Esmer House opens their doors

Opening the door to a

Esmer House are our brand new Prader-Willi service in Mansfield! healthy home

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hive

Health and wellbeing has a big focus at any of our Prader-Willi services and Esmer House had to fit the bill. Getting the right building to support the new residents with a healthy lifestyle was key.

“We chose a place that was nowhere near fast food restaurants or local shops, but at the same time we’re not in the middle of nowhere,” explains Service Manager Alex.

A quiet corner to sit and relax in Esmer House

19 A helping hand with…

“There’s lots of different activities for the new residents to take part in – we’re close to a busy community, with a leisure centre around the corner, Sherwood Forest

The dining table and healthy eating is a big focus for staff

around a mile away and a trampoline centre five minutes’ drive away.”

As well as offering activities to maintain a healthy lifestyle, Esmer House offer support to their new residents with their diets; from working with residents to plan meals, to helping them choose treats within their calorie count.

We’ll be catching up with the Esmer House team when their new residents have settled in! Having Prader-Willi syndrome means it’s extra important to be healthy, but there are things we can all do to be healthy AND happy!

The Esmer House team shared their tips…

1

If you’ve got a sweet tooth, swap your pudding for a low-calorie jelly

2

Build meals out, or popcorn at the cinema, into your weekly meal plan

3

Have fun when you’re preparing or cooking your food – it’s a big part of your life!

Making a difference: Autism Accreditation

The National Autistic Society (NAS) runs a programme called the Autism Accreditation. Only services with a very high quality of support for people with autism are awarded this. Achieving the Autism Accreditation takes a lot of hard work. We want all our autism services to achieve the Autism Accreditation as we think it has a huge impact on the quality of life for the people we support. “When you visit a service that’s achieved their Autism Accreditation, you can see the difference it has made on the lives of the autistic people living there,” says Raj, our Specialism Implementer.

The team at the NAS Accredited Sir Evelyn Road

✔ NEW 351 Maidstone Road ✔ NEW 579 Maidstone Road ✔ NEW 74 Sir Evelyn Road ✔ NEW South View ✔ NEW Woodrow Cottage Our 19 NAS Autism Accredited services!

An amazing five of our services have just achieved their Autism Accreditation , which takes our total to 19!

✔ Sheringham Avenue – psst… They have also just achieved their Outstanding CQC rating! Read more on page 8

✔ Redcliffe House ✔ The Cedars ✔ BROCS/Acorns ✔ Ross Dene ✔ Wood Dene ✔ Moorfields Lodge ✔ Heath Road ✔ Cecil Road ✔ Smallwood ✔ Langley House ✔ Elmsmead ✔ Harefield Lodge ✔ Falcon Lodge

Making a difference: Autism Accreditation

Question 4: What does the S stand for in NAS? National Autistic A) Society B) Service C) System

The work we have done has benefitted the people we support so much, so to get the Accreditation was just the cherry on the cake.” Tine, Service Manager at Sir Evelyn Road

Read Raj’s blog on the impact of visual aids in autistic communication in the Appreciate Autism magazine. People with autism can often feel anxious or overwhelmed. Anxiety can affect anyone from time to time. Raj has some top tips for dealing with anxiety… anxiety Top tips for

1

When your brain gets busy with too many things, concentrate on something like a picture or symbol

2

3

Make a list of times that you have felt anxious. Next to it, put what you did to calm down. Maybe you can try this again if you’re in the same situation!

If you feel frustrated, try showing your support staff what you mean with pictures

Competition time!

Keep calm and get creative We want to hear what rhymes you can write, About health and wellbeing, give us an insight. From poems and songs to sonnets and rhymes, Send them in, make sure they’re on time!

For your chance to win an Amazon voucher, send us your entries by 1 April.

Check out our 2019 Christmas Card competition winners

Winner

Congratulations to Sarah from Cordwainers, Voyage Care’s winner! Runner-up: Stephen from Woodlands

Civitas chose Craig from Ladycroft Respite as their winner Runner-up: Jason from Woodlands Winner

Send your entries...

by post: Voyage Care, Wall Island, Birmingham Road, Lichfield, WS14 0QP by email: communications@voyagecare.com

Review corner Jamie’s 15-minute meals

Janet rated Jamie’s 15-minute meals 5 out of 5 stars!

Janet from Mawney Road gives a review of her Jamie Oliver cookery book – he’s her favourite TV chef!

Janet

Q: What do you like most about the book? All the colourful and healthy food.

Q: Would you recommend that our other Zest readers read Jamie’s 15-minute meals? Yes, there are different ways to cook food.

Q: What was your favourite part? How to get your dinner ready.

Are you a David Attenborough fan? We’d love to hear a review of one of his TV programmes or books for the next issue of Zest – an environmental special!

easter Colouring fun Colouring is good for wellbeing! It’s relaxing and can help you to focus on one thing at a time! Grab your favourite pens or pencils and colour in the pictures below!

2. Draw your own pattern here

1. Experiment with calming colours

3. Colouring is good for mindfulness

Send us a photo (and signed consent form) of your final pictures to communications@voyagecare.com