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From Senior Support Worker to Managing Director

Posted on by Angeline Westley

Claire Rogers speaks from the heart about her role as Managing Director of Progress. She talks with passion about her values, her aims for the staff and the children.  “I give everything to what I do,” she says, “I love it.”

Claire moved into care from a career in retail, starting work at a school for children with special needs. At first she felt helpless in her new role and was in tears when she went home at night, but she learnt quickly. “I remember the first day I was able to sign to a young person,” she recalls. “He used to get really frustrated because he couldn’t make himself understood. When I understood him, the look on his face was just incredible. That was probably the turning point for me.”

In 2002 she applied for a Senior Support Worker role at Progress and quickly went on to be a Deputy Manager. She progressed through the company and became Managing Director in 2015. Her responsibilities include upholding the values of the company: care, trust, respect and progress.

“I don’t have to compromise my integrity in this organisation,” she says. “The values are right. For me it’s about doing the right thing. I enjoy giving my time and my energy to something that feels worthwhile. I value people. I enjoy seeing them grow and learn; being passionate about what they do.”

She continues, “I get the freedom to make decisions and make a difference. I’m trusted to do that. My drive to do new things and push the boundaries has helped the business to grow and my own career to develop. I always say to staff: if you have an idea, go for it, put the effort in and you will get the benefit.”

Claire’s aim is for the children to be the best version of themselves they can be and that is the same for the staff too. “Care work is not an easy job but it can be the most amazing job in the world” she says. “No two days are the same and it makes it interesting.”

It is important to her to maintain quality and she is involved in the day to day running of the business. “I like to know exactly what is going on,” she says.

She has a broad knowledge and experience and an oversight across the business. She loves nothing more than mapping out a child’s journey through the organisation, pulling the whole organisation together to work in an integrated way. “At the end of the day it’s about kids, it’s about care and it’s about making a difference to as many people as we can,” she says.

Claire describes her personality as loyal and honest. “I care intensely,” she says. “It makes me sad when I see somebody who needs help. If I can do something about it, I will.”

When one young girl died on her 21stbirthday, Claire spoke at her funeral. “She had such profound disabilities, she had every problem you could imagine and yet she always had a smile for you, no matter what was going on,” says Claire. “She could have been in real pain, but she always had a smile. She was tube fed and in a wheelchair but we took her to the Snow Dome and helped her to go down the slope in a giant rubber ring. There were lights and music and when it was time to go back into her wheelchair, she cried because she had loved it so much. She had a short life. She had a life limiting condition. But she had a life and I was able to make a difference to this and give her some experiences which enriched it. These are the things I remember.”

Are you inspired by Claire’s story? A career in care awaits you. Start your journey by clicking here to apply for a job at Progress today.

 

Working for Progress: Phil’s Story

Posted on by Angeline Westley

“I can talk with passion about what I do because I fully believe in it” says Phil McDonald who is at the helm of The Hub, which helps children and young adults with disabilities to get the absolute most from life.

Phil started his working life at the tax office, but feeling unfulfilled, took a leap of faith to work in care and has never looked back since. He started in children’s services working alongside young people with autism and behavioural support needs.

In 2008 he joined Progress, initially as a senior support worker at Shire House.  He moved on to his first managerial role at Regis House, which was then providing short breaks. He was instrumental in the company’s further development of our Hub services, before becoming operations manager of the Hub in 2017.

His role includes involvement in recruitment days. “Quite often people have no professional experience, but they go on to make really good carers” he says. “I think it is important we offer people that stepping stone. Progress is a personal company, it’s not too big. You still know who people are and there’s always a new opportunity. If people fit within the value base and are motivated, they can relatively quickly climb the ladder.” He continued, “We are always willing to train people as relevant to their job role and to support their own personal development. As long as they are willing to engage with it, we are willing to support them to do it.”

