Annual Leadership Conference 2024
Last Wednesday we were joined by over 100 colleagues from across the country at our Annual Leadership Conference! Leaders from areas including the North East, Bedford, London and the West Midlands gathered in the Manchester Marriott Hotel. Across the day we listened to inspirational talks and took part in thoughtful workshops to reflect on our skills and provide the best possible person-centred care for the people we support.
As people settled with hot drinks and pastries, we opened with a quick quiz to test our social care knowledge, led by Dr. Ray Kendall-Corry, Head of Engagement and Learning, and Leigh Birch, Service Director.
Later in the morning, Leigh took to the stage again to introduce our new ‘I Statements’ and talk about the concept of ‘Gloriously Ordinary Lives’, which are a mixture of the ‘mundane’ (everyday chores) and the ‘heart sings’ (ie. holidays, spending time with friends). Leigh spoke about how we can best support people to have a healthy balance of both.
Jane Hobson, Senior Service Manager and Toni Rollinson, Cluster Manager, gave a peer talk all about getting out into services and the best ways to get to know the people you support. “I want to be a familiar face, not just a name, and making sure we are speaking to people in services so they know who we are,” said Jane.
Our first workshop involved creating ‘We Statements’ to support on our nine ‘I Statements’, which you can read about in our new Mission Statement!
To round off the morning we heard from our newest Director Richard Jones, who oversees services in Blackpool, Cumbria and Morecambe. Richard shared about his background in health and social care which began in 2005. You can read more about our directors here.
After enjoying a hot lunch, Senior Operations Manager Jackie Unsworth and Project Manager Catherine Lewis gave a short peer talk about visiting Head Office and learning about the different departmental roles. Afterwards, we had a number of Head Office staff introduce themselves and their roles, and how they can best support services.
CEO Anna Lunts and Tendering Manager Keira Lyons talked to us about the future of Creative Support, including some exciting new services in Oldham, Barnsley, Knowsley and Brent. Service Director Mahip Singh chatted to us about their journey taking over services across London, the challenges faced and the lessons learned. “As long as you have done your best for Creative Support, Creative Support will always support you,” said Mahip.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of keeping us up-to-date with recruitment and HR changes, more supportive peer talks, good news videos, and closing statements from Director Jenni Pearson-Butterfield. It was an inspirational day to appreciate the incredible work going on in services, and made us very excited for the future!