New girls’ home opens in Blackpool
northerncare have expanded their provision for girls with the opening of No.19, a 4-bedded home in Blackpool, Lancashire for girls aged 10-17 upon admission. No.19 places a high emphasis on a “good parenting” model of care with a holistic approach and can offer emergency or planned placement moves. If you would like more information or wish to make a referral to No.19 or any of our other homes for young people across the country, please contact Tony Wood, Referrals Manager, on freephone 0800 040 7870.
northerncare’s Children and Young People Raise Money for Sport Relief, 20th March 2008, Blackpool
On Sunday 16th March, staff and young people from two of northerncare’s children’s homes took part in the walk/run at Towneley Hall, Burnley. In total they ran/walked 60 miles and raised over £200 for Sport Relief. The 7 young people from Applegate in Colne and Newfields in Bolton who took part were some of the first to finish and virtually sprinted the whole mile. Staff members from Applegate, Brian Garrity and Glenn Doidge, ran 6 miles each and even the Assistant Teacher, Margaret Berry’s dog, Charlie completed the event.
Another of northerncare’s homes, The Nook, organised their own event where the staff and 3 of the young lads walked nearly 5 miles over the tops of Colne and Trawden, whilst their Deputy Manager and 2 other boys ran 3 miles over the tops of Colne and Nelson.
Over at children’s home, Park View in Accrington, young people and staff took part in a sponsored snorkel on Saturday 15th March completing as many laps of Fleetwood swimming pool as they could in 30 minutes. The boys and their Home Manager, Julian Dale-Hutchinson completed an impressive 173 lengths between them and Julian managed to break his record from last time by completing 52 lengths whilst one of the young people did a staggering 47 lengths. Congratulations and thanks to all the young people for their hard work and positive attitude. So far they have raised over £300 for Sport Relief.
There is unfortunately a great deal of negative press in relation to looked after children, so it is nice to recognise these young people’s positive efforts in committing themselves to helping others less fortunate than themselves.
northerncare would like to say a big thank to everyone for making the effort and taking part in these events which raise money to be used both in this country and abroad. A small amount goes a long way and the money we raised will be used well by Sport Relief.
Heidi Lodge, Deputy Manager at Applegate, felt that, “It was great to see our young people and staff raise money and contribute to this worthwhile cause and achieve a goal whilst enjoying taking part in the event. Plus, it shows that young people can be caring and think of others less fortunate than themselves rather than just being labeled with a reputation of being “hoodies”. A big thank you goes to all who helped organise the events and to all who took the time to take part and raise donations for this deserved charity.”
Founded in 1999, northerncare is a privately owned company which has grown to be one of the largest providers of residential childcare with DCSF registered education in the UK, predominantly looking after children aged 5-17 years with emotional behavioural difficulties but also offering specialist services including Assessment Centres. northerncare have nearly 450 dedicated staff working with over 120 children and young people in 26 homes nationwide who regularly take part in fundraising events for charity.
Contact: Laura Harvie, Marketing Executive, northerncare on 01253
316160 or laura.harvie@northern-care.co.uk
northerncare Sponsor Community Care Live 14th and 15th May 2008
northerncare are proud to again be sponsors of Community Care Live and also the launch of The Excellence Network, being held at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London. As one of the UK’s largest providers of residential childcare with DCSF registered education to boys and girls aged 5 to 17 years old with emotional behavioural difficulties we understand the commitment it takes to give our young people the same life opportunities as their peers in the community. We also offer a specialist service for young men displaying harmful sexual behaviour as well as two short-term Assessment Centres.
We will be hosting a workshop, “Providing Positive Outcomes for Young People Who Display Sexually Harmful Behaviours” at 10.30-11.20am on Wednesday 14th May in Room 3 where our Consultant Clinical Psychologist will present a model of Residential Therapeutic Care that explicitly draws upon effective practice principles from the therapeutic and rehabilitation literatures.
We are also exhibiting at stands 82 and 84 and hope you will come and visit us to find out about our ongoing expansion plans across the country as well as details of our joint working with local authorities delivering improved outcomes for children and young people and significant savings for the local authority.
If you will not be able to attend this conference, but would like to arrange a meeting or visit to any of our homes, please contact Howard Woolfenden (Managing Director) on 01253 316160.