Phil says his role is a massive challenge all of the time. “There is always something different happening” he says, which is why he enjoys it. He also likes the difference he can make. “There are people we’ve supported that I have known since they were tiny kids and now some of them are living on their own independently. Knowing that the services we have created for them, have supported them to do that, is a big thing for me.”

Phil explained, “The point I stop being passionate about what I do, is the point I know it’s time for me to not do it anymore. This role is not something you can do half-heartedly. It doesn’t finish at 5 o’clock.”

Outside of work Phil enjoys spending time with his three children. He likes reading and watching films. He describes his personality as ‘pretty relaxed’, adding “I’m not easily phased and I’m relatively flexible. I don’t mind working in crisis and I communicate well with people”.

Sometimes he misses the interaction with the young people now that his career has progressed.  “Sometimes people will come into the office to say hello and I spend a bit of time with them, having a chat. That was what I fell in love with in the beginning, that level of interaction and helping people.”

Highlights have included an ‘outstanding’ inspection when he was at Shire House. But he also points to more individual ‘victories.’ There was the little boy who came for short breaks when he was five years old. “He had a crop of bright red hair and he was like a little whirlwind, running around all over the place” says Phil. “You couldn’t let him out of your sight. We worked with him to settle him down.” He was placed with a foster family and Phil has been delighted to see his progress. At the last Progress summer barbeque, years after they first met, Phil watched him sitting quietly under a tree eating his packed lunch. It is moments like this, moments too numerous to mention, that make his job worthwhile.

How To Choose A Foster Agency

Posted on by Angeline Westley

Deciding which foster agency to choose can be hard.

There are so many factors to consider. Charlotte is currently waiting to become a foster carer for Progress and spoke to us about the process she went through in deciding which foster agency to choose.

What is your day job?

I am an assistant headteacher in a mainstream secondary school, with responsibility for special educational needs and disability, known  as SEND, along with inclusion. My primary role is to help young people with the curriculum, putting in place the appropriate provision to meet their needs. 

How long have you thought about fostering? 

In the last two years, it’s been something I’ve seriously considered. But I’ve thought about fostering, on and off, for many years.

Why now?

It came from a conversation I had with friends who already foster. I did have some reservations, but they answered all my questions and gave me a rounded view of what life is really like as a foster carer. This really helped. So, I took a deep breath and contacted Progress.

Why choose a private fostering agency and not a local authority? 

It wasn’t a conscious choice to go with a private agency as opposed to a local authority. However, because of Progress’ experience, I knew I would be in a safe pair of hands.

So, you were recommended to Progress by an existing foster carer?

Yes. I have close friends who have experience of other agencies and now foster with Progress. They gave me positive feedack and recommended I get in touch. I trust their judgement that this agency is excellent.

How have you found the process with Progress? 

I was initially filled with trepidation because you do have an uneasy feeling of not knowing what you’re letting yourself for. I may work with children, but this process is way out of my comfort zone. However, the process so far has been positive.

From the first telephone conversation to the initial visit, references, checks, meeting my assessing social worker, ‘skills to foster’ training and now preparing for the panel, everything has been clear and transparent. Because I feel supported by the Progress fostering team, I now have the confidence to embark on this fostering journey with the help and advice of the team every step of the way. 

Inspired to become a foster carer? Click here to learn how you too can change a child’s life. If you would like to talk to us, email fostering@progresscare.co.uk, and we will be happy to help.

 

 

Working for Progress: Adam’s story

Posted on by Angeline Westley

It was 7am on a cold January morning in 2012 when Adam arrived for his first day as a support worker. He stepped inside what looked like any other house, to a new career and a new life. Within minutes he was answering questions from curious teenagers, finding his way amongst young people whizzing around in wheelchairs and others getting ready for their day.

Adam was working in a short breaks home, helping young people with a range of learning and physical disabilities.

He had worked with young people before and had been a sports coach. But this time he didn’t know what to expect. ‘It was a learning curve straight away,’ he recalls. He set to work helping the young people, preparing packed lunches and taking a couple of young people in wheelchairs to Sandwell Valley for a trip that afternoon.

