Year: 2022

Suffolk County Council Adult Services have commended Empanda and our care staff for opening All Hallows Day Centre on the public holiday to mark the funeral of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

When we heard the tragic news of her passing and the decision to make the day of her funeral a public holiday, we were concerned that our day care customers would be home alone as day care traditionally closes on public holidays.

When the idea to open was presented to our staff team, we were inundated with volunteers from All Hallows Day Centre who were willing to forego their own plans to provide comfort and company for those who needed it.

Four customers attended and we were able to offer a home-to-home transport service for those who needed it. The local taxi driver also gave his services on the day.

Our customers, supported by three staff members watched the morning’s proceedings on the big screen, before having a nice lunch and afternoon activities.

Here’s what some of our customers had to say:

Coming in today meant I was able to watch the Queen’s funeral with my friends and staff. It was good to be with other people.”

Linda, Bryan’s wife and carer said, “It was helpful for Bryan to attend on this public holiday because I have recently had an operation, so it enabled me to have a rest day to aid my recovery, I felt that a weight had been taken off my shoulders in the knowledge that he was safe and being well looked after.”

She added, “I find that when Bryan returns home from day care, he’s always more alert and we both have more to chat about our day.”

 

 

“I’m glad I came. I enjoyed myself and have had a lovely day.”

 

 

 

Norman also came in for the day and his wife Rae told us, “It was invaluable for me to have time off from caring for my husband. It gave me the opportunity to be able to watch the Queen’s funeral without any interruptions.”

100-year-old Hilda said, “I very much appreciated the opportunity to come and watch the Queen’s funeral with others. I also really enjoyed my two-course lunch.”

Sally Hanlin, managing director said, “This has been a very difficult time for everyone, particularly older people. For many customers using our day care services, her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, had been a constant presence in their lives, from her accession to the throne in 1952, her coronation in 1953, until her passing on 8 September. We wanted to give people, particularly those living on their own, the opportunity to come into the day centre to watch the funeral with their friends and supported by staff, share memories or simply watch in silence with their own thoughts, knowing they were not alone in their grief. We are indebted to our All Hallows care team for going above and beyond.”

On behalf of Empanda, we would like to say a huge thank you not only to the All Hallows team but to all our other colleagues who worked throughout the day, as they do on every bank holiday, supporting our customers in our young people’s services and services for adults with a learning disability. We are indebted to you all.

We are delighted to be signed up to easyfundraising, a free fundraising platform that allows us to earn money when we shop online to help pay for entertainment, outings and equipment for our services and those who use them.

easyfundraising works with over 7,000 online retailers – everyone from Tesco, Amazon, eBay, Sports Direct, M&S, Deliveroo, Just Eat, Booking.com, and everything in between, including household utility providers like BT and Vodafone (visit the easyfundraising website for a complete list of participating retailers).

Now we’re registered with easyfundraising, you can help us for FREE. Online retailers will donate to our cause when you use easyfundraising to shop with them – at no extra cost to yourself! All you need to do is sign up and remember to use easyfundraising whenever you shop online. It’s easy and completely FREE! These donations really mount up, so please help by registering yourself today, it only takes two minutes and all you need is your email address. Please share with your family and friends as donations can be made for both business and personal purchases.

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3…

1. Go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/empanda-care/ and join for free.
2. Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first to find the site you want and start shopping.
3. After you’ve checked out, the retailer will make a donation to Empanda Care & Support at no extra cost to you whatsoever!

There are no catches or hidden charges and we will be really grateful for your donations.

Thank you for your support and happy shopping!

We are delighted to announce the launch of Empanda’s latest initiative in our ‘We Value You’ package of benefits for staff – Employee Wellbeing.

We believe that a supportive and happy work environment is critical to the success of any business and have recently appointed a part-time Employee Wellbeing Manager, Adele (pictured left), who will help us take this exciting new initiative forward and ensure that everyone we employ has access to a range of support and information to boost their mental and physical wellbeing.

Working in partnership with Norwich based workplace health provider Thriving Workplaces, who are commissioned by Norfolk County Council, we will be creating and developing a range of support, information, advice and initiatives specifically aimed at helping our staff teams to improve their mental and physical wellbeing and to help us create and maintain a happy, healthy workplace.

Based on the nationally recognised ‘Workplace Wellbeing Charter’ developed by UK Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England), Thriving Workplaces have adopted eight standards covering a range of topics and we have chosen three of these standards on which to focus – Mental Health and Wellbeing, Workplace Culture and Physical Activity.

To help shape our health and wellbeing plans, our first steps will be to complete a workplace health assessment with Thriving Workplaces and to roll out our anonymous 2022 Staff Survey, which will give staff the opportunity to answer some wellbeing related questions, the results of which will help the organisation understand and ultimately support their mental and physical wellbeing into the future. Adele is also keen to get out and about to speak with managers and staff across the organisation to share her plans and thoughts. More importantly, she will be listening to what our staff teams have to say to help her gain a greater understanding of ideas and expectations which in turn, will help shape and develop her role and our focus moving forward.

