Zest Awards Special 2020

For everyone at Voyage Care Winter 2020

Aswards pecial

exclusive!

People power! A look at our people strategy Read more on Page 21

Stars of stage and screen!

The virtual VEAs were a big hit Page 8-19

P lus!

in action!

Page 6

2

Inside

to Great

readr

he toget

18

A moment on the red carpet 16

Answ ers:

Our COVID heroes 18

• • 1: B • 2:C • 3:D 4: A

Hive’s first birthday 20 Our Eco warrior winner 22

Award winners!

hive

We love sharing all your amazing stories in Zest, it’s what makes it so special! And we’re delighted to announce that Zest has won three big awards recently. Zest was named Best Print Magazine at the IoIC awards, closely followed by another Best Magazine win at the Komms Klub awards, plus, the very special Tom Dawson award, for excellence in print!

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This issue’s helpers

And that’s not all! In this, our awards special, we are so happy to report that the Voyage Excellence Awards also won Best Employee Event at the Komms Klub awards and unbelievably, Hive has also picked up a national award for Best Intranet!

We’d like to give out a special thank you to a couple of our helpers in this issue!

Alex Styles, our photographer, who has done an amazing job of showcasing the celebrations from the Voyage Excellence Awards. We’d also like to thank you all for taking time out of your day to allow us to capture your winning moment!

Graham Coulton at Heather House who provided us with lots of fun and interesting activities to inspire lots of you to try for yourself!

Our cover star this issue is Micheala Ryan, who won the Sade Abayomi award.

Social

Welcome Welcome to our 2020 Voyage Excellence Awards Zest special edition!

After a truly challenging year we were delighted to finally be able to celebrate the incredible achievements of our teams across the UK, with our first ever virtual VEA ceremony. It was a very special evening and I’m so pleased we’ve been able to capture this unique and inspiring event to share with Zest’s readers!

We had an incredible number of nominations – over 1,000 for the second year running! And not only that, the quality this year was by far the best we have ever seen. Real thought and care had gone into nominating colleagues which was wonderful to see.

Competition was fierce and I’d like to congratulate everyone who received a nomination and of course our regional finalists – it’s such a huge achievement!

It was certainly a different experience hosting the Voyage Excellence Awards virtually, but it didn’t take anything away from the pride I feel to be part of the Voyage Care family. As always, the winners’ stories brought a tear to my eye and despite the distance between us I felt we were truly ‘Together’ in our recognition of the amazing work of our valued colleagues.

A final congratulations to all our winners and finalists, we look forward to celebrating in person with you next year, when the live Voyage Excellence Awards will be back, bigger and better than ever!

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corner

Our Facebook fans have loved seeing this year’s winners of the Voyage Excellence Awards. They’ve been liking, loving, celebrating and commenting on our Facebook posts!

Here are some of our most popular posts…

Sade Abayomi Award goes to Micheala Ryan!

100 likes 47 comments 2 shares 1.5k views

And that’s a wrap!

Andrew Cannon and Jayne Davey celebrating another successful year!

70 likes 3 comments 1.1k views

n Find us o

...

Why not give us a follow, if you don’t already?

Jayne Davey Chief Operating Officer Please note, all photos in this edition have been taken in a COVID secure way that followed the government guidance.

@VoyageCareLtd

VoyageCare

Voyage Care Ltd

Get involved and be social!

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News flash Hot off the press, here’s what you have been getting up to since the last issue of Zest...

The power of a pedal Jade from Mimosa Lodge recently decided she wanted to buy a bike similar to one she had when she was younger. She chose a beautiful blue and green bike with a basket and a bell.

She’s been enjoying her adventures and has found it’s a great way to keep fit and healthy.

There’s always something exciting to see too, says Jade: “something magical happened on my last bike ride; I saw a unicorn – a pure white horse, eating some grass!”

Read more about Jade’s biking adventures on Hive!

