Category: Progress

As part of the #CelebratingSocialCare initiative launched by Skills for Care, the Deputy Manager of Oak Cottage wanted to share his appreciation for his team –

At Progress we provide care and support to a large variety of needs; Oak Cottage is our specialist service that is a home to children with severe and complex disabilities. The home requires the staff within to be highly vigilant and respond promptly to challenges that arise from the complexities of the children’s health needs.

‘’Shifts are never the same, the carers looking after children can have challenges thrown their way within the glimpse of an eye. Recently our night staff team were faced with an emergency, regarding a child with epilepsy.

This child is fairly new to our home; despite this, all staff knew what to do, how to support her to be comfortable and relaxed given her situation and contacted the emergency services.

The carers within the home at the time were our night team, this meant that it was a very different type of emergency, given that night-time staffing levels differ to the day; Emergencies really do require people to come together to ensure the best outcome.

I can’t fault the team as, all the decisions made that night, right down to who would accompany the child to hospital overnight, to who was taking over the care in the hospital in the morning, were all correct and considered. All decisions made allowed the other children within the home to not be impacted, and thus, not feel the anxiety that situations like this can cause.

Our young person suffered multiple on-going cluster seizures for quite an extended time and thanks to cool, calm, and practical heads this young person was not only able to get the help she needed, but all the other children in the home were considered and thus, able to not worry about the situation.

Really proud of the team for pulling together and getting things completely spot on.’’

On behalf of Progress, we would also like to thank the amazing night team at Oak Cottage that evening, your quick but calm reactions to an emergency situation are what keep our young people safe and at ease during times that can be quite scary. You are a value to the Progress family.

#ThankYouTeamOak #CelebratingSocialCare #MadeProgressProud

Jude, one of our Stourbridge House residents, has revealed he feels “like a new man’ following his leg amputation.

Jude was born with Cerebral Palsy – and after a series of leg procedures that began in early childhood – Jude developed complex regional pain syndrome, which caused his leg to become stuck for the next three years – folded upwards at the knee towards his chest.

His case was described as one of the most severe doctors had ever seen, and unfortunately, the position of his leg left him unable to enjoy family car rides and trips with friends and even prevented him from wearing the clothes he wanted to.

After struggling for many years with excruciating pain from the awkward position of his leg, he decided to have his right leg amputated at the knee.

Having made the agonising decision to amputate his leg, Jude has revealed that he feels “like a new man” and is looking forward to a positive future.

Jude became a resident of ours in September and, thanks to the staff’s support, has since come on leaps and bounds and has regained his independence.

Jude says:

“I moved to Stourbridge House in September 2022 after a long stint in hospital – after spending a year indoors moving into my own flat has given me the level of independence I need. I’ve been able to interact with family and friends again, which I had missed for so long.

Prior to my arrival, staff came to visit me in hospital so I could get to know the people I was working with, I feel this helped – I was nervous about transitioning to Stourbridge, however, I settled in nicely thanks to all the staff.

Might I also add, I convincingly beat Kim at table tennis whilst at the hospital – Kim says I can’t leave until she has beaten me!

 Additionally, with the support of staff, I have worked on accessing the community, work, and my hobbies independently; this was something that I had struggled to do before.

Due to the position of my leg at the time, I had always struggled to wear, what I call, stylish jeans, I was determined to find a way, Sarah supported me as we went to Blooms in Wolverhampton where their tailors added discreet velcro to my clothing which allowed me to wear my ripped jeans again!

I arranged with staff to go to Edinburgh Scotland – this was my first overnight trip in over three years, where I went to a sportsman’s dinner with Mash – I couldn’t resist getting an interview with former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, it felt amazing to be back doing my journalism again.

 The staff at Progress have been really supportive and willing to help in achieving my goals, they have made me feel comfortable whilst in their company and always listen to my football rambles! They also have good taste in music too!

I feel my time here has allowed me to rediscover doing what I love and I’ve had a great start to adulthood.”

We are really proud of Jude and how his positive outlook and commitment to his recovery have enabled him to achieve more independence and start fulfilling his dreams.

As the festive period grew closer, we explored new ways to help those in need and ensure that as many people as possible get the magical Christmas they deserve.

Over the past month, our team has been bringing non-perishable food items such as soup, cereal, and crisps for us to donate to the local food bank.

At the weekend, we delivered all the food donations to a food bank run by the charity Every Family Counts. The scheme is based at Low Hill Nursery School and aims to provide food for families in need at the school and around the Wolverhampton area.

The food bank is open every Wednesday and Thursday at Low Hill Nursery School, Low Hill.

How you can get involved

The scheme is always looking for additional donations to help provide nutritionally balanced meals to children and their families. If you would like to donate or find out more about the scheme, please click here.

This year, our head office staff decided to support Derek’s Tree Charity instead of doing Secret Santa. 

Derek’s Tree is a long-running charity in Burton which brings joy to thousands of youngsters every year. 

Derek Liddle, now aged 82, launched the scheme from his Branston living room back in 1995 and has since won the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award for his efforts.

The scheme was set up to ensure disadvantaged children in the local area receive a gift at Christmas just as much as everybody else. 

At the weekend, we delivered the presents to the very busy folk at Derek’s Tree on their last weekend of trying to make sure there was a present for every child on the list. 

Volunteers will deliver the presents to children in the area during the run-up to Christmas day. 

We’re pleased to support such a meaningful charity and are delighted to help disadvantaged children benefit from a bit of extra Christmas cheer this year.

If you’d like to read more about Derek’s Tree, or find out how you can get involved, head to their Facebook Page here.