Over time, our aim is to recruit Wellbeing Champions across the business to support Adele and we are developing a suite of ‘wellbeing’ policies and guidance.

Sally Hanlin, Empanda’s managing director said, “We are really excited to be launching this new initiative as part of our ‘We value you’ suite of benefits because we recognise the importance of positive mental and physical wellbeing and the difference it can make in the workplace. Having a dedicated Employee Wellbeing Manager means we will be able to do so much more to support our greatest asset, our employees, and further demonstrates the importance we place on the wellbeing of our staff team. As a member of a local Credit Union, Eastern Savings & Loans, we already have a facility in place to support our staff and volunteers with their financial wellbeing. This new initiative not only complements what we already have in place but enables us to take a more holistic approach to wellbeing.”

Zak Collen from Thriving Workplaces added, “We’re very excited to be working with Empanda, who are not just committed to making a difference in the local community with care and support services, but to making a positive change for their employees too. From our initial conversations, it was clear that Empanda are focused on looking after their staff’s wellbeing and promoting awareness around both physical and mental health issues in the workplace. We’re looking forward to using our resources and experience to help train employees in various areas from Mental Health First Aid to Health Champion Courses. Furthermore, in helping to implement various policies and guidance to support Empanda’s already growing staff wellbeing offer and looking after their employee’s health further.”

click here to learn more about the support Thriving Workplaces can give to Norfolk based businesses.

Each year, the first week of June marks Volunteers’ Week and a time to say thank you and to recognise the valuable contribution volunteers make within communities across the UK.

2022 celebrates the 38^th annual Volunteers’ Week and is a particularly poignant as it also marks the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

During what has been another exceptionally difficult year, people from all walks of life around the UK have taken the time to volunteer and have made a huge difference to people and their communities – just as they do every year.

In 2021, intermittent periods of closure at our two day care centres (All Hallows in Ditchingham near Bungay and Brandon Day Centre) in line with strict government guidelines within the care environment, meant we were unable to accept visitors into our services, including volunteers. Fortunately, with restrictions eased, we are now getting back to normal and have been able once again, to welcome our team of volunteers.

Sally Hanlin, managing director said, “We continue to be indebted to our fantastic team of volunteers who give their time to support the customers using our services and our staff teams. We are delighted to be supporting Volunteers’ Week again this year – it gives us an opportunity to focus our attention on and to recognise the difference our volunteers make, not only within Empanda, but to the many people using our services, and for that we are truly grateful.”

Much needed counselling and wellbeing sessions tailored to the needs of the young people living at our Young People’s Services projects, are set to continue thanks to the generosity of the East of England Charity, Hopestead.

Hopestead, Flagship Group’s own charity, have been supporting Empanda since June 2021, when they awarded a Wellbeing and Counselling Grant of £5,000 enabling us to restart our exhausted Wellbeing and Counselling Fund (previously supported by Norfolk Community Foundation Trust). This latest award of £3,500 comes in the form of top-up funding to the initial grant received last summer.

At our three young people’s projects in North Norfolk, we provide a home to 26 homeless young people aged between 16-25 at any one time. Whilst they are with us, we support them to gain the skills needed to live independently and then support them to move on to live in more independent accommodation. To help the smooth transition into independent living, good mental health is vitally important as it helps give the stability they need to enable them to maintain their tenancy into the future.

Access to counselling and mental health services is at crisis point, with waiting lists through the local NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) being months or longer and GPs are only able to offer a telephone wellbeing service, also with a long waiting list. Many of the young people using our services have experienced some type of trauma in the past, often family related which has had a lasting impact on their mental health, wellbeing and sense of worth.

This funding will allow more of our young people the opportunity to get the support they need through specialist privately funded 1:1 counselling and in-house therapy sessions which, thanks to the original grant, many are already benefiting from.

Julia Everson, Head of Operations at Hopestead said, “We know that it is only through working together that we can make homelessness a rare, brief, and non-reoccurring event in people’s lives. Through our Hope Funds grant scheme, we are proud to support the great initiatives provided by our partners, like Empanda’s Counselling & Wellbeing Grant that makes such a vital difference to young people in our community and alleviates homelessness in our region.”

Fiona Raison, Manager of Empanda’s Young People’s Services said, “Hopestead’s grants for our Counselling and Wellbeing Fund is invaluable to our Empanda YPS residents. Many of our young people suffer from poor mental wellbeing as well as PTSD and other issues. We are so grateful to be able to offer them this essential help that would otherwise be unavailable.”

click here to find out more about the invaluable projects Hopestead is supporting.

Today marks Empanda’s sixth Anniversary. We can’t believe how the time has flown – it seems like only yesterday we were a fledgling organisation embarking on our new venture.

We are indebted to our fantastic staff team, our volunteers and our Board. Through their hard work, unwavering support and dedication, they continue to make a huge difference to the lives of so many people every day and without doubt, have played a major part in Empanda’s success. We would also like to thank the many partners with whom we work.

We are very much looking forward to continuing our journey together and to seeing what this coming year brings.