Register for Community Care Live 08
FC United Tournament 1st March 2008
northerncare would like to thank everyone who took part in our football tournament in partnership with FC United of Manchester on Saturday 1st March. The day was a great success with nearly 100 children and young people aged 10 to 17 years from northerncare homes and from local authority homes including Bury, Salford and Oldham competing to win trophies. Our biggest crowd yet!
Afterwards we were well and truly looked after by everyone at Gigg Lane where FC United play their home games. The trophies along with medals and goody bags for all who took part were presented by two FC United players and northerncare’s Managing Director, Howard Woolfenden. Everyone then watched the Bamber Bridge game which turned out to be one of FC United’s toughest in front of their biggest crowd, packed with northerncare who even got mentioned in the national football papers. The final score was 2-2.
Congratulations to the trophy winners on the day:
The Cup Winners: The Yellow Team from Salford
Runners Up: The Sky Blue Team from Bury
Shield Winners: The Black Team
Plate Winners: The Purple Team
Well done to all who took part and to all the staff who supported and managed the teams on the day.
“Thanks to northerncare and FC United. We all thoroughly enjoyed the day and are looking forward to doing it all again at the next tournament.”
Wendy Powell, Child and Family Worker, Bury LAC Team
“It was clear to see from the expressions on all the young people’s faces how much a day like this makes a difference. It provides a truly positive experience which all our young people can look back on. The value and rewards from such a well run event are evident and clear to see for a long time afterwards.”
Roy Hinchcliffe, Senior Residential Child Care Worker, Salford City Council
“FC United were exceptionally pleased with the turnout for the 1st March football tournament and that the participants are increasing year on year. We are proud to be working in partnership with northerncare, promoting and building links with positive community activities for children and young people.”
Vinny Thompson, Community Development Manager, FC United of Manchester
If children and young people from your local authority would like to get involved in the next tournament, please contact Laura Harvie on freephone 0800 040 7870 for more details.
Ofsted Outstanding Provider Award
On Saturday 12th January 2008, northerncare collected their award from Ofsted for Outstanding Provider 2006-2007 after our home, The Limes in Tameside was judged as “Outstanding” during their inspections between 1st September 2006 and 31st July 2007. During that period, 7% of all children’s homes inspected by Ofsted achieved Outstanding. Since this time, 38% of northerncare’s homes have been awarded an overall quality rating of “Outstanding” with all of our other homes achieving a rating of “Good”. The celebrations in London were attended by over 500 professionals from varying public and private services including Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Ofsted, Christine Gilbert (pictured: back row, middle). northerncare’s Director of Operations, Billy Grace and Home Manager for The Limes, Joanne Roughley attended. Billy is delighted with this recognition, commenting, “northerncare prides itself on delivering local authorities with positive outcomes for children and young people so to be recognised as Outstanding by Ofsted is a tribute to all our staff and to the high level of quality care and education they deliver.”
The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100
Sunday 2nd December 2007 is a prestigious day in northerncare’s calendar as we have been published in The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100. Now in its 11th year, the national league table ranks Britain's hundred private companies with the fastest growing sales over the last three years. The league table and profiles of the 100 companies can also be viewed on www.fasttrack.co.uk.
Achieving a place in this league table not only highlights northerncare’s business success and national growth over the past years, but recognises the hard work of all our staff who are committed to improving the lives of children and young people in care.
David Rae, Chief Executive at northerncare is delighted
at the company’s achievement and feels "this accolade provides an acknowledgement
of the long-term investment made by the Directors at northerncare
in the quality of our care and education. We also feel this cements our
place as the provider of choice for many local authorities who demand
positive outcomes for young people and value for money from their placements.
Our growth and development will continue as we focus on providing what
our customers need through our special partnership contracts and our retention
of our excellent staff. I would like to thank the researchers and staff
at The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 for spending time getting to
know about the quality and about the people at northerncare
and I am proud to receive this on behalf of the residential children’s
homes market.