That evening Adam didn’t know how long he would stay. But Adam is still with Progress now. ‘I enjoyed working with young people, building relationships with them and wanting to see them grow’ he says. ‘Seeing their progress makes it so rewarding. ’

Adam moved on to become a senior support worker, a coordinator then deputy manager in the Hub, before eventually moving into his current role within the Business Development team. Although his work now has more of a corporate and commercial focus, the purpose is still the same; ensuring the best outcomes for young people.

‘It has been quite a quick progression really,’ he says. Along the way he received ongoing training and has a Level 3 NVQ in Health and Social Care and a level 4 NVQ in Leadership and Management. He has completed a range of training; from safety and medication through to project management.

His career with Progress has had many special moments, like the day he took a teenager in a wheelchair to his first ever football match. The young man loved watching football on television and so Adam took him on a train to a West Bromwich Albion match. ‘He loved it,’ Adam recalls. ‘He still remembers it every time I see him now, years later.’

Then there was the summer he organised for 16 young people to go on holiday to the seaside. They went swimming and to theme parks. ‘All the young people loved their time away,’ he says.

He has been involved in setting up activity groups in the community, everything from arts and crafts to dance, drama and sport. He was also involved in starting a young club for older teenagers.

Adam, now 30, describes himself as a caring person who enjoys what he does. Outside of work he likes football and is a devoted dad who enjoys spending time with his family, including his young daughter.

His advice for anyone thinking about working for Progress is: ‘Come and try it even if you have never done this type of work before.  Give it a go. Meet our young people and you probably won’t want to leave.’

Would you like to work for Progress? Click here and apply through our website today

 

 

Supporting Young People

Posted on by Angeline Westley

We want to be able to share with your the amazing things Progress carers experience in their job every day.

Mark is a Progress carer and has been supporting Jay for nearly three years.

This is his story:

Jay is very high on the spectrum of autism and has minimal vocabulary.

Despite this, Jay’s Mum really wanted her son to take part in activities that benefited not only him but also the wider community.

I did some research and found a program that was looking for volunteers to help maintain and preserve parks in the West Midlands.

It was with much anticipation that we arrived on the first day alongside the other volunteers. Jay was delighted to see so many people he was going to be part of a team with. Something was said on the first day that stayed with me.

The person running the program suggested that Jay being in the park alongside other people, may not work. However, he was willing to allow Jay to stick around. When you hear things like this, it saddens you. I knew that Jay would show that he is more than capable of participating despite all his disabilities – after all, we are all able by our abilities.

Volunteering brought out so much in Jay, it’s incredible. He’s making friends, working hard and giving back to the community, which is what he and his Mum wanted.

Sadly, it was during this period that his Dad passed away. Being such a strong person, Jay carried on working even though it must have been difficult for him. He also had the added pressure of this being the first year since he finished school.

The moral of the story is that nothing is impossible. Jay has achieved great things despite others saying he wouldn’t. Whenever I see him working, I always look on in amazement to what he has achieved.

I feel so proud to support Jay and have no doubt in my mind that he will carry on achieving a lot more throughout his adult life.

Working for Progress: Roma and Vicky’s story

Posted on by Angeline Westley

Careers in Social Care

The memories of a day at Reading Festival still stay with Roma and hold a special place in her heart.  She had taken a teenager from Wellcroft House to the festival, and Roma could see the joy on her face as the young girl got out of her wheelchair and danced. ‘It was brilliant,’ she says. ‘She now goes every year.’

Wellcroft House provides residential services for young adults with learning disabilities and Roma Cantello has been a manager since 2015. She started there as a chef- she had studied catering at college and worked as a chef for 17 years.

Within months of arriving at Wellcroft House in 2009, she started getting involved with young people and going out on activities with them.

