Care Home Regional Directors compete in charity cook off
STAFF and residents at Sutton
Grange Care Home in Banks, Southport are celebrating because their wonderful
Regional Directors, Clare Mudge and Melissa Harker, from Barchester's North West
and Midlands Division, are stepping completely out of their comfort zones to
compete in the Barchester Charitable Foundation Cook Off 2025.
Swapping their business suits for chefs' whites, Clare and Melissa are going
head to head with 2 Regional Directors, from each of Barchester's 4 other
divisions to cook up a storm, and raise a vital funds for Barchester's
Charitable Foundation.
The Foundation helps connect vulnerable people and those living with a
disability to community groups in their local area by providing grants to
improve mobility and quality of life. Each year the Foundation distributes
thousands of pounds to individuals, small community groups and charities across
England, Scotland and Wales. In 2024 the Foundation achieved a donation
milestone of £335,000 which enabled the charity to provide vital help to a
staggering 239 small groups and charities, plus 104 individuals in 1 year alone.
Melissa and Clare are keeping their cards very close to their chests regarding
what they will be cooking. Clare comments:- "Melissa and I are passionate
about the Foundation and we both jumped at the chance to be able to raise funds
and give back. We have always loved cooking, we were taught by our families from
a very young age.” Melissa adds::- "Our amazing MD, Alison
Donaldson, won the MD Cook Off last year so we want to match her achievement and
bring home the top prize for our division. No pressure! We're both very
competitive so we will give it our very best shot!”
General Manager at Sutton Grange Care Home, Francesca Lally, said:- "We
are all so proud of Clare and Melissa for taking part in this challenge, they
really are amazing; is there nothing they can't do! Their dishes look absolutely
fantastic and they will raise so much money for the Foundation, we think they
are absolute super stars!"
To support Clare and Melissa visit: Clare and Melissa's JustGiving page.
Sutton Grange Care Home is run by Barchester Healthcare, 1 of the UK's largest
care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its
Care Homes and Hospitals. Sutton Grange provides residential, nursing, dementia
and respite care.
For more information, please contact Francesca Lally at Sutton Grange Care Home,
on:- 01704215500, or
Francesca.Lally@Barchester.Com.
Have your say on Liverpool's new neurodivergent strategy
PEOPLE across
Liverpool are being encouraged to have their say on a new
neurodivergent strategy for the City. The Liverpool Neurodivergent
All-Age Strategy, 2025 to 2030, has been co-produced by the
Liverpool Neurodiversity Strategic Partnership, and represents 18
months of development. And now all stakeholders who live, work or
study in Liverpool are invited to give feedback during an eight-week
consultation.
The consultation was officially launched at a City Center event on:-
Wednesday as part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week. The draft
strategy and survey is now available on Liverpool City Council's
website and will be open until Wednesday, 14 May.
Feedback from the consultation will be used to further develop the
strategy that will then inform future improvements to services for
neurodivergent people and their families.
It is planned that the final strategy will be presented to the
City's Health and Wellbeing Board in September.
It is thought that 1 in 7 people in the UK is neurodivergent,
equating to about 69,200 people in Liverpool, although this is
likely to be much higher due to under diagnosis.
The strategy's vision is:-
To create a society that recognises, understands, and embraces
neurodiversity, making Liverpool a great place to live, study, work
and visit.
Neurodivergent people are enabled to live a longer, happier,
healthier, fulfilled life and reach their full potential.
The strategy contains 5 ambitions:-
-
Celebrating neurodiversity.
-
Early intervention, assessment, diagnosis and support.
-
Accessible health and care services.
-
Right to a fulfilling life.
-
Working differently.
Respondents are encouraged
to share how neurodiversity impacts positively on their life and are
also offered the opportunity to become involved in the strategy's
future development and delivery.
The Liverpool Neurodiversity Strategic Partnership brings together
representatives from:- the Council, the NHS, education, researchers,
and the community, voluntary and social enterprise sector, as well
as: neurodivergent people, their families and carers.
Cllr Angela Coleman, Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for
Adult Social Services, said:- "The proposed Liverpool
Neurodivergent All-Age Strategy represents many months of hard work
from the Strategic Partnership, and they can be proud that they have
developed a document that can potentially have a truly
transformative effect on thousands of lives in our City. We're now
really excited to hear what the City thinks and we're encouraging
everyone with lived experience or an understanding of
neurodivergence to share their feedback to ensure that the strategy
becomes a truly meaningful future tool for the City's decision
makers. By sharing your experiences of neurodivergence you will not
only be helping to improve services you will also be helping us to
understand how neurodivergent people enrich our City.”
Anthony Leo, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside's Interim Place Director
for Liverpool, said:- "We want neurodivergent people in
Liverpool to have access to early support and services that meet
their needs and help them to reach their full potential. This
strategy represents an important step in making that vision a
reality in line with work being undertaken across Cheshire and
Merseyside to improve our approach to neurodiversity and I'd
encourage everyone with lived experience to share their feedback and
play an important role in improving the lives of thousands of people
in our City.”
