MONDAY 26 SEPTEMBER - Farewells

The past few days have see a number of farewell events for two of our directors who are leaving after long and distinguished service to the Somerset Care Group. Audrey Derrick has been with the Company since it was formed and has been a very active non executive director for much of that time having moved on from her operational role in the late nineties. She has been intricately engaged in the development of our business more recently as Vice Chairman of the Group and as Chairman of Acacia Training and Development Ltd. Her experience, judgement, wise counsel and absolute commitment to the Company have been key factors in its success.

Also bidding farewell has been John Parrott, our long serving Director of Finance and Development. John has been an executive director of the Group for all its twenty years, having moved out from Somerset County Council with the team that established the Company in 1991. As a deeply experienced finance director John has steered all the investments and developments that the Group has undertaken with immense skill. He is retiring from his main role but will remain in touch for the time being as a director of YourLife Management Services.

Both John and Audrey have been attending farewell parties across the Group. Here they are cutting the cake at the Somerset Care Managers farewell lunch on 22 September.

On Monday John was surprised by the Central Office Staff who arranged a "Car Park Party" with food, fun and games. John was presented with a number of meaningful gifts including a book of messages and pictures from throughout the Group.

We send both Audrey and John off to the land of retirement with our fondest best wishes and thanks for all the wonderful work they have done to help make Somerset Care Group such a successful organisation.

John, Alyson and Audrey with AL at the Farewell Lunch.

WEDNESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER - The Blog is Back!

Dear Blog Readers,
Firstly my apologies for the break in blog activity over the summer. It has been a period of much activity and change at Somerset Care and my own life is turning upside down. Now it's time for a catch up as I count down to my departure.

After 10 wonderful years with the Group my time is drawing to a close and I am off to take up a new challenge in Australia as CEO of Southern Cross Care (South Australia and Northern Territories) based in Adelaide. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to round off my executive career in a new job leading a well established and highly respected company and taking it on as the present CEO retires after 14 very successful years at the helm.

It was a big decision to take to make this change but not really a difficult one. After 10 years it is time for a change of leadership for Somerset Care and it is always important for a CEO to leave in an orderly fashion and while one or two people are sorry to see him go. Staying beyond ones "sell by" date is definitely to be discouraged! I have absolute confidence in the very talented team of executives and managers who are very well placed to take Somerset Care Group forward on the next stage of it's journey. The past 10 years has been the best period of my career by far and I have loved the variety and interest that every day has brought. Above all I have enjoyed being part of a magnificent team of people who are all utterly committed to making a positive difference in the ways they support people through care, support and training. The Group enjoys a high reputation for the quality of it's services and this has been achieved by thousands of dedicated staff. It has been a real privilege for me to play a part in that success story. As you may imagine though I am now much looking forward to the adventure and challenges ahead.

The big news this week has been the announcement that Alyson Martin has been selected, after a national recruitment and rigorous selection process, to take on the role of Chief Executive. I could not be more delighted.

Alyson's appointment will, I know, be warmly welcomed throughout the Group. Hers is a wonderful story of progress through a full career in the social care sector from Care Assistant to CEO. She is an inspirational leader and I am absolutely confident that the Somerset Care Group will continue to grow and prosper under her leadership. I could not think of anyone better suited to taking on this role and I am absolutely delighted that the selection panel of our Non Executive Directors were unanimously of the same mind.

I will be departing at the end of October and will hope to see many managers and staff before I go. To those I don't see I would want to send very best wishes and a warm "thank you" for all you do and all you have done to make the Somerset Care Group successful. This is a very special organisation - people working for people - and making a real difference.

TUESDAY 7 JUNE - A Civic Opening for Grovelands Tea Room

Tuesday was a day for dodging showers as Somerset received some welcome rain for the first time for weeks. The rain in no way dampened the spirits of residents, staff and visitors at the formal opening of the new tea room for our special care unit in a beautifully set out garden shed at the bottom of the garden.

The project has been yet another labour of love by staff and volunteers at Grovelands. Chief amongst these has been our distinguished gardener/ handyman and Mayor of Yeovil - Phil Chandler. The proceedings were got underway by the Yeovil Town Crier.


This was followed by a short speech of welcome by Mayor Phil,


before he was joined by the Mayoress and Grovelands Manager Jackie Howells to cut the ribbon and declare the Tea Room open.


Jackie then proceeded to serve the first cream tea for the residents as she got into practice with a couple of fairy cakes for the Grovelands version of the "Calendar Girls"!


It was a wonderful occasion. Many congratulations to everyone at Grovelands for yet another great innovation for the benefit of the residents. I hope the Tea Room will prove a popular destination for many as they take tea in the garden.

Location:Yeovil

WEDNESDAY 1 JUNE - A Royal day at the Royal

Greetings to all blog readers. I've been off line for a bit with lots going on but little to report. As always though in Somerset Care there is much activity in all areas. May 2011 will be remembered as the month of our move into our magnificent new Croft House. This has gone very well and all our residents have now settled in to their new rooms and surroundings. See my previous post.

However yesterday was a very special day so it's time for an update. For me it was particularly significant as it was the 10th Anniversary of the start of my time as CEO of the Somerset Care Group. I was reflecting on an amazing decade and what has without doubt been the most enjoyable, stimulating and rewarding period of my career to date. It's not over yet!

Somerset Care is a wonderful organization and I feel a great sense of pride and privilege in having been given the opportunity to steer the Group through the second decade of it's existence. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff, managers and directors the Group now enjoys an enviable reputation. We have made tremendous progress in so many ways in building the business, developing people and teams, and in delivering services that continually improve in the never ending quest for the highest quality and professionalism in everything we do. We are a people business and it is the people we are privileged to serve who are, and always will be, our first priority.

