Julie Visits Support Services in Dorset

Chief Executive, Julie Layton really enjoys getting a chance to meet staff and customers when she can. Last Friday she visited our support services in Dorset and tells us a bit about it.

"I had the pleasure of visiting our services in Dorset where I met Amanda Longhurst and other members of the staff team at the office. I then went to Fairways Court, where I spent some time with Natasha, who manages the service. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Fairways Court, and met four customers, Eric, Gillian, Richard and Natalie. Gillian talked to me about the massive difference it has made to her life to have a good support team that she can get on with and trust to help her with personal care. Her confidence has increased significantly since moving to Fairways Court and she described some of the things that she is now able to do by herself, as well as the big improvement in her living conditions.

I then had the pleasure of meeting Richard and Natalie, a lovely couple, who are dealing with their own personal challenges. Richard suffers from epilepsy and the use of assistive technology at the service has meant that Richard is able to spend time on his own, without the need to always have staff members with him. Richard’s partner, Natalie, has a learning disability and talked to me about how scary it is for her when Richard has a seizure. The staff team have worked closely with Natalie to help her to cope with Richard’s seizures and to teach her techniques to stay calm. Both Richard and Natalie were really pleased with the service they received from the Advance support team.

It was also great to meet the staff team in Dorset, some longstanding members of staff and others that are new to Advance. I was bowled over by the commitment, passion and enthusiasm that I witnessed. I could clearly see our PRIDE values were embedded in the team, with existing staff working in partnership with new staff, providing training, coaching and support – all of which leads to a fantastic level of customer service. I met a number of customers from other services during the afternoon and everybody that I spoke to had nothing but praise for the support staff.

Chris Pascoe and Amanda Longhurst have worked closely with the Business Development Team to build a positive relationship with Commissioners in Dorset and have been able to secure contracts to deliver new, innovative services. Fairways Court is a relatively new service and is soon to be followed by Woodlark House, a service for younger people with learning disabilities and complex needs. I very much look forward to visiting that service at some point in the future.

Thank you and well done to all the team in Dorset – I am truly proud of the services we are providing."