She gave up her job in the kitchen to become a support worker and she hasn’t looked back since. She went on to become a senior support worker, then deputy manager and finally the manager. ‘If it hadn’t been for Progress giving me that push I wouldn’t be where I am now. They always believed in me,’ she says. ‘I never thought in a million years that I would be where I am.’

At her side is Deputy Manager Vicky Turton. Vicky started at Wellcroft House as a support worker in 2010.

‘I think we work great as a team and we give the best we can,’ says Roma.

Roma and Vicky have received training while they have been with Progress. Both have Level 3 NVQ in Health and Social Care. And in 2018 they both stepped proudly onto the stage in their caps and gowns at their graduation after gaining a Level 5 diploma in care leadership and management for health and social care.

‘It was out of this world,’ says Vicky who was 48 when she graduated. ‘I have done more with this company than I have ever dreamed. I never thought at my age I would get anything like that.’

Vicky says she is passionate about her job. ‘’If you don’t care then it’s not a job you can come into,’ she says.

Wellcroft House in Wednesbury focuses on enabling greater independence for those with moderate to severe learning difficulties and complex disabilities.

‘I’m passionate about the young people getting what they need,’ says Vicky. ‘We are striving for their independence as much as we can. We are here to teach them new skills and get as much potential out of them as we can.’

She is also passionate about leading a good team.

Occasionally Roma still helps out with the cooking at Wellcroft House when she is needed. As well as running the home and supervising the staff she takes the young people out for activities.

She has built a special bond with them and Wellcroft House feels like her second home.

‘I just love what we do for our young people, I really do.’ she says.

‘We give them new experiences all the time.’

If you too would like to develop your skills and build a career in social care, please click here to apply for one of our roles today.

Working for Progress: Bria’s Story

Posted on by Angeline Westley

Bria joined Progress as a Student Fostering Social Worker and has become an important member of the team. We recently caught up with her to see how she’s been getting on in her new role and hear more about what attracted her to a career in Social Care.

“My Mum and my Stepdad are both social workers, so entering this world was a natural thing for me to do. Whether it’s helping an individual, families, or groups of people, I feel it’s important to look for ways that can improve people’s lives.

I did Health and Social care at school and through different experiences had worked with children too. By the time, I got to University my focus was to gain a degree that would enable me to develop a career in Social Work.

I did a BA in Primary Education at Birmingham City University and then followed this up with an MA in Social Work at Wolverhampton University. While at Wolverhampton, I was lucky enough to do over a hundred hours of placement within a Social Work setting. This gave me great exposure, but I still felt something was missing. It was great learning about aspects of the sector but being able to get hands-on experience is what I needed and wanted.

I came across the Progress Student Fostering Social Worker role via the internet and applied straight away. Having got through the recruitment process, I was delighted when I was offered the job. I could finally get stuck in!

Day one was nerve-racking, but since then I have had so many great experiences. From supporting and supervising foster carers to working with children and young people, it has been an eye-opener to see what fostering is all about. I have worked closely with four foster carer couples who represent a cross-section of society. To see them thanking you for your help is really humbling.

My colleagues at Progress are very supportive. Having been able to shadow them, I feel I’m now more informed about social work rather than having to infer things. For example, I’ve learnt to be professional in the circumstances you would normally let emotions get the better of you. Things like this are only learnt “on the job”.

Working for Progress allows you to grow your social and people skills. I have met a lot of interesting people whose lives we are impacting positively. My academic studies did not cover fostering in any detail, but my positive experiences with Progress means I’m positively reassessing my career and look at fostering as a career path.”

If you too would like develop your skills and build a career in social care, please click here to apply for one of our roles today.

Our Recent Investors In People Review

Posted on by Angeline Westley

We are incredibly proud of recieving GOLD in this year’s Investors in People (IIP) new assessing standards.