We are thrilled to announce that we have been shortlisted as finalists for this year’s LaingBuisson Awards in the ‘Children’s Services’ category.

Now in their 17th year, the national LaingBuisson Awards recognises and rewards providers’ invaluable contribution to the care sector.

The Children’s Services category celebrates service providers who have made an outstanding contribution to children’s fostering, residential, and school services.

In addition to recognising businesses that set new standards of excellence within their industries, the awards raise vital funds for Young Minds – a charity fighting for children and young people’s mental health.

The awards are judged independently and will be presented at a high-profile Ceremony and Dinner, which will take place on Thursday 17th November 2022, at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London.

We want to take this opportunity to thank our staff for their continued hard work and commitment to our young people.

We wish everyone the best of luck!

Thirty kind-hearted volunteers joined forces to complete a DIY SOS project at one of our homes recently, which supports children with very complex needs.

Loss adjusters from the leading insurer Aviva, swapped their day jobs for paint brushes, trowels and shovels as they pitched in to help drainage, geotechnical and subsidence specialists from Innovation Group plc to transform the outside space at Oak Cottage.

It is the first time the two specialists, have come together on a challenge and in just six hours they successfully managed to fix block paving, build planters and raised beds, improve wheelchair access and install a number of sensory boards and new swings.

The biggest task of the day was also completed in style, with over 200 wheelbarrows of soil removed to create a new, safer ground floor home for the trampoline.

More than 180 hours of time went into the garden makeover, which will now allow the eight children who live in the home to enjoy a great outdoor space and lots of fun activities that will stimulate their senses.

Our Managing Director, Claire Rogers is keen to see the future impact of the project: “Austerity and funding cuts have caused our sector a lot of issues and we are always looking to partner with kind-hearted businesses that can help us deliver the best possible facilities and living experiences for the children we look after.

“All of them have complex needs and physical disabilities and the garden is such an important place for them to relax, play and, in some cases, learn. The outside space needed some ‘TLC’, so we were delighted when a chance conversation with Aviva employees turned into this fantastic DIY SOS.”  “I can’t believe the difference and how quickly it was achieved with the volunteers all working together to bring the garden to life. Our children are already enjoying spending more time outside, as this has become so important after we spent a lot of the last two years isolating due to Covid-19.”

Aviva, is committed to supporting the local communities it operates in and offers all employees up to three ‘volunteering days’ every year. So when the project at Progress was raised, a team of seventeen loss adjustors put themselves forward, travelling the length and breadth of the country to take part. Due to the complex nature of the DIY SOS challenge, the company reached out to Innovation Group, one of its leading supply chain specialists, to help it with drainage, block paving and subsidence work in the garden.

Tanya Bellamy, Commercial Field and Major Loss Leader at Aviva, commented: “The response to the Progress project was fantastic, with many of our volunteers travelling hundreds of miles to take part.

“They really threw themselves into it, working closely with the more experienced Innovation Group staff to paint, dig, plant and repair. It’s a bit different to their day job but judging by all the smiles during the day and the reaction we saw from the children, it was six hours well spent.”

Tony Kilgannon, Regional Manager Northern Division at Innovation Group, added his support: “As soon as I visited the home and met some of the children we’d be helping, I had an emotional attachment to making the outside space as good as it could be, the same attachment that I know the rest of our staff had during the day.

“Working with our good friends at Aviva, we have created a sensory garden in just six hours, making it an accessible, safe and fun space with lots of things to do, whether that is trampolining, playing on the swings, enjoying the 3D spinner or touching the different textures of the flowers we’ve put in.

“The children have very challenging lives, so this project was all about giving them something to smile about and a place where they can experience new things.”

Progress would like to say a big thank you to Aviva and Innovation Group for what they have given the children.

The story has been featured in the below news outlets:

Birmingham Mail

Black Country Radio

Business Daily

Business Desk West Midlands

Business Mondays

KQ Education Group

UK Daily News

We are delighted to announce the opening of our brand-new Resource Centre, Progress House.

The brand-new state-of-the-art facility will help individuals with additional needs learn new skills, gain employment, access therapies, participate in activities and make new friends.

Set to benefit hundreds of Black Country families, the £250,000 multipurpose space is a result of 12 months of development. It boasts a fully equipped kitchen, sensory room, computer/quiet rooms and an open plan space to host group activities.

At Progress, we are committed to preventing family breakdowns, increasing resilience and reducing dependency. The Resource Centre helps us achieve this by blending a range of community-based services to support semi-independent and independent living.

The inspirational new site was officially opened by Mr John Crabtree OBE, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of The West Midlands, accompanied by our founder and CEO Bal Dhanoa, Managing Director Claire Rogers and the rest of the Progress Team.

John Crabtree OBE said: “I had the great pleasure to be invited to open the Resource Centre and to learn about the forward-thinking and creative ideas being presented by Progress.

“The organisation has created a range of services which will be delivered and coordinated from this new facility. It will provide early intervention, learning and education, preventative support, and solutions to avoid or reduce crisis situations that come at a high cost to all involved. I wish Progress every success in its latest venture.”

Bal, our Founder and CEO said:

“Covid-19 has definitely had an impact on how care and specialist services have been delivered, and as we head back to a more normal life, we want to make sure we have the facilities and the people in place to help families in the Black Country,”

“The Resource Centre will provide a hub for local children and young adults to come together and access skills and support that will help them live the most rewarding lives possible.”

“We have a big focus on giving people the right to live independently, and our new Resource Centre will further support this objective,” added Claire Rogers, Managing Director.

For further information, please visit www.progresscare.co.uk.