Donna’s weight loss journey

hive

Chloe wins second place!

Chloe Gregory was announced as a regional finalist for Apprentice of the Year in the National Apprenticeship Awards 2020. Chloe fought off the competition and achieved a welldeserved second place!

Chloe joined Voyage Care as a support worker when she was just 17-years-old and has continued to excel in her role. She has since been named the youngest registered Care Manager in England, at the age of just 23!

When Donna joined Staplegrove in January, she was obese and had been diagnosed with diabetes by her GP. With support from the team and a new love for exercise and Slimming World meals, Donna lost six stone and is no longer classed as diabetic due to her amazing weight loss!

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Supporting the community

45 Hall Gree nR a project to s oad decided to take on upport the lo cal commun during this d ity ifficult time.

T hey held a socially-dista nced house m eeting and came to the decision to b egin a food bank collecti on to help ou t the local food ba nk. e Here is Michael who cam a ide at gre the h wit up

Heather House treasure hunt The people we support at Heather House took part in a treasure hunt where they had to solve a range of clues and riddles to find hidden treasure! Everyone loved the activity and they were all rewarded with a sweet treat for finding the treasure.

Get in touch

We love to hear all about what you’ve been up to!

Send your stories with photos and videos to communications@voyagecare.com

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E G N E L L A H C October and November have been very busy months. Let’s see what activities our services have been getting up to from our Activ8 challenges!

People have been getting creative with Halloween decorations and fancy dress, building their own scarecrows, hosting all types of parties, baking away in the kitchen, and making eco-friendly games.

Rivers, Central West

Southview, South

Qu Wha estion leav t colou 1: es rs duri change do n A: P g autu into i B: R nk and mn? e C: B d and blue y lue and ellow purp le

Learn, have fun,ile and smthe through s! season

CHALLENG

Remember, you can send photos and videos of the challenges you’ve completed as soon as you’ve done them to communications@voyagecare.com

E

Inside this pack. .

Your three-month toolkit, jam-packed with ideas to help you keep active and have fun.

Spooky spider cookies Page 5 Have a campfire party Page10 12 Christmas card competition Page

Now we’re in December, we can’t wait to see what other Activ8 challenges you have been up to.

Remember, all you need to do is complete eight challenges to receive a fantastic reward and those who complete more will receive an extra prize!

Tan-Y-Castell, North

Lynwood House, So uth

New H

orizon

7

West

Tan-Y-Castell, North

s, Sou

th

uth

Tudor Rose, So

Brookfields,

Central Eas t

Burwell, Central East Roselea, South West

Woodham Lo dg

e, North

Rules

CHALLENGE This is you activities r tracker, tick off the using you as you comple te them r sticker s. Enjoy!

• Every time you complet challenge, e an activ you must find the corr ity or sticker and log ect This will help it on your activity card.

• To complet you to track you r prog e need to colle the Activ8 challeng ress. e to do mor ct 8 stickers, but feel you e (or all!) free of them!

OCTOBER NOVEMBER We ma

de tin can

alley

We too k par scarecrow t in the trail

We ma de cookies spooky

We ma

de a roc

We went movie nigto the ht We went Halloweento the party

outh

ket

We san g camp fire bur and sen ning t in a vid eo We ma

de fruit

We went camp fire to the party

le, S Coverda

• Let us kno w completed when you’ve your activ sending a ity photograph tracker by commun ications@vo or scan to We’d also yagecare .com like video to evid to see your photos ! and ence that part. (Don ’t forget you you’ve taken r consent forms!)

We wish you all the very best of luck and hope you have lots of fun!

rockets

• Entries will be and services reviewed on an ong challenge who have complet oing basis ed the Acti will receive with deta v8 ils of how a confirmation ema • All othe to claim thei il r competi r prize. tions their resp ective clos will be judged afte ing dates r details of and we’ll the shar communicati winners through our usual e ons channels .