Holly House opens!
northerncare’s expansion plan has reached its next stage with the opening of Holly House in Derby. As part of our EBD boys provision, Holly House can offer emergency or long-term placements to young men coming out of secure accommodation, those whose foster placement has broken down and those who display challenging behaviours. This home provides care and education packages for six young men aged 11 to 17 years. Holly House also offers semi-supported living for a seventh young person with a bungalow situated at the back of the building with a fully fitted kitchen with appliances, a fully furnished lounge and bedroom with on-suite facilities. For vacancy details about this or any of our other 24 homes, please contact us on freephone 0800 040 7870.
Proud Sponsors of Community Care: The Excellence Network
northerncare are delighted to be part of this new innovation: The Excellence Network.
Community Care’s new honours programme has a simple but significant objective – to recognise excellence and share it with the whole of social care.
A panel of leading figures in the sector will assess the new ways of working displayed by the entries and the best will receive a Certificate of Achievement from the Care Services Minister at a high profile event.
Community Care is taking entries from teams across the whole of social care’s client groups informing them of their excellence in one (or more) of the following categories:
partnership working
early intervention
user involvement
self-directed care
training and development
Alongside this celebration of teamwork, The Excellence Network will also
recognise Community Care Champions. They’ll be individuals who have gone
beyond the call of duty. The awards will be presented in May 2008 at the
honours ceremony.
For more information visit
http://www.theexcellencenetwork.co.uk/index.html
If you would like more information about northerncare’s
services please call us on freephone 0800 040 7870.
Newfields, Bolton opens
Due to our increased partnerships with local authorities and our continued national success, northerncare expanded their provision for 11 to 17 year old males with emotional social behavioural difficulties with the opening of our new home, Newfields in Bolton on Monday 29th October. This home can offer emergency and long-term care along with on-site DCSFregistered education to 6 young men.
Blackpool Football Club Kit Donation
northerncare strives to enable young people in care to move forward to build positive futures and have the same life opportunities as their peers in the community. As part of our mission we have strong ties in all of the local communities in which our homes are based and through various schemes and projects we involve children and young people in positive activities in the community. Blackpool Football Club, whose strong links with the local community include youth development teams, have kindly donated last season’s football kits to northerncare for ages 8 to 17. northerncare’s Children’s Services Manager, Steven Cardwell, and Home Manager, Terry Green, met up with the Centre of Excellence Manager for Blackpool FC, Gareth Barker, at their training ground to accept the kits.
Conferences and Events
northerncare will again be exhibiting at Community Care Children and Families, London on Thursday 11th October 2007 at the Business Design Centre, Islington and we would love for you to come along and see us at stands 6 and 7. northerncare will also be exhibiting at the National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC) at the Bournemouth International Centre on 17-19 October 2007. This 3-day event is vital to senior officers, policy-makers and service managers with responsibilities for children’s care in the statutory, voluntary and private sector and we are proud to be involved in such a high profile, national event. If you would like to discuss more about what northerncare has to offer and What We Do Different please come along and speak with one of our representatives at stand P55.
Rowan House opens!
northerncare are pleased to announce the opening of Rowan House, a 6-bedded residential home in Coventry for young men aged 11 to 17 who display challenging behaviours. This home forms part of the beginning of a portfolio of new homes being opened as part of our contract with Coventry City Council. This excellent provision can offer emergency placements together with long-term care and education packages. Please contact us for vacancy details on 0800 040 7870.
Congratulations to Lacey!
Northerncare would like to say a big well done and thank you to Lacey who has recently moved on from her placement at Evaglades to independent living in Preston. She is hoping to begin a 2 year course at Preston College in September to become a qualified Teaching Assistant for children aged 4 and 5 years old and as soon as she turns 17 wants to start driving lessons.
Lacey has made substantial and significant positive changes in her life throughout her stay at northerncare and has helped in the production of the company’s first short-film DVD. northerncare’s Operations Director, Billy Grace and Rachel Cundy, the Manager of Evaglades presented Lacey with a framed plaque celebrating her successes. All the staff team at Evaglades and Head Office would like to wish her every success in the future.
northerncare Fun Day
Following on from the successful partnership between northerncare and FC United of Manchester and our joint ethos of involving children and young people in positive activities in their communities, northerncare are sponsoring Blackpool Mechanics Football Club this season, 2007-08.
