Community

18th Birthday

Kemble Care turned 18 at Christmas, and to celebrate asked their Clients, Carers and the public to nominate 18 local charities that will each receive a £100 donation, one for each year of their caring work.

In 1993, our founder Mrs Sharon King was working for another care provider and was sent to a client who required services she was not adequately trained to provide. Sharon felt she could do a much better job of providing high quality care, by ensuring carers were properly trained in the skills they needed. So Kemble Care was born.

We continue to improve our training and mentoring programmes to ensure our fully trained and highly competent carers provide exceptional care to over 300 current clients throughout the County and beyond. Our mentoring programme was recently nominated for a Skills for Care national accolade.

Representatives from the 18 Charities will be invited to a Ceremony with the Chairman of Herefordshire Council at the end of March when their £100 cheques will be awarded to them.

Sharon King, Kemble Care’s founder says:

“It was Christmas Day 1993, in atrocious weather, when our first carer provided essential support to our first client. Kemble Care grew steadily from there, and in the last 18 years we have provided care to well over 1000 people and employed over 800 care staff. Of these carers, a significant proportion were motivated by their training and experience to pursue careers as nurses or other health and social care professionals.”

The photograph shows Kemble Care's longest established current client Mr Peter Odds, with one of his carers, Louise Kelly, who is the longest serving current carer with Kemble Care. They are pictured with the Right Worshipful the Mayor of Hereford, Councillor Mrs Julie Woodward.

Louise says:

“Peter was my first client and this is the 18th year I have been providing him with care. In that time I have got to know him very well, so I have a good understanding of his complex needs. The training and support I receive from Kemble Care has given me the skills I need to care for him to the highest standards. I feel privileged to have been trusted with Peter's care and I hope to continue working with him for a long time yet.

As one of the longest serving carers I have seen Kemble Care grow and improve. There are many success stories, including Peter's. When he was diagnosed he was told he may not live beyond 30, yet he is still going strong at age 67.”

The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Hereford, Councillor Mrs Julie Woodward says:

“As Herefordshire's leading domiciliary care provider for the last 18 years, Kemble Care has and continues to provide a much needed and respected service to our communities and I wish them continued success in the future”.

Peter King, Managing Director of Kemble Care, says:

“It is fitting that to celebrate our 18 years of care we should ask for the public’s help in reaching even more people that need essential support, by nominating their favourite local charities to receive a donation.”

First mentors complete new training programme

Kemble Care has developed an advanced Mentor Training Programme to provide a network of support for its carers, who often work alone during unsociable hours.  This also provides quality assurance for care services to all clients.

Since developing the program two carers have successfully completed the arduous 9-month training, and are therefore qualified ‘mentors’.  Their role is to act as a point of contact for advice and support, and to formally develop the skills needed by new carers to provide the highest quality care to clients in their own homes.  We are therefore delighted to laud the achievements of Annette Saunders and Sally Ford, who are pictured with their distinctive navy blue uniforms that show their status as mentors.

Progress is being made by other staff through the same training, hoping to become mentors themselves.  The programme as a whole has been nominated for an accolade by the national ‘Skills for Care’ training body.

Kemble Care’s Apprentice recognised at Award Ceremony

Kemble Care employee, Ellie Adams, has now completed her apprenticeship and has received her Certificate for NVQ Level Two Award in Business Administration at a Ceremony on Tuesday November 1st.

The Award Ceremony, held at the Courtyard Centre for the Arts in Hereford, was attended by the Apprentices, their Employers, and Staff from Herefordshire Group Training Association, and The Mayor of Hereford, Julie Woodward.

Kemble Care was represented by Managing Director Peter King, Registered Manager Annette Castro-Griffiths and from the Business Team of which Ellie is a member, Angie Powell-Stevens and David Lewer.

The Awards were presented by Olympic swimmer Mark Foster who delivered a motivational speech about his sporting career as well as his appearance on the TV show Strictly Come Dancing.

Apprenticeships are proving increasingly popular with younger people as a way of learning the skills they need while earning money, and with employers who can tailor training to suit their needs.

Kemble Care is very proud of the progress Ellie has made and are delighted she has earned this award.

Charity Bowling Tournament

 

Kemble Care hosted a charity bowling tournament on Tuesday 1st November at TGS Bowling. The £220.00 raised was donated to Hereford based charity, The Little Princess Trust. The Trust helps parents of children, who lose their hair due to the harsh medication given to treat life threatening illnesses, to source and pay for good quality wigs.

TGS Bowling provided discounted prices so that a large percentage of the ticket money went towards the charity. The evening was attended by a number of local small businesses including Andy's Kitchen, Kings Acre Cars and Anthony Bengry Painting & Decorating as well as the charity Concern Universal.

Raffle prizes were donated by The Cottage In The Wood, Sarah Jane Flowers, The Riverbed Restaurant, Kings Acre Cars, Suzanne Bentley Cakes, The Hibiscus Rooms, Tanners Wines, The Framing Centre and Fancy Pants.

Kemble Care would like to thank everyone who took part and who very generously donated to the evening.

Our CQC Inspection

 

On 18 August 2011 we received an unannounced inspection — our first for over three years — from our regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).  This was a rare opportunity to gain an objective review of our work, and we were delighted with the evidence the inspector found and wrote about in her report.

