Sheffield’s ‘We Care’ Gala
Earlier this month, our services in Sheffield hosted a fabulous We Care Workshop and Awards event with some allocated funding from Sheffield City Council. The event was an opportunity to bring together the people we support and staff to celebrate all of their amazing achievements as well as shine a light on individuals and teams who deserve recognition.
The event was well attended by staff teams and people we support from three different services. It was made even more meaningful through the participation of some people who often find it challenging to go out into the community or be around large groups. Their effort to attend, engage, and share their voices was incredibly inspiring, and all attendees brought something valuable to the day.
The day began with a reflective workshop on our ‘We Care’ values, gaining feedback from staff and people we support on their insights into each of the values including word association activities. The insights gained through this workshop will feed directly into regional strategies ensuring our values and ethos are embedded into the care and support we provide across our Sheffield services.
The people we support were keen to state what the We Care values (Welcoming, Empowering, Compassionate, Aspirational, Respectful, Effective) mean to them. About the word empowering, Jenny said that it means said “having choices” while Wendy said it means “having just the right level of support.”
After a break, everyone worked together to co-produce statements, responding to questions such as ‘What makes a good staff member?’ and ‘What does Sheffield mean to you?’ These can then be reflected in recruitment practices to ensure staff employed at the service are aligned with the values and ethos of the people who are currently supported and working there.
As well as the engaging workshops, everyone enjoyed a lovely buffet lunch with drinks and pastries. After lunch, they hosted their own Sheffield Regional Awards celebration, recognising outstanding achievements from staff across the Sheffield services, with certificates and vouchers.
The award categories included Most Responsive Team, Most Effective Team, Most Effective Bank Worker, Caring Individual, Most Responsive to Service Users’ Needs, Most Effective Care Co-ordinator, Personal Resilience, Overcoming Adversity, Most Inspirational Leadership and of course, Best Pie Maker in Sheffield.
The event closed with a performance from a staff member, Dorcas and her choir, further celebrating all of the wonderful skills, passions and experiences our staff and people we support bring to Creative Support.
Abigail Gelder, Senior Operational Manager for the Yorkshire Region said:
“I felt the event was absolutely spectacular. It was a real celebration of all good things in Sheffield and to see both the staff and people we support rewarded was so heart-warming. Thank you to Dorcas and her choir as this really ended the event in a special way.”
Congratulations to the staff and people we support in Sheffield who won awards, took part in the workshops and made it such a special and celebratory occasion.