Furthermore, northerncare organised, in conjunction with Phil Days from the club, a pre-season friendly at Mechanics’ home ground of Jepson Way, Blackpool against FC United on Sunday 22nd July. This was incorporated into a northerncare Fun Day which included a bouncy castle, face painting and a penalty shoot out competition.
Many northerncare homes came along to enjoy the day and take part in the penalty shootout which was eventually won by one of the young men from Piers House who was awarded with a signed FC United shirt.
The sun held out all day and over 450 people came to watch the match which ended up 2-1 to FC United.
Launch of company DVD
We are proud to announce the launch of our new company DVD at the Care and Health conference in Manchester on Monday 30th April.
Many young people spend their childhood in and out of the public care system. The emotional and social plight of these young people must never be dismissed, nor ignored. northerncare aim to provide the very best care and DCSFregistered education for all our young people in order to help them build positive futures and maximise their opportunities. Through this short film you can see how we manage to achieve the result we do. Meet our staff, meet some of our young people and listen to their views on the service they receive.
To request a copy of this DVD, please call Laura Harvie on freephone 0800 040 7870.
To watch a preview, please click on the play button below.
FC United Tournament
northerncare held their second football tournament in partnership with FC United of Manchester for young people in care in our homes and across AGMA’s authorities on Saturday 21st April. This was due to the huge success of our first tournament last year where a team from Salford won the cup and over 60 young people took part.
We had 9 teams taking part this time with over 80 young people including teams from Bury, Salford, Oldham and Macclesfield. The tournament was held at Bury College and all the young people, staff and event organisers went to Gigg Lane to watch FC United’s home game after where they won 4-2 against Salford City!
northerncare presented trophies to the overall Cup winners and Runners-up, winners of the Shield and the Plate and Players of the Tournament from each age category. All the young people who took part received a T-shirt and were presented with a medal, certificate and an FC United goody bag. The Cup Winners were from Bury (the Sky Blue Team) who also got the added bonus of being presented with the Cup by an FC United player at half-time on the pitch at Gigg Lane. Well done to them! Congratulations also go to the Red Team who were the overall runners-up, the White Team who won the Shield and the Orange Team who won the Plate, and of course to all the staff who came down and supported and managed the teams on the day.
Care and Health Conference, Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Manchester, 30th April 2007
northerncare are extremely proud to announce their commercial
partnership with Care and Health for their conference “Effective Corporate
Parenting for Children in Care - taking forward the Green Paper vision”.
The conference will see the launch of northerncare’s
new DVD, in which we give an insight into the care provided for children
and young people.
David Rae, northerncare’s Managing Director, will be
taking part in the morning panel debate. Take a look below at David’s
views on the current landscape in children’s services and the place of
residential care providers.
The government has outlined plans to focus on problem families
from the birth of their first child. Can we really identify children at
risk of offending? Is this really as scary as the press has made out or
actually a positive thing to do?
It is my view that children who have experienced chaotic and dysfunctional
family backgrounds respond with learnt behaviours and offending is part
of a cycle of neglect which needs to be broken. It is my view that we
must not stigmatise or profile with regards to offending or potential
to offend but nor must we be afraid of political correctness and hide
behind equality.
My view is government must strive to support the most challenging families
by providing the ‘right’ intervention at the ‘right’ time and by doing
so will support the children and hopefully reduce offending. The relationship
between ‘the press’ and government, particularly within social care, needs
to be improved and a common understanding of the challenges of modern
Britain built into headlines. Spin is part of the modern world and headlines
about supporting the most in need must be balanced so as to give the practitioners
a chance to succeed.
What sort of interventions will achieve the kind of outcomes that
the government is looking for?
Strong role modelling, supporting parents and encouraging stability within
the family network. Educational attainment is one element but welfare
and feeling safe are essential to young people’s success. I believe that
early observation and support will help, but resources will remain an
issue in this area. Fundamentally, as entry levels increase, we are getting
riskier and riskier and this needs to be understood at senior levels.
Do you think the government will get this right or are they trying
to do too much?
Generally I applaud the spirit of much of the current administration’s
work. However, often there has been too much legislation and it is barely
in before the next major change comes along. The key people at operational
level need to be taken on the journey to ensure that Every Child Matters
everywhere and not just in government speak. I think the industry needs
to aim higher and trust the people to do the jobs they are employed to
do rather than keep adding more and more bureaucracy. Trust the staff
and don’t over legislate.