DECEMBER We ent ere card com d the Christm as petition We ma de pine con crafts using es We ent ere tree com d the Christm as petition We ma de a fes tive log cheese / stars We went Christm to the as party I made my New Year’s Eve environ mental resolution

Get in touch

Make sure you are tracking which challenges you have completed by using the sticker sheet.

Email this to communications@voyagecare.com once completed!

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al

Speci

Welcome to the

Voyage Excellence

Awards re very This year ’s virtual awards we but we different to previous years, est event didn’t let that stop the bigg of the year!

u can join us Over the next few pages yo achievements in celebrating each other’s r faces! and look out for some familia

, This year s re rate in the We’ve not been able to celeb lp our same way this year, but to he special, we regional winners feel extra es to be arranged for surprise packag ed their sent to them! Everybody lov s of photos package and we received lot ent! capturing their winning mom Branch of the Year DCA North 3 North DCA Warwickshire Central East DCA North Wales (Wrexham) Central West DCA Surrey & Hants South DCA Kent & Medway South East DCA Somerset & Devon South West Community Team of the Year Ashlyn Bungalow North Hinckley Day Care Central East Upton Road Central West The Gardens South Greenwich South East Langley Road South West Community Support Worker of the Year Andrea Knight, DCA North 3 North Lisa Stevenson, Turker Lane North Samantha Overall, Cheveril Lane Central East Christine Duller, Scotia House Central West Cheryl Smith, Ecob Close South Hajnalka Erdeljyi, Laburnum Grove South East Barry Stickley, The High Street South West

egional winners!

Community Manager of the Year Andy Milnes, The Croft North Amelia Haughton, DCA Derby Central East Angela Miller, DCA Solihull & Birmingham Central West Ben Caufield-Lawrence, DCA Hampshire South Lisa Williams, DCA Essex South East Sam Arnold, DCA Wiltshire South West Care Home Support Worker of the Year Tara Woodhouse, Derwent Cottage North Julie Tomkinson, Dove House Central East Kayleigh Jubb, Parkbrook Lodge Central West Janet Martinez, Déjà Vu South Victoria Sanford, St Helen’s Down South East Melissa Gould, Roselea South West Care Home Manager of the Year Graham Coulton, Heather House North Hayley Massey, 24 St Marks Road Central East Hannah Rogers, John Cabot House Central West Julie Gold, Harefield Lodge South David Conteh, Mountearl South East Maria Graham, Woodside Close South West Care Home Team of the Year The Legard North Redbank House Central East Maeres House Central West Broadview South Twyford House South East Blackberry Hill South West

Field Based Team Member of the Year Katie Reynolds North Mark Wheeler Central East Mark Rigby Central West Shane Ritson South Becky Campbell South East Lily Crouch South West Specialist Team of the Year Acorns Autism Support Trinity Vicarage Road Marner House Smallwood Millstream House Wey House

North Central East Central West South South East South West

Learner of the Year Kelly Sewell, Heather House North Amy Buxton, 23 Cecil Road Central East Kayley Sharp, Maeres House Central West Kelley Saint, Harefield Lode South Kylie Baudin, Twyford House South East Sarajane Willis, Northfield House South West Newcomer of the Year Kimberley Pearson, DCA North 3 North Annette Lewis, Dudley Street Central East Neelum Beegum, Warwick Road Central West Stanislav Earl-Ivanov, Physiotherapy South Georgina Booth, Chiltern View South East Mari Jordan, Regional Support Manager South West

Congratulations to all our regional winners! To see who went on to win on the night, go to page 11!

How we ma de this year

extra special

This year was Voyage Care’s first-ever virtual award ceremony; after a tough year it was more important tha n ever to make everyone feel amazing about their achievements!

Our regional winners were de lighted to receive surprise packages tha t included their award, certificate, a selfie frame, a box of tasty chocolates and – not forgetting – a fancy pop-up ba lloon!

