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A hat trick of awards for The Old Moat Garden Centre and Cafe

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Richmond Fellowship’s Old Moat Garden Centre and Cafe in Epsom, Surrey has pulled off the extraordinary feat of winning The Good Retail Awards Community Award for the third year in a row.

The Community Award recognises retailers who have made an effort to give back to their community, honouring companies who have gone above and beyond to transform and enhance the lives of others.

The Old Moat was judged in competition with retailers of all kinds from across the UK.

The Awards are organised by Modern Retail, with the results announced at the massive trade show Spring Fair at the NEC.

Matt Ellis, Garden Centre Manager said:

“To win this award once in 2020 was a huge achievement – to be now picking it up for the third time in 2022 is little short of miraculous! It is a massive tribute to everyone involved in making The Old Moat what it is – the people we support who also contribute so much as they work alongside our team, our invaluable volunteers without whom we couldn’t survive, our hardworking and hugely committed staff and our incredibly loyal and generous customers and supporters, and we thank every single one of them for making it possible”.

The judges all had very high praise for The Old Moat, their comments included:

“The Old Moat continue to show that they put their community first. They have adapted and made sure that despite significant challenges (not just the pandemic, but also a fire on their premises) they continue to offer outstanding support for those in need”.

“It’s always so uplifting to read about the Old Moat – the work they do is so important to so many. I think what impresses me the most is the resilience they have displayed, and how their connection with the community has really allowed them to bounce back as best they can”.

“The Old Moat Garden Centre and Cafe has not only provided an incredible service to so many in the local community, but their team has turned challenges into opportunities, focusing continuously on transforming the lives and futures of those with mental ill health”.

The Old Moat is a social enterprise which helps local people living with mental ill health to gain confidence, skills and qualifications working alongside staff and volunteers in a safe, supportive environment that encourages them to overcome challenges and obstacles and move on to the next step in their recovery.

To find out more about The Good Retail Awards, click here.

Radio Sparky: January 2022 podcast

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Listen to our latest edition of Radio Sparky, the podcast which shines the spotlight on the excellent work happening at Richmond Fellowship services across the country.

In January’s edition, Matt Webb, Communications and Marketing Officer speaks to Antonia Minkova from our Health and Wellbeing community about Winter Wellbeing and ways you can look after your mental health, post the Christmas and New Year holidays.

“For me, trying to be mindful and clearing my head from the clutter is a really useful way, because we really can get lost in our thoughts and maybe even our schedules and that encourages stress. So, finding a way to declutter is really great and if you use some meditation techniques, I think they really do help”. – Antonia, Leecroft House.

Radio Sparky: October 2021 podcast

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Listen to our latest edition of Radio Sparky, the podcast which shines the spotlight on the excellent work happening at Richmond Fellowship services across the country.

In this edition to mark World Mental Health Day 2021; Matt Webb Communications and Marketing Officer speaks to Richmond Fellowship’s Director of Operations Robert Templeton about this year’s theme ‘mental health in an unequal world’ and what the charity is doing to ensure mental health provision is available for all.

“Our crisis beds cost as little as £171 per night and that’s compared to an average cost of at least £400 to a hospital bed, or even £500 a night for an out of area placement. We believe that these Crisis Houses and this type of provision really is something that has a real future in terms of meeting those increasing demands from people who are needing the types of services we provide”. – Robert Templeton, Director of Operations.

Radio Sparky: September 2021 podcast

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Listen to our latest edition of Radio Sparky, the podcast which shines the spotlight on the excellent work happening at Richmond Fellowship services across the country.

In September’s edition to coincide with Recovery Focus Week, Matt Webb, Communications and Marketing Officer speaks to Vicki Pritchard, Service Manager of Richmond Fellowship’s Our Time service in Liverpool and Marshall, a person we support about a podcast series they’ve been producing in collaboration with the BBC.

Listen to the full series of ‘It’s About Time’ podcasts by clicking here.

“I was diagnosed very late in life in my 40s with Asperger’s and it really changed my life completely. It made me understand a lot of things in my life that had happened previously and why I couldn’t do the things I should’ve been able to do. Since then I’ve gone on to learn that Asperger’s is this wonderful gift that I’ve been given. I’ve always been creative and I’ve always been involved in performing and creative arts and through Richmond Fellowship, this podcasting and other courses with them, I’ve been able to do so many things that I’ve never done before”. – Marshall, person we support.

