As we approach the end of 2024 we thought it would be good to reflect on what has been a fantastic year for us at Thera South West by focusing on some of our best stories.
New Service Quality Director
Towards the end of 2023 Sam Avery joined Thera South West as their Service Quality Director after quite a long search for the right person. Sam made the role her own immediately and made an impact within the organisation.
Over 2024 Sam has helped raise awareness about what being a Service Quality Director entails and the importance of utilising people with lived experience in monitoring the support of people with a learning disability, through documenting her journey in our “My first year” series.
As she progressed through the year Sam discussed her first few months, the challenges she has experienced in the past attempting to find work as someone with lived experience of a learning disability, her experiences in giving a voice to the people we support, and Thera South West’s plans for the future.
Outreach, Outreach, Outreach
2024 has seen a renewed focus on community outreach for Thera South West with the aim of raising awareness of our model of support and building partnerships with external organisations whilst building our own brand and ensuring as many people as possible receive the highest quality of support to lead the lives they choose.
Estelle Christmas, Managing Director, and Sam Avery, Service Quality Director celebrated national Learning Disability week by taking the opportunity to meet people in their local community and other support organisations by attending a music festival day. Here, they liased with Space, an organisation that helps people with a learning disability stay physically active, and were invited to join a football club for people with lived experience of a learning disability.
They were also recently invited onto CHBN, a community and hospital radio station in Truro where they discussed how Sam came to join Thera and their philosophy that people with a learning disability can be leaders in society.
You can listen to their interview here – their interviews begin at the 21 minute mark
People supported build a home gym
Mark and Alice are two young people supported by Thera South West. They live with two other individuals in a house that Thera South West provides supported living to. They are all young individuals with a lot of energy and required means, and facilities, to release that energy and maintain levels of physical fitness.
The staff team that support them helped them to build a home gym in their garage space. Equipment was donated from staff members to fill it out with a treadmill, a rowing machine, and some free weights. Leandra Sims, project manager, described the process:
They are all fairly active people with lots of energy and it’s important for their mental and physical health to have positive ways to release it. Staff donated equipment and we moved it in so they all have a space where they can exercise whenever they want. They love it.
The house also has an art room for the people we support to be creative and express themselves. Art and art therapy are becoming a more well known part of support work with a myriad of benefits being discovered and discussed amongst those is the social care sector. Supporting people to enjoy healthy practices is a key part of support work. The staff team have helped Alice, Mark, and their housemates to build a home they can enjoy and call their own.