We then surprised some of ou r staff with the now-famous gold en velope that announced they were, in fact, a national finalist! Andrew Cannon also announced our finalists in a special video .

66 regional winners

1 hour show

How Quest ion ma did ny nom 2: w i this e receiv nations year e ’s VE for As? A: 7 16 B: 9 1 C: 10 6 D: 12 16 16

This year was extra special as it was the first time everyone across Voyage Care had been able to see all the action!

National finalists were able to choose a hamper to help their evening go with a (confetti) po p!

Although we couldn’t celebrat e together it was wonderful to know so many people were tuned in and enjoying the show !

The night itself was the highli ght of the year and it was incredibl e to bring everyone together virtually to celebrate each other’s achievements!

22 na tio winne nal rs

And the

A huge congratulati ons to the winners of this year ’s Voyage Excellence A wards!

winners are..

Branch of the Year Winner: DCA North Wales (Wrexham) Finalist: DCA Surrey & Hants

Community Team of the Year Winner: Hinckley Day Care Finalist: Upton Road

Community Support Worker of the Year Winner: Samantha Overall, Cheveril Lane Finalist: Barry Stickley, The High Street

Community Manager of the Year Winner: Angela Miller, DCA Solihull & Birmingham Finalist: Lisa Williams, DCA Essex

Care Home Support Worker of the Year Winner: Victoria Sanford, St Helen’s Down Finalist: Tara Woodhouse, Derwent Cottage

Care Home Manager of the Year Winner: Julie Gold, Harefield Lodge Finalist: Hayley Massey, 24 St Marks Road

Care Home Team of the Year Winner: The Legard Finalist: Blackberry Hill

Field Based Team Member of the Year Winner: Shane Ritson Finalist: Katie Reynolds Learner of the Year Winner: Kayley Sharp, Maeres House Finalist: Amy Buxton, 23 Cecil Road

Specialist Team of the Year Winner: Trinity Vicarage Road Finalist: Wey House

Newcomer of the Year Winner: Stanislav Earl-Ivanov, Physiotherapy Finalist: Annette Lewis, Dudley Street

Operations Manager of the Year Winner: Angela Godsmark Finalist: Paul Brockie, North

Group Support Team of the Year Winner: Operational Support Team Finalist: Internal Communications Team Finalist: Quality Group Support Team Member of the Year Winner: Kelly Thomson, SBSS Finalist: Ben McKee, Recruitment

Take a look behind the scenes at the virtual Voyage Excellence Awards!

200 turned their camera on to celebrate

pers 36 ham ed deliver ts is to final

8 vide os made

1,016 tions nomina ed receiv

The Internal Communications team were surprised on the night to receive a special award for their COVID-19 response this year. Andrew presented the award and shared a few words to say how the team have played a critical role in ensuring that the care and support Voyage Care continue to deliver is sector leading!

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A moment on the virtual red carpet Our first-ever virtual Voyage Excellence Awards was a fantastic evening and it was amazing to see so many of you join us!

Micheala Ryan was awarded the prestigious Sade Abayomi award and we caught up with her after the event to see how she was going to celebrate!

How did you feel when you were announced as the Sade Abayomi award winner?

I’ve always been aware of how prestigious the Sade Abayomi award is, but I never expected that one day I would be the recipient. As Amanda spoke, it became clear that she could actually be talking about me, and I got quite emotional and reached for the tissues! Being presented with such an amazing award and hearing the kind words being spoken about you is very powerful and energising. It will help me to stay focused during the coming months whilst we all continue to work extremely hard to keep the people we support, our colleagues and our families safe.

y r o t s t r o h The sbayomi award is the fineal

The Sade A night. It highlights th he r award of t ation of ou ic d e d d n a This year . g hard work in n e v e tar of the er! brightest s s our winn a w n a y R Micheala

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This year has been really tough, but how has your role kept you driven?