Young People’s Week: Castle service’s Community Mural

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Richmond Fellowship’s Castle service is based in the University City of Cambridge. The service provides Supported Housing for young people between the ages of 16 and 25. It regularly gets involved in community activities including the Mill Road Winter Fair and is very active in fundraising and organising activities for people we support.

But did you know a mural, situated in one of the most cosmopolitan areas of Cambridge was created in partnership with the service?

It’s located on the city’s Mill Road bridge, the same road as the service’s office and has been a positive talking point of the area since its creation in 2006.

The artwork was designed by Sharon, a person staying at the neighbouring Youth Foyer as part of a competition. She spoke to the Cambridge News/Cambridgeshire Live website about it in 2019:

“Castle service were wanting to find a design that would adorn the Mill Road bridge and were encouraging people staying at the Youth Foyer to submit ideas.

The winning concept would be decided by a vote after all the designs were publicly exhibited, she was told.

So, inspired by the multicultural vibrancy of Mill Road, Sharon set to work with a huge, two-metre-long piece of paper and began to create her vision.

The idea, which was intended to represent both “the community of Mill Road and the wider world,” was comprised of a series of adjoining and overlapping flags, all overlaid with a line of irises.

Sharon said: “It took about three or four months for me to actually finish it.

“I was doing it every day, even on the weekends. It was my way of trying to stay afloat and not sink into depression.

“I didn’t know where I was going to go after.”

The designs were voted on, both by members of the public and residents of the Youth Foyer and the Castle Project, and Sharon’s proposal was chosen as one of the winning designs.

So, along with volunteers and residents from the Castle service and the Cambridge Youth Foyer, she set about painting the mural in the summer of 2006.

Sharon said: “We all got together and painted it. It really brought us together.

“After that, it really helped us to remain bonded. For many of us who didn’t have anywhere to go at Christmas, it was nice to have that little feeling of community and camaraderie.”

She added: “I’m extremely proud of the effort and support put in by the volunteers who helped me to create a moment so bright in my life when there was only darkness.

“This project spring-boarded me forward into where I am now.”

Follow our social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with #YoungPeoplesWeek.

Recovery Focus group named in the Top 10 Most Inclusive Workplaces 2021

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The Recovery Focus group, which Richmond Fellowship is part of, has come 10th out of 100 in the National Centre for Diversity’s FREDIE Awards’ Most Inclusive Workplaces Index 2021.

The National Centre for Diversity is responsible for the industry standard Investors in Diversity accreditation. Their FREDIE Awards recognise excellence from private, public and third sector organisations around Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement (FREDIE).

Helen Edwards CBE, Chair of the Recovery Focus group said:

“This award recognises the hard work we’ve undertaken to embrace diversity, equality and inclusion across our group of charities. It also highlights the hard work of all our staff and volunteers across the Recovery Focus Group of charities – especially in what’s been a challenging year.

There is always more to do, and as a group we’re committed to continuing the work, listening to our staff and ensuring a fair and respectful workplace culture”.

Solat Chaudhry, Chief Executive at the National Centre for Diversity said:

“I send my warmest congratulations to Recovery Focus Group on successfully reaching number 10 in the Top 100 Most Inclusive Workplaces Index 2021. It’s been a challenging year and yet, it has not dented the excellent work that organisations and individuals do in promoting FREDIE best practice.

We had to have these awards this year. We could not ignore the fantastic efforts that everyone has continued doing. I congratulate everyone who works so hard day-in day-out to maintain these high standards.

Through the work of the FREDIEs we are able to build a better society, and our winners come from a wonderful cross section of private, public, education and charity sectors representing the very best.”

To find out more about working at Recovery Focus and the charities in the group, click here.

Mental Health Awareness Week – BBC News presenter Julian Worricker blog

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For Mental Health Awareness Week 2021, journalist Julian Worricker has penned a personal blog exclusively for Richmond Fellowship about his experience of a friend’s battle with mental ill health.

Julian is a presenter on the BBC News channel, Radio 4 and the BBC World Service.

“I have a photo on the window ledge of my study, and each time I look up from my computer keyboard it catches my eye. It’s a close-up of a dear friend of mine…she’s leaning forward, chin resting on her hands, smiling broadly, as she so often did. I look at her sometimes when I’m in need of a bit of wise advice – she was always very good at wise advice – and occasionally I look at her with a hint of envy because she remains ever youthful while I’ve added lots of grey hairs and a few kilos since we were last able to meet in person. You can probably guess where this story is going.

