Month: December 2025

It started with one question and a room full of honest answers.

Last Friday, the team meeting at Oak Cottage unfolded a little differently. Amid the hum of a busy children’s home and the soft glow of Christmas decorations, the team paused. Chairs were pulled closer in a circle, voices softened, and I asked one simple question: What is one thing you are grateful for this year?

Oak Cottage, a crucial part of Progress Children’s Services, is a place defined by pace and responsibility. Reflection is rarely built into the rhythm of the day. Yet, as each person spoke, it became clear that gratitude had been quietly accumulating all year, waiting for space to be heard.

For some, gratitude began with a decision to start again. One team member, only a few weeks into the role, spoke about leaving a previous job and stepping into Oak Cottage. “Leaving my old job and starting here was positive for me,” they said. “Everybody’s been really friendly. People explain things. You don’t feel left on your own.” It was a small sentence, but it carried the relief of being welcomed into a team that takes time to include.

Others reflected on return rather than arrival. After months away due to illness, one colleague described coming back to work and finding comfort in familiarity. Despite changes and developments, the heart of the home remained steady. “I came back to the same friendly team,” they said. “You could see how things had grown, how people were still pushing forward.”

Several reflections wove together personal milestones and collective strength. One colleague spoke proudly about buying their own house this year, a goal made possible through stability and perseverance. But the pride quickly widened beyond the individual. “This year feels different,” they added. “People have bonded more. There’s more love, more helping each other. Even team meetings feel calmer.”

Professional growth featured heavily. Becoming a key worker was described as a moment of trust as much as responsibility. “It’s a lot of responsibility,” one staff member said, “but it makes me really happy to be trusted. It gives the job more meaning.” Others spoke about watching young people grow in confidence, discovering their quirks, and finding joy in moments that might look ordinary from the outside but mean everything to the child experiencing them.

Longer-serving staff offered perspective shaped by years in the sector. One colleague, with over a decade at Progress, reflected on what keeps them there. “I enjoy working with children,” they said. “Seeing their faces smile. Knowing you’ve made them feel safe or comfortable. Every day is different. You try things, you learn what works. That’s what keeps me here.”

There was honesty too. One team member spoke openly about a turbulent period that almost led them away from the home. They did leave briefly, trying work elsewhere, but soon realised what they missed. “It was lovely, but boring,” they admitted. “I kept talking about Oak Cottage. I realised this is where I wanted to be.” Returning brought clarity, not just about the work, but about where they felt most themselves.

Family, health and wellbeing quietly threaded through many voices. One colleague spoke about their child recovering from illness and the gratitude that brought. Another reflected on learning to rest, to step back from working constantly. “I’m not working 24/7 anymore,” they said. “I have rest days. I do things outside work now, and it makes me calmer when I come in.” Gratitude, here, was about balance and being supported to sustain care, not just deliver it.

As the reflections drew on, a wider sense of pride emerged. The team acknowledged a significant milestone: six months without any recommendations following regulatory visits. It was not framed as a tick-box success, but as proof of stability, teamwork and consistency built over time.

The meeting closed with leadership reflections that gently tied everything together. Megan, the team leader, spoke about a year that challenged her both inside and outside of work. Becoming a team leader was a milestone, but what mattered more was staying resilient, present and positive through difficulty. It had not been an easy year, she said, but she was proud of her journey and proud to still be standing with her team. “I’m still here, and I’m still going,” she said, a line that resonated across the room.

Beth, the manager, reflected on the strength of the team itself. She spoke proudly about rebuilding stability, welcoming colleagues back, and creating a home that felt settled for both staff and children. The six months without recommendations stood out as a moment of collective achievement, but her focus remained firmly on the future. Her hope was for continuity, smooth transitions for the young people, and a team that continues to thrive together.

As the reflection session of the meeting ended, there were jokes; they also posed for a group photo by the Christmas tree. But something lingered.

What emerged from that hour was not a list of successes, but a shared understanding of why Oak Cottage matters. It is a place where people arrive uncertain and find confidence, where disagreements happen but are followed by coming back together, and where care is given freely, often instinctively, because it feels like the right thing to do.