On the first page their summary states:

‘Everyone we spoke with felt that they were included in decisions around their care, and were happy with the standard of care given.  One person said “I can’t speak too highly of the staff”.  Another said that when ever they phoned the office the staff were always friendly and helpful.’

We sent a full copy of the report to each of our care staff and our clients, which can be read through this link on the CQC website.  The report also generated a glowing report in the Hereford Times, reproduced below.  Many thanks to all clients and carers — this is your report!

Kemble Carer Skydives for Charity

Kemble Carer Sharon Macklin has taken part in a sponsored Skydive recently. Sharon made the jump from a plane flying 12,500 feet above Wiltshire. While free falling she reached speeds of up to 120mph, before parachuting back to the ground.

Sharon's efforts were matched a few weeks later by Kemble Care managers Annette Castro-Griffiths (Registered Manager), Carol Condie (Client Manager), and Tracey Waters (Carer Manager). Each of them raised at least £360 for Concern Universal, a development charity, towards their work helping communities to help themselves.

Ellie's Apprenticeship

Kemble Care has given an opportunity to Ellie Adams (18 from Hereford) to be a Business Administration Apprentice within their Business Services team, providing the Administrative and Financial services to the organisation. The apprenticeship, which began in February, includes training with Herefordshire Group Training Association (HGTA), which provides Apprenticeships for young people in Herefordshire.

Apprenticeships of this kind are promoted by The National Apprenticeship Service, the body responsible for training young people and providing businesses with the skills they need. They benefit the apprentice by providing on-the-job training combined with classroom learning while being paid. Unlike full time academic study where tuition fees are charged. It allows the employer to train the apprentice to have the unique skills they require in their particular business, with minimal risk and low cost.

Apprenticeships are proving increasingly popular with employers and young people throughout Herefordshire, and Kemble Care and Ellie Adams would certainly recommend them.

Ellie says: "I had very little idea what to expect before I started this apprenticeship but I am really happy to be working and learning Business Administration at Kemble Care and through HGTA."

Torchbearer

Peter is embarrassed to have been nominated by the staff as one of the torchbearers for the London 2012 Olympics. Here's the Hereford Times article:

New Uniforms

We're delighted to say our carers will be wearing their new uniforms from Friday 8th July. The pale blue tunics for women and polo shirts for men have gone down well with most clients. Some carers have even received admiring comments from members of the public!

All the uniforms carry the name Kemble Care on the sleeve and were chosen to be stylish, practical and professional.

The carers are happy too, with Lucy Moran (pictured) saying, "I think we all look much smarter and tidier and it makes me feel like I'm part of a team when I go to see my clients. It's also nice not to have to decide what to wear when I go to work!"

Kemble Councillors

We are delighted to tell you that two of our Carers, Chris Chappell and Bob Preece, were elected to Herefordshire Council, last Thursday night.

Chris was re-elected in St Martins & Hinton where he has been a Councillor for 20 years, and Bob was elected, in the same ward, to the seat he lost 4 years ago by just 3 votes! Both are former Mayors of Hereford and have distinguished records of public service.

To have two County Councillors from one company is exceptional; clearly the qualities that make dedicated, professional carers appeal to the electorate of St Martins & Hinton. I’m sure we all wish them well in their duties and congratulate them on their success.

Peter.

A Valentine's Gift

After promoting Independence through providing care services in Herefordshire for over 17 years, Kemble Care set its sights on the rest of the world! With a Valentine’s Day gift of £1,000, Kemble Care has establishing a partnership with development charity Concern Universal to promote Independence and send the gift of love beyond our County borders.

While Kemble Care have been working in Herefordshire by providing the opportunity for Independence for many hundreds of people, Concern Universal have built partnerships with communities in developing countries to promote those very same values of compassion and independence.

Revised Website

An invitation from the Director led Caroline to recently 'step out of retirement' and join the Kemble Care team with their preparations for our revised Website and associated publicity project.

“It has been an absolute delight for me to have the opportunity to meet some of our clients and carers again and what a welcome we received for our photo sessions. I especially felt my 12 years with Kemble Care enabled me to highlight what a wide range of services we offer our clients through our dedicated carer and staff teams. I think you will agree with me that our photographer, Charlotte, really captured this with the delightful photos she has taken. Thank you Charlotte, it was a pleasure working with you and thanks Peter for enabling me to have a really enjoyable time meeting up with everyone again. Caroline'”

Carol’s Graduation

Carol Condie, from our Client Team, has been awarded her NVQ 4 Leadership and Management for Care Services, in a Graduation Ceremony at Hereford Cathedral.

Countess Darnley, Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire presented the certificates, and took time to speak to each Graduate individually. The Countess asked Carol what she did and she explained she was a manager for a domiciliary care agency here in Hereford. Countess Darnley asked which one, and she answered "Kemble Care".

The Countess commented she had heard the name, but will hopefully not require our services for a while. Carol responded "Well, when you do, we are very good!"

“To all of the wonderful ladies who looked after my Mum and did things beyond the call of duty. My sister and I cannot thank any of you enough.”

Kemble Care Snowman

Snow & Ice may cause Carers and Office Staff more than the usual number of headaches, but a bit of Snowman therapy helped some of us relieve the stresses and strains of keeping things going. The new member of the team stayed around longer than expected, but eventually he could not stand the heat and we parted company.

The flesh and blood Office Staff would like to pass on their thanks and admiration for the exceptional efforts put in by our Carers during the adverse weather. They were infinitely more useful than a Snowman!