So it was in a reflective mood that I set off for the Royal Bath and West Show at Shepton Mallet where I was able to spend some time on the Somerset Care stand with our stars of the show Kim Wilson, Hannah Rowe and Jason Shaw.


We welcomed many visitors to the stand including present and former staff members and a number of relatives of people who had lived or are living in our homes or for whom we provide support in the community. Without exception they were all highly complimentary about the quality of our services.

Jason was demonstrating our own technology solution for older and disabled people - "The Easy PC". It attracted a lot of interest.

The highlight and main purpose of our day at the show was the public launch of our new book of 20 life stories of "Somerset Centenarians". This is our first venture into book publishing and it is our way of marking the first 20 years of Somerset Care.


The book has been brilliantly written by Kalina Newman and it includes wonderful portrait photos of our ladies and gentlemen taken by nationally renowned photographer Anita Corbin. Let me introduce you to two of our stars:


Mabel Stuckey and


Minnie Taylor.

Three of our centenarians joined us at the show for the launch. This included live interviews on BBC Radio Somerset.


Front of picture with the team from the BBC are: left to right - Carol Mohide, Manager of Fletcher House, Hilda Goulding (102) and yours truly. This was followed by a welcome tea break for Hilda in the WI Tea Tent.


Then came the highlight of the day when we were honoured to be joined by HRH The Countess of Wessex. Kalina and I presented her with a copy of our book.


She then spent time chatting with our centenarians before posing for this photo.


Back row left to right are Kalina, HRH, Ann Starr (Ivy's daughter) and me. In front are Hilda Goulding (102) from Fletcher House, Ivy Springham (100) from Greenhill House and Alice Hansford (101) from Southlawns.

So a truly memorable day. Do please now get your hands on a copy of this beautiful book about our wonderful "Somerset Centenarians". It is available on line from Amazon or Waterstones. It is in bookshops throughout Somerset or it can be ordered through the Somerset Care website at www.somersetcare.co.uk.

Location:Shepton Mallet

TUESDAY 10 MAY - Residents move into the new Croft House

After a very successful build project and after years of planning it was a very special day for all of us when our residents moved into their brand new home in Williton. In less than a year since we launched the construction phase we have gone from the laying of the foundation stone:


To the placing of our time capsule under the finished building:


The project has been an outstanding team effort by many people and the move in was completed by our managers, staff and volunteers without a hitch. So many people have been involved that it is impossible to give adequate credit to individuals but here are just some of the volunteers who have turned out over weekends to help plant out the gardens:





The building makes a striking statement of it's presence to anyone driving through Williton.


However such is the quality of the design that it compliments well the architecture of the surrounding buildings.


The interior of the home has been carefully designed to offer a comfortable and interesting living experience for residents with bold use of colour on the walls and in the furnishings.





We believe this new care home will make a major contribution to the community of Williton for many generations to come. I can honestly say that this new building is as good, if not better, than any other home of it's type that I have seen on all my travels round the world visiting care facilities. I hope everyone in the Somerset Care Group will share the pride we feel in delivering this new home.

Location:Williton

WEDNESDAY 20 APRIL - The Deputy Prime Minister drops in for a chat and some Somerset Care fun

Calway House in Taunton was delighted to host a visit today by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, accompanied by Taunton MP Jeremy Browne. Jeremy wanted to show the DPM the most impressive Care Home in his constituency and to give him a chance to experience care services in Somerset at their best. The DPM spent an hour with residents and staff canvassing their opinions and enjoying coffee and laughter in the garden.


The laughter was largely prompted by our own resident comedian, Day Care Co-ordinator Gerri Perkins. While in another conversation Mr Clegg was distracted by riotous laughter amongst a group that included Jeremy.

Upon asking about it's cause Gerri stood up and said "Mr Clegg, I want to make a complaint!". "Oh dear" thought the DPM, "What now?"

"I have been trying to 'poke' Jeremy (on Facebook) but he never 'pokes' me back! What are you going to do about it?". The DPM undertook to address the issue as a matter of priority!


Well done Gerri! You do realise of course that the Honourable Member for Taunton Deane is also Minister of State at the Foreign Office. A Government "Grand Fromage"! Keep 'poking'!

Well done to everyone at Calway for showing off our service to the VIPs at it's very best.

Location:Taunton

TUESDAY 19 APRIL - Out and about

As England basks in beautiful spring weather and with the prospect of our unseasonal mini heat wave extending over the Easter weekend it is definitely time for the Chief Executive to get out of the office. So today I made the most of the opportunity of the cancellation of a meeting that would have taken me to the National Audit Office in London to get out into the Somerset countryside. The landscape is looking spectacular right now with the striking yellow of oil seed rape fields in bloom. Our local cider orchards, about to burst into flower, are providing restful shade for large numbers of young lambs. This is a wonderful time of year.

In our homes there is much activity underway to prepare for Easter and there seems to be some excitement building about a certain wedding due to take place next week. The party preparations for wedding day are in full swing in all our homes.

It was a pleasure to pay a visit to Burnworthy in South Petherton for a chat with our Manager Karen Roberts, some of our residents and members of the staff team. The home was looking bright and very well presented with the gardens looking great in the spring sunshine. There are currently no vacancies but there were two couples visiting while I was there hoping to identify residential places for elderly relatives. It seems that demand for places is as high as ever.

Burnworthy is a typical Somerset Care home that enjoys the strongest of links with it's local community and I was interested to hear from Karen of the contacts she and her staff have with local school and youth groups. We discussed how we want our homes to be seen as focal hubs of community activity. My thanks to Karen and the team for a delightful visit. I hope everyone enjoys the festivities of the coming days.

Location:South Petherton