Since our last IIP blog, we have been under assessment which has come to an end in November. Over the festive period, we have been waiting for the results. Here’s what our HR Manager, Emma Ruffinato had to say: “I am absolutely delighted that we achieved gold this year. I knew it was going to be challenging, but the way the team have feedback is brilliant. I think the staff should be really proud of the recognition for working for a desirable employer and the reason, for them, is because of them.”

Over the decade that we’ve engaged IIP, from early on, we’ve managed to consistently uphold the gold status. Last year, IIP reevaluated their assessment criteria. They decided to create a more rigorous framework. They created a platinum level in which organisations can raise the bar up to.

We knew to get platinum straightaway with the updated framework would be unachievable. To maintain our gold status is brilliant. Especially when measured with the new standards. When we compare our new ranking to previous years, we can see the key areas where we have dramatically improved. Something we strive to do on a daily basis.

With the goal of evolving daily, we have taken the new framework and set to reach all qualifying targets. Improving our processes along the way. It is not a box ticking exercise by any means. Any changes we put in place only mean we are engaging with our staff teams in a better way; which is precisely what IIP is all about.

It’s not about the people in our care or us, but the people in our organisation; how they feel about working for the business and how much we hear their voice. It’s also about how much they can get involved in the decision making processes and how much they understand the overall strategy. Ultimately, IIP is the measure of a quality employer; highly IIP accredited businesses are recognisable as the type of organisations that you want to work for. To get gold is a direct reflection of the collective hard work of everyone here at Progress.

Emma states: “It’s not about the organisation it is about the team holistically. For me, this is an achievement everybody should be celebrating. We wouldn’t be recognised the way we are without them.”

What’s next? Of course, we do want the platinum level. For us, that means to dig deep, highlight the critical areas of improvement, and set to work. Since our last review 12 months ago, we’ve already seen significant results. Four of the areas in the framework we have improved on since last time and four we’ve already hit the ceiling and couldn’t do it better. Out of nine areas, we think this is fantastic news.

Fundamentally where do need to improve by 2019 is recognising and rewarding high performance.

The good news is we’ve already done a lot of the legwork to achieve this. We started by just talking to the team. Rather than assume what was important to them, it was important to us to hear from them directly. To ask how they felt. What made them feel valued. Sadly, we can’t hand out juicy fat cash bonuses (as much as we’d like to) but we can reward people in other ways that mean something to them.

This is our key area of focus. We set up the staff forum to give us a platform for the team to have their say. It is a handy tool to get an accurate picture to see how staff are feeling. To discuss what’s working well, what needs to change, what would they like to say, etc. It took a while to embed, but now people are feeling more confident. They are actively contributing, with invaluable opinions that we can put towards positive change. We look forward to watching the team develop on their own individual journey as we progress and grow. After all, we are all in it together.

Read more news here.

Meet Our Charity Champions

Posted on by Angeline Westley

Happy New Year from all of us at Progress! Last month was the exciting big reveal for on our chosen charity: Acorns Children’s Hospice. We decided upon Acorns due to the incredible work and specialist care their services provide to both life-limited and threatened children as well as their families.

To ensure we are best utilising our resources, we decided to allocate two charity champions from within our organisation to liaise with Acorns to brainstorm and implement the ideas that they come up with.

We were extremely pleased with the number of applicants from our staff team. It was a very tough choice to make, but we finally managed to whittle it down to the last two. We are pleased to introduce you to our two champions, Anna Hickman, Fostering Support Worker and; Jessica Foulkes, one of our Residential Support Workers at Oak Cottage.

 

Anna Hickman

As an advocate of philanthropy for as long as she can remember, Anna was an ideal fit as one of our charity champions. Her love of charity work began in secondary school when there was special research being conducted in the local community, and Anna wanted to get involved. She put together a proposal and the governor’s love it so much; they gave her the green light. Her first fundraising attempt was a great success, raising £250 in one day, having planned and executed the whole event herself. To present day, she regularly fundraises and carries out small projects for a number of charities. When asked what inspires her to give back her response is “I am very fortunate in life, and many aren’t so fortunate so just want to make people’s lives better as much as I can.” As well as raising money, Anna also donates a lot of her time to her local community. Amongst other things, since the age of 14, Anna has been making fleece rags for families with young children or those expecting little ones. Between her and her friends, she also donates them to the local neonatal unit; something she plans on continuing for Acorns.