I have to say, I do have one of the best jobs within Voyage Care. In my role, I work collaboratively with most, if not all, departments within Group Support and our operational teams. This means that I get to work with some of the most dedicated and knowledgeable people, and I am always learning new things and developing as a manager. I have worked with teams who have been key in providing vital daily reports and 24/7 support, guidance and information to the whole organisation throughout this pandemic.

How did you celebrate your big win?

Whilst I was watching the awards, I was on a WhatsApp call with the managers within the Quality team who shared their congratulations. I then joined the members of my direct team online and we celebrated together as they’ve all helped to make it possible for me to receive this recognition.

It wasn’t until the next day when I started to receive many messages of congratulations that I was able to understand the positive impact I had made on others whilst simply doing a job I love. I now further appreciate how our staff must feel each and every day supporting the people we support.

We also caught up with Julie Gold on our virtual red carpet as she scooped Care Home Manager of the Year! Visit Hive to see how Julie celebrated her win!

hive

Micheala Ryan

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l l a e r ’ u o Y Outstanding!

Sue Frewer

ds were very This year ’s virtual awar ars, but we different to previous ye biggest didn’t let that stop the event of the year! ove and All of you have gone ab e beyond in the face of th this year es unprecedented challeng uly grateful has brought. We are tr onse of the for the incredible resp ith this in whole organisation! W standing mind, choosing an Out r this year Achievement winner fo . So, we was an impossible task e 2020 decided to dedicate th ent Award Outstanding Achievem of you, the to each and every one Voyage Care Family! s you can Over the next few page ch other’s join us in celebrating ea out for achievements, and look some familiar faces!

Mohima Begum

Georgina Booth

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COVID Heroes

Our 2020 COVID Heroes exemplify the spirit shown by the Voyage Care family during the challenges of the global pandemic. Each of them truly went above and beyond to make sure the people we support were happy, active and safe during lockdown, and they continue to be instrumental to our COVID response. We are truly thankful for their sacrifices and the inspirational example they set for us all.

Rebecca Butler Katrina Pender

Maria Graham

Sofia Musangeya

Visit Hive to find out more about our COVID Heroes!

hive

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hive ! e n o s n r u t e Hiv Our staff intranet, Hive has officially been launched for over a year. We’ve loved seeing everyone engage with the platform, from reading stories from across our services to watching videos from our senior management team, as well as downloading the all-important policies and procedures.

To celebrate we ran a Hive bio competition, giving away an iPad! Huge congratulations to our winner, John Middleton!

How Ques man tion 3 yv : rece ive b isits di d e birth fore its Hive 1st A: 10 day?

B: 5 ,000 C: 5 0,000 D: O 00,000 ne m illio n

One million visits Over

6v 5,000

isits news stto your ories!

Over

4mo0re0us% age

2v 1,000

revious than therapnet int

isits to COVID-19the area

So what’s next?

In May, Hive received a global award for innovation at the Interact Excellence Awards 2020!

On 9 November, Hive won GOLD for Best Intranet at the Internal Communications and Engagement Awards 2020.

We’re always working to improve Hive – there’s some new features on the way, including a homepage refresh!

Things you can look out for: 1. Your app icons moving to a slide-out bar so they are easily accessible 2. Regional news relevant for your area 3. Improved search function

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Our People Strategy:

e l p o e P r u o g n i r E m p o we 2020 - 2023 Earlier this year, as part of the development of our first ever people strategy, we held a series of roadshows to talk to staff about their experience of working for Voyage Care, and to hear your ideas on how we could move forwards as an employer of choice.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected progress, but we are delighted to now be in a position to launch an overview of the people strategy and where our work will be focused in the coming years.

The people strategy will guide how we recruit, retain and develop the right people, who will ultimately help us to achieve our purpose; the delivery of great care and support.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on progress against the strategy and regular updates will be available in the people strategy area on Hive.

Please note, these photos were taken pre-COVID.

This infographic shows how our purpose, strategy, values and the people strategy work together.

