bedroom. Women who have had to supervise and motivate children to do their lessons and navigate online learning. Women who have lost precious family members or friends, attended their funerals, and returned to work and their role as keyworkers. Women I am proud and honoured to work alongside.
So whilst I sit and reflect on what it means to be a leader on IWD, it means remembering those that walked the path before me. The women I looked up to, learned from, admired, and loved. Of which there were, and are, too many to mention. I grew up in a very different world to the one now. I was told not to whistle, because little girls don’t do that. I was told to be more ladylike and to wear dresses instead of jeans. I was told I was a chatterbox and wouldn’t amount to much of anything by more than one person! Well just for the record, I do whistle (usually to round my dogs up), I wear jeans more than dresses to this day, and I am a Chief Executive of an amazing charity that is doing great things in the health and social care sector. And I got there with the support, guidance, and love of many great women – and possibly by being a bit of a trier!
Happy International Women’s Day 2021, to women and girls everywhere. Rise up and be the leaders you were born to be. Your time is now.
Many of us know a thing or two about loss. As humans, if we are lucky, our relationship with death and loss often begins through the process of dispatching funfair goldfish or the family pet. A key lesson in life, is often one that shows us, that at some point, we all die. A ‘teachable moment’ as we grow from children to adults. The burying of a beloved cat or dog in our back garden etched into our memories as our first experience of loss. As we get older, those pets morph into grandparents, neighbours or friends and families gather to mourn, reminisce, and celebrate the life of the person that has died. Some people knowing exactly the right thing to say, and others crossing the road to avoid an awkward conversation. Death and loss are not an easy subject for many.
Fast forward to 2020 and a global pandemic. The rule book goes out of the window and communities across the globe suffer mass losses. But it’s not just about the loss of a loved one anymore. It’s far more complex than that. Since March, we have in one way or another, been in lockdown or under the government’s tier system. Lives have changed beyond recognition for so many of us, some for the better, some for much, much worse. The traditional workplace has gone for so many people, instead we now have many teams, working from home. People were placed on furlough, a word many of us hadn’t even heard before, and never returned to work. Redundancies and the trimming of organisations and office space was happening all around us. Relationships made or broken due to the enforced way of living; friendships ended due to divided opinions on the pandemic. Funerals and weddings of our most loved people were limited in number.
So we are not just grieving our dead and all those lives that have been taken directly or indirectly by the pandemic. We are grieving so much more. Our way of life, a job that we may have held since school, the fact that we cannot look into the eyes of those we hold most dear without a respectable social distance. Missing people that live outside of our tiers and relying on memories of time spent together in the past. Many of us grieving for loved ones locked away in care homes. Attending virtual funerals of close friends due to travel and attendance restrictions. Wedding plans postponed. Our Facebook memories reminding us of what our lives looked like before a virus shut us down. Lives paused, 2020 cancelled.
So once the dust settles and we move from lockdown into tiers again this week, we must acknowledge that we are grieving as a community. For the people we have lost and for other losses we have faced over the last 9 months. It is the only way to heal. There is hope on the horizon in the form of vaccines and a promise that life will begin to look like it once was, by Easter next year. Which is all good news and can give us hope. But for those that have lost people, pets, relationships, businesses, their mental health, let’s allow them to grieve and tell them how sorry we are for their loss, whatever their loss may be. We may have to wrap our arms around our communities in a virtual sense for now, but it is the only way to come through this collectively. Personally I take some solace from a personal favourite of mine, Winnie the Pooh. “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
This week is National Grief Awareness Week. A week where The Good Grief Trust bring all UK bereavement services, support organisations and helplines together to talk about and normalise grief. Early signposting and support for the bereaved and those working with them. A week where people are given the tools to help rebuild their lives. They are asking people to share their story to help others and to remind us that being socially distant doesn’t stop us from sharing our grief.
At Advocacy Focus we have remained open during the pandemic and continue to take referrals from people, or can signpost them on to the services they need at this current time. We have also developed a ‘Grief’ toolkit as part of our ‘Healthy Self’ series, which you can download here: https://www.advocacyfocus.org.uk/healthyself
Comments Off on Demonstrating our support for Dementia Awareness Week 14-20th May
Dementia is set to be the 21st century’s biggest killer. But awareness and understanding remains low and many families are facing it alone.
To play our part the awareness week, we thought we would share how we help people living with dementia through our highly skilled advocacy service.
At Advocacy Focus, we have a vast experience of helping to give support and understanding and practical support to those living with dementia, and their families. We have 12 trained dementia friends and are in the process of training up a further 6 team members.
How Advocacy helped Mr Shaw from Lancashire
Our Independent Advocate Becci Jackson recently acted as a Paid Relevant Persons Representative (RPR) for an individual who was living in a care home with no friends or family.
Unfortunately, the individual was unhappy with being in the care home and would often pack his belongings and sit by the front door for long periods.
Becci visited the client every month and, as a result of working with the client over a period of time and building up a relationship, it was discovered that the client was not happy in the care home due to not being able to go out, and there being a lot of noise coming from the resident in the room next to him, meaning he could not sleep.
Taking the time to listen to the concerns of the individual meant that we could then help to address the specific concerns.
As is our duty as the person’s representative, we take our role very seriously and we worked closely with the care home staff and the person’s Legal Power of Attorney and as a result, he has been able to visit shops in the local area, garden centres, go for walks along the lake and go to the pub.
We also raised his concerns around the noise at night to staff in the care home and he was offered an alternative room in a quieter area of the home which he accepted.
Our client is now very happy in the care home, is able to maintain access to the local community, and feels his new room is “top notch”. This is just one example of how we can help people, even those living with dementia to have a better quality of life and achieve the things that matter to them.
To find out about how Advocacy can help you or someone you know, phone 0300 323 0965 or email admin@advocacyfocus.org.uk