She started off her professional career as a student social worker before moving into elderly care services. She decided to carry out her career working with children as she felt this was a much better fit. “Children’s are very sincere, and so you know when you’re making a positive impact; the mark you make in their lives now can have a substantial impact on their futures.”

“We are called “Progress”. That doesn’t, and shouldn’t only apply to the lives of the children in our care but in our local community as well.”

 

Jessica Foulkes

Jessica has been a Residential Support Worker at Progress for the last three years. She grew up with her biological parents in a household that fostered other young children. Thanks to her environment, she grew up around fostering which inspired her to make a difference to others. Jessica worked in Africa in 2010, with a fantastic charity “hands at work” in which she could help those in local villages that needed it: cleaning the house, making food and giving out supplies. Another trip was spent working with primary schools and orphanages providing them with deworming tablets. The challenge they faced was that food and water were needed to keep the tablet down and there was no guarantee they would have a meal waiting for them when they got home. So as well as giving the medication they also made and distributed meals to all the children; an experience they found incredibly rewarding.

She and her friends raised funds for a trip themselves to go back to Africa so that they could take supplies with them. One memory she has is with a mother who had a fourteen-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. Her mother didn’t have any form of transport and so still carried her teenager daughter around on her back with swaddling, as she did with her as a child. Thanks to the donations that Jess’s group were able to raise, they were able to take a wheelchair across with them – amongst other useful fit-for-purpose items – which meant their trip had a monumental impact on the lives of several of the villagers they visited. Like Anna, Jess has always been involved in charity and has done a lot of her own fundraising along the way. Currently, Jessica makes bonding squares — identical squares made for mothers of premature babies that allow them to keep building a bond while the child is still in intensive care. The idea is that the mum will wear one and one is left with the baby, swapping them every day. She currently offers this to mothers in a hospital in Liverpool; something she wishes to provide to the parents benefitting from Acorns services.

The next step for both of our Charity champions is to meet with Acorns and brainstorm some exciting fundraising ideas and to decide how to put the money raised to good use. Stay tuned for updates on our fundraising events and opportunities. In the coming weeks, we will be sharing a fantastic opportunity for you to get involved in Anna and Jessica’s craft projects.

New for 2018- Our Charity Activities

Posted on by Angeline Westley

The philosophy coined by Confucius over 2,500 years ago, is still incredibly relevant today. Over the last 25 centuries opportunities have become unlimited, and decisions endless. We’ve found this to dramatically be the case when it comes to fundraising and giving back to local charities. With so many incredible causes doing fantastic work, historically we have found it a challenge to zero in on a single initiative. As a result, we have given a lot of funds to many different formidable causes, but by spreading our resources so thin, we haven’t felt that we have been able to make much of an impact as we’d like to.

 

We want to change that. We have determined that focus is the key to fine-tuning our existing process. Instead of giving to lots of different causes and making very little difference, we have decided to split our fund pot down the middle. One half will go to a charity of our choosing, and the other will be kept for projects we feel would benefit from a top up. The charity of our choosing will be one that resonates with our core values, beliefs, and aligns with our business. The remaining pot will be a flexible fund that can still be used a number of different ways. Perhaps one of the local kid’s football teams need shirt sponsors or donating annual funds that we support such as ‘The Magic of Milly Ball.’ One of the recent projects that our owners Bal and Raj have started is collecting new socks for homeless young people. This is just one example of the seemingly small but hugely beneficial projects this capital can fund.

 

We are currently in the process of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on our chosen charity, and picking our charity champions: the two individuals responsible for the fundraising activities. Stay tuned for further updates!