Do you think the Green Paper on looked-after children has made
a difference in the approaches to residential care for children by local
authorities?
I think it has made people think which is good. However, there are as
many questions as answers. I like the aims and aspirations and, whilst
challenging, I think the industry can do much better. I don’t understand
the double standard with regards to a veto for foster care until 21 but
not residential homes and believe that is inappropriate and discriminatory.
I also believe that residential care is often the right placement and
can be a positive choice for some young people. It should not be relegated
to the history books. There are major challenges with the fostering system
that I also believe residential care can help to solve in a positive way
rather than being seen as a rival.
Have you seen a change in the way your services are commissioned
by local authorities – such as long-term, stable placements?
Not really. Locality and placement match are important but so is price
and availability. I believe that the many good authorities are trying
to improve stability but don’t seem able to commit: it just drags on if
it is working which is not the best for either the provider or the purchaser,
or, more importantly the young person.
There are some innovative approaches to commissioning which have seen
the contracts come into play and I passionately believe that if the spirit
of the contract is right there will be major gains for all involved. Our
significant contracts with Bradford and Coventry give northerncare
the opportunity to evidence this.
Are the numbers of children with behavioural problems increasing or have
they remained at a constant number? Why do you think that is?
The scale of young people entering our care has increased in my five years
within the sector. Many of the young people we look after would previously
have been in secure accommodation. Behaviours are becoming more extreme
but it is important to remember that if you have had fifteen placements
you are expecting it to fail so you might as well demonstrate poor behaviour.
I believe the professionals in the sector must challenge the young people
more and trust them to invest in their placements. We have seen significant
benefits from challenging behaviour early and setting a standard which
then becomes the norm.
Should the wider public be educated about children with behavioural problems
and the sort of issues that you are dealing with? And what about the local
communities in which you work?
I think that there is a real need for education of the general public
with regards to the challenges faced by children in general in modern
Britain but also the challenges faced by those looking after the needs
of young people.
We need to develop more understanding of why behavioural challenges occur
and make sure that we turn the tide against becoming a blame nation. I
believe that young people must be integrated into their local communities,
if safe for all concerned, and this will have the effect of giving the
person responsibility and the community some ownership of the young person.
It is my opinion that our industry must wave the flag to attract more
talented people into the sector as we need to keep experienced skill in
the sector and I believe status and acknowledgement of a community can
make a huge difference. There are so many positive stories and images
which should be shared and we must make time to acknowledge and support
achievement both by young people and staff.
How do you see residential care developing in the future?
Clearly we are in a challenging market place with a saturated market and
more and more challenging young people to look after. I welcome the move
to open up local authority homes to the same standards, scrutiny and true
cost evaluation as non-local authority provisions. Residential care standards
have improved in recent years and this needs to continue but providers
need some certainty of trade to be able to train and develop staff.
Clearly the challenges of fostering offer opportunity to residential care
to support and develop integrated solutions but this must be done with
the young person at its heart, not a short-term financial win. I believe
that residential care will be well placed to support treatment foster
care via the tiered approach currently being discussed. However, there
is a core challenge to retain and motivate the priceless staff and develop
a robust team who can help make a difference to young people’s lives.
What gives you the greatest satisfaction in your job?
Developing services which deliver across all the disciplines. For example,
service models which deliver outcomes for young people but integrating
this with the need for local authority money saving.
Personally I get a real kick when I see our homes running projects which
involve the local community.
Why did you decide to work in this sector?
For the opportunity to get my ‘hands dirty’ and make a real difference
by building a business which is best of breed.
northerncare are the proud sponsors of Coventry City Ladies Football Club
When Coventry City Ladies Football Club heard that northerncare were interested in raising our profile in the Midlands area, their Publicity Manager suggested that we might like to sponsor a set of match kits.
In fact, the deal as eventually agreed, was that we would sponsor the waterproof tracksuits of all eight girls teams and the Under 16 ‘A’ teams match kit.
Early in December, Pamela Woods, Director of Children’s Services and Bill Baker, Children’s Services Manager represented northerncare at a ceremony when a giant cheque was handed over to the accompaniment of three cheers from the assembled girls’ teams.