Our purpose surrounds everything we do, and the people strategy will help us work in line with our strategic pillars and values, to deliver it.

Catalyst Catalyst is a key initiative under the ‘ease of doing business’ pillar of our strategy.

It is a change programme that will help to redefine the way we work together, connecting us better as an organization.

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Eco-warrior winner

Congratulations to Adam from Twyford House!

Our Environmental Committee had a tough decision to make on picking the eco-warrior winner. It was a tight competition, but the winner is Adam from Twyford House!

A huge congratulations to Adam and his eco warrior, which is made from plastic milk bottles (and a lot of them). The judges said, “Adam’s eco-warrior is just brilliant, he is very creative and talented!”

The judges also picked a highly commended, Neil from Willowbrook and two runners up, Paul and Adi from the Legard, and Chris from Elmsmead.

Thank you to everyone who entered the eco-warrior competition, we loved seeing your creations!

Competitions for you to enter!

Throughout December, there are lots of different competitions running alongside your Activ8 challenges for you to enter and to win a prize! Some of these competitions include:

Christmas Tree Competition: Decorate your Christmas tree with lots of festive flair, and we will choose the most cheerful tree!

Submit your tree by 18 December to be in a chance of winning.

The winner of the Christmas card competition has been announced, head over to Hive to find out who has won!

hive

Christmas Collage Competition: Get your Christmas crafts at the ready, sprinkle some festive cheer and create the most wonderful Christmas collage for this time of the year. Keep your eyes peeled, as the winner will be announced on 21 December!

As well as all of this, we will also be running other competitions throughout December so look out for the Voyage Care Advent Calendar!

Heather House’s C h r i st m a s traditions!

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Movie time We asked Heather House what their favourite top five Christmas movies were. This is what they said:

In the twelve days counting down to Christmas, Heather House will be sharing a personal Christmas tradition of their own, which helps them feel festive!

Some of their traditions are drinking peppermint hot chocolate whilst watching The Grinch, opening one Christmas present on Christmas Eve and choosing a new Christmas ornament on the first day of December for their Christmas tree.

Visit Hive to see what other services will be getting up to this Christmas!

hive

1) Miracle on 34th Stre et 2) It’s a Wonderful Li fe

3) The Snowman

4) How the Grinch St ole Christmas 5) H ome Alone & Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Wha Quest ion t do 4: rein A: C deers B: B a eat? russ rrots C: P el sprou ar t D: A snips s pple s

We would love to know what Christmas traditions you have that make you feel festive! Send your Christmas traditions to communications@voyagecare.com!

Te ll us w ha t yo u th in k!

A re th es e yo ur fa vo ur ite m ov ie s to o, or do yo u ha ve an ot he r yo u wou ld like to sh ar e? G et in to uc h at co m m un icat io ns @ voya ge ca re.com

What you’ll need:

Christmas

✔ Scissors ✔ Glue

tree craft!

✔ Straw ✔ Hole puncher

Get creative this festive season and make your own accordion paper Christmas tree.

It’s simple and makes a wonderful decoration.

Top tip!

Stick pom p or sequins ooms your tree t n make bauble o s!

✔ Materials to decorate e.g.

pom poms, sequins, glitter

All you need to do is:

1

Colour or paint your Christmas tree and star, and follow the cutting lines to cut them out!

Take your tree

Remember to enter our Christmas tree competition and send a picture of your decorated Christmas tree to communications@voyagecare.com. Submit it by 18 December to be in with a chance of winning!

Tell us what you think

We would love to know what you think of Zest! Send in your thoughts and ideas to communications@voyagecare.com or call the team on 01543 484 528

2

and start folding it (accordion-style) from one end to the other. The folds need to be about 1cm wide

3

Once you have folded the tree, punch a hole through the middle of the folds using a hole puncher

4

Push the paper straw through the holes and carefully unfold along the paper straw

5

Take the yellow star and stick it on top of your Christmas tree!