As one team member put it simply, “This isn’t just work. It’s like home.”

Christmas at Spring Meadow is about the limitless possibilities.

Christmas at Spring Meadow is still taking shape. It lives, for now, in conversations, careful planning, and the first decorations placed with intention. On the day the service officially opened its doors for visitors, I interviewed the team leaders Chloe, Caitlin, and Mary, alongside Dawn, Deputy Manager, and Amanda, Registered Manager. It became clear that the Christmas festive season has become a way of explaining not just how the service will celebrate, but how it hopes to care.

From the outset, the very obvious difference is space. Speaking about what sets Spring Meadow apart, Chloe, Team Leader, returns to this repeatedly. “The very obvious one is the space,” she says. “It’s nice to have more space for everybody to break out, staff to break out, young people, everyone’s got space.”

That physical openness, Caitlin, also a Team Leader, explains, changes what is possible day to day. “We’ve got a bigger space… more capacity for young people, and more facilities to support young adults with different disabilities and needs.”

At their current service, Christmas required caution. Chloe describes how celebration has had to fit around practical constraints. “We do decorate. We do have a tree,” she says, “but we’re quite limited in terms of where we can put it, so that it can stay in one place and stay in one piece.”

Spring Meadow changes that entirely. “Here, you could do the front garden, the back garden,” Chloe adds. “There’s so much more space to decorate and make it more festive.”

Looking ahead, Caitlin talks about how the team imagines future Christmases once the service is fully up and running. “When we spoke about what we’re going to do next year,” she says, “it’s decorating the whole service, the bedrooms, outside, even doing our own little Grotto… making it more of an experience for the young people, not just having decorations.”

For Mary, Team Leader, the new environment also creates opportunities to bring people together. “We’ve talked about doing events and having other services come to us,” she explains. “We have the space to do that now, like Christmas parties.”

At a leadership level, the focus is firmly on involvement rather than display. Amanda, Registered Manager, emphasises that Christmas should be something young people actively shape. “They’ll be more involved because of the space,” she says. “There’ll be something for everybody, not just a Christmas tree.”

That participation links closely to independence and wellbeing. Gardening becomes a recurring theme, even in festive reflections. Chloe describes plans for the outdoor space in detail. “The young people can grow their own fruit and veg, plant them, watch them grow, bring them in, cut them,” she explains. “They can see that process of healthy eating.”

Dawn, Deputy Manager, builds on this, linking everyday skills to longer-term outcomes. “Being able to grow your own vegetables, your own fruit, then come and cook it yourselves,” she says, “it’s all about promoting their wellbeing and independence.”

Christmas at Spring Meadow is also imagined as inclusive and culturally responsive. Amanda speaks about moving beyond a single-festival mindset. “We’re going to be devising a celebration calendar,” she explains. “Celebrating different festivals, doing food, decorations, whatever else we need to do to help them feel at ease and help them feel at home.”

She also highlights the importance of working closely with families. “Somebody from a different background can show how they celebrate,” Amanda says. “And if young people are non-verbal, we can get that information from families and bring those celebrations into the home as well.”

There is an emotional undertone to how Christmas is discussed, shaped by a long wait for the building to be ready. Both managers describe the atmosphere of Spring Meadow in warm, almost seasonal language. Dawn notes, “It feels very homely; it has that sense of family.” Amanda adds, “It’s holistic, it’s tranquil, it’s calming, it’s beautiful.”

When asked to sum up the service in a single word, Amanda, Registered Manager, says “magical,” before adding that it is ultimately about “making a difference.”

Dawn, Deputy Manager, follows with a line that captures the spirit of the season perfectly: “I would say it’s Christmas.”

For a team that has grown together within Progress, this moment matters. The reflections of Chloe, Caitlin, and Mary on a year of transitions sit alongside leadership’s vision for what comes next.

There is realism, too. Dawn acknowledges the scale of change ahead. “It will be overwhelming at first for the staff,” she says. “But once we put that at ease, I think they’ll blossom.”

Christmas at Spring Meadow is still unfolding. But through the voices of its team leaders, deputy manager and registered manager, it already feels like something more than a season — a statement of what this new home is meant to be.