The northerncare Managers were really impressed by the standard of skill and sportsmanship displayed by the girls in their practice matches. In the New Year our logo will be seen on football pitches across the Midlands as ‘our’ girls play girls teams from Sheffield United, Derby County, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City. The full fixture list and a photo of the U16 ‘A’ team in our kit can be seen at www.cclfc.co.uk. We wish the ladies teams every success in their future matches.
Community Care Live, Children and Families 2007
northerncare is the proud sponsor of Community Care Live. As the largest private provider in the North West it is only natural for us to support the main social care event in Manchester which is a free conference and exhibition for everyone working with children and families.
Community Care Live Children & Families Manchester takes place at the Manchester International Convention Centre, on 1st February.
northerncare and Howard Woolfenden, Coventry City Council are hosting a seminar at the event which enables us to share best practice. Come and view our seminar at 11.20am in Breakout 2 and 3.
Speed Dating V’s Marriage; The relationship with providers of residential childcare
northerncare has a number of successful contracts and is able to share how it can be beneficial to have a contractual relationship rather than spot purchasing and how lower prices are not at the cost of good quality care.
Learning Outcomes:
- How to access high quality care with valuable return on investment
- Working in partnership without compromising on care
- Appropriate placements of children, set against individual needs
- How to reduce the amount of moves and encourage stability
- Developing services according to local authority needs
Coventry Contract
northerncare is proud to have been awarded the contract to look after Coventry City Councils young people for the next ten years. This successful partnership has been borne of a desire to provide the very best outcomes for young people through quality residential child care. Our quality of staff and facilities will enable us to deliver our shared responsibilities and bring employment to the Coventry area. We are looking forward to a long and prosperous partnership and keeping the young people near home.
Sycamore House, Withernsea Opens
Owing to our continued success and large demand from the East Yorkshire area our model of quality care and education at realistic prices continues to grow.We are pleased to announce the opening of Sycamore House in Withernsea. This home opened at the beginning of October and already is helping children to achieve positive outcomes. It can offer care and education for 6 young men of 11-17 years of age with challenging behaviour.
New Assessment Centre, Preston
Our first Assessment Centre has been successful, and so positive in fact, that we are now expanding the service and the number of placements available due to demand. Our centres provide not only an invaluable psychological assessment and report providing an insight into the nature of the young person’s difficulties but also an academic report analysing his educational history and attainments. Oakwood in Preston can offer a 28 day assessment and from this the most suitable follow on placement can be found.
northerncare and Football Club United Manchester Ticket Initiative.
northerncare and the supporter-owned football club, FC United, provide free tickets to Greater Manchester’s young people in care and their carers for all the club’s home fixtures this season, 2006-07.
northerncare is particularly keen, not only to encourage young people enjoying the big match atmosphere provided at FC United, but also to engage in other activities with the club e.g. participation in football tournaments, work experience and artistic competitions.
Link to website
The Elms, Bradford Now Open
northerncare is pleased to announce the opening of a seven-bedded residential home for young men in Yorkshire between the ages of 11-17.
This excellent provision can offer care and on-site DCSFregistered education in a fully refurbished and spacious building. The Elms can offer emergency and planned placements for either short or long-term care. In addition, it has the facility to offer 90 day assessments. Any unsafe behaviour will be considered on completion of a risk assessment.
Primrose Cottage, Bury opens.
We are pleased to announce the opening of a new provision for young women in Bury, Greater Manchester. This service will provide care and education in the on-site DCSFregistered school for 6 young women aged 11 to 17 years who display challenging behaviours. Please contact us for vacancy details on 0800 040 7870.
National Children and Adult Services Conference 2006.
18th to 20th October 2006, Brighton Hilton Metropole
northerncare is looking forward to exhibiting at this prestigious conference for the first time. This year's theme is "'New beginnings: firm foundations." The event is jointly organised between the ADSS and the LGA.
The conference will provide an opportunity to consider issues of community engagement, education, outcome focused services, social care, choice, lifelong learning, innovation and excellence in service provision. Underpinning this work and a key theme for this conference will be building and supporting the staff that will deliver these services.