This dear friend – Sue – took her own life in 1998; a shattering blow to her partner, her family, and to all those of us who knew her. It was a horrible culmination of acute mental health issues that she wrestled with over a number of years, and it’s why shining a brighter spotlight on mental health has always been important to me.

I’ve been very fortunate, in that my experience of fragile mental health has been mostly seen through the travails of others. Like everyone I’ve had my ups and downs, my good days and bad, but none of those come close to the challenges faced by people like Sue. Her normally bright and bubbly personality could be transformed in a matter of hours by her illness. The shutters would come down, there’d be a blankness to her facial expression, and whatever you tried by way of casual conversation was met with a look of tiredness, indifference and confusion. I didn’t understand why, but you could tell she didn’t either.

I feel sure that if she were alive today, she’d be able to look back with pride at an increasingly successful broadcasting career…and still forwards, too, to more of the same. She’d still love a bit of gossip about the workplace, she’d never lose sight of some of the dafter aspects of what we do for a living, and she’d still be thinking of others before she thought of herself.

So I hope Mental Health Awareness Week can reduce the numbers of stories like hers.

The global pandemic has tested all of us, and it’s probably raised the issue of mental health in the minds of people who’ve not had to think about it a great deal before. The timing, therefore, could be serendipitous. Let’s make the push for greater awareness count, and ensure that our decision makers live up to their promises on this crucial issue”. – Julian Worricker.

You can watch Julian’s introductory video to Mental Health Awareness Week at Richmond Fellowship here and follow our social media channels across the week for more Mental Health Awareness Week stories.

Radio Sparky: May Mental Health Awareness Week 2021 video special

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To mark Mental Health Awareness Week 2021, we’ve a special video episode of Radio Sparky, the podcast which shines the spotlight on the excellent work happening at Richmond Fellowship services across the country.

In May’s edition, Matt Webb, Communications and Marketing Officer speaks to John from our Cambridgeshire Employment Service and Leah from Leicestershire Life Links about how they’ve been Connecting with Nature as coronavirus lockdown restrictions begin to ease.

Radio Sparky: April 2021 podcast

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Listen to our latest edition of Radio Sparky, the podcast which shines the spotlight on the excellent work happening at Richmond Fellowship services across the country.

In April 2021’s edition Matt Webb, Communications and Marketing Officer speaks to Stephen Purcell, Service Manager at our Beeches 24 hour Supported Housing service in Liverpool about what it’s like working on the frontline in a service, how they’ve adapted during the coronavirus pandemic and their service’s involvement in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch.

“We’ve done activities within the service. We’ve done the Big Garden Birdwatch for the RSPB whereby that was observing birds in your garden and recording them which the residents really enjoyed, so it was an activity that we could do within the confines of our beautiful garden here in The Beeches” – Stephen, Service Manager.

Bath, Swindon & Wiltshire IPS Employment service achieves Centre of Excellence status

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Richmond Fellowship’s Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire IPS Employment service has been recognised as a high fidelity service and has once again become a recognised Centre of Excellence in IPS Employment Practice across the local Clinical Commissioning group by the Centre for Mental Health.

Following expansion with Wave 2 and 3 IPS funding, the Wiltshire service has grown from 7 staff to 19 across the Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire areas.

The team has been working to achieve a Centre of Excellence status for the 2 new services, building on the Wiltshire service’s original award 3 years ago.

Speaking to the Service Manager Mariana Law; Jan Hutchinson, lead auditor from the Centre for Mental Health said:

“Your team are a really vibrant and energetic group who are providing great examples of their work. Also your NHS colleagues are speaking very highly of them. I am impressed.

I am left with the lasting impression that Richmond Fellowship has been fabulously successful in recruiting a special group of people who have the right skills, but also the right attitude and are willing to go ‘the extra mile’ for their clients on a regular basis”.

The service has supported a total of 132 clients into paid employment from April 2020 up to February 2021 and a further 19 clients to retain their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

There are currently 23 Centres of Excellence in England and Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire will now be one of these.

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Richmond Fellowship is part of Recovery Focus, a group of charities with the shared aim to Inspire Recovery Together www.recoveryfocus.org.uk

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