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Hello and welcome to our Spring Newsletter. What aneventful few months it has been since our last

publication!

While it might seem like a distant memory now, theChristmas Party held at Cedar Court Hotel can onlybe described as ‘AWESOME’! Despite ridiculousweather, the attendance was incredible and I think

everyone present had a fabulous time. The spirit ofthe party I believe captured the ethos of Horizon

perfectly!

There have been lots more wonderful thingshappening which you will read about and seephoto’s within this newsletter. There have

also been some very sad times since the last newsletter with the passingaway of Maggie, Michael, Nigel, Jacqueline and Leon, all of whom werevery much loved by all. Despite the sadness surrounding the deaths ofthese five wonderful characters, in typical Horizon spirit, I have beenastonished by the positivity of all involved in the fabulous support thathas been given and the wonderful celebrations of the lives that all fiveindividuals have led.

As always, thank you to everyone for the tremendous support provided inevery home and for making Horizon a wonderful place to be.

Russ’ Blog What’s in this editionHORIZON NEWS● Russ’ Blog 1● Engagement News 1

● Shoe Box Appeal 2

● Effective Leadership -Skills for Care Guide

2

● Thank you to WindsorCourt

3

● Staff Training 3

● Updates from CranmerCourt, Ferndale andFixby Lodge

4

● Birthday Celebrations forTanith and Chris

● Kathryn and Andrewcelebrate their engagement

● Russ has article publishedin Skills for Care Guide

● Come dine with me! Seepage 4 for more details

Headline News

Item Page

Best wishes to all

Russ Leese

Edition 3: April 2019

PLEASE NOTE: Consent hasbeen given for all news

items, names andphotographs used in thisedition of Horizon News

Love was very much in the air at Beckside Lodge on Valentine’sDay. Kathryn was proposed to by her boyfriend Andrew, whoreally pulled out the stops and popped the question in traditionalstyle, on bended knee. There was a wonderful party afterwards tocelebrate the great news. The happy couple met a year agothrough their mutual love of music and are hoping to tie the knotin the summer of 2021. Congratulations to Kathryn and Andrewand best wishes to them for their future together!

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In Late December, Kirsty and her team had alovely morning presenting the ‘Winter Warmers’charity with a lot!!!! of shoe boxes. Thank you toeveryone who donated including Bramwell Manor(Voyage Care) who brought over at least 10 filledboxes.

Sarah, the representative from the WinterWarmer’s (the one with the Christmas jumper on)was so over whelmed with the donations that shehad a little cry and was so appreciative of theboxes filled by the staff and people supportedfrom all the Horizon Healthcare Homes and fromVoyage Care.

Kirsty said “She spoke to us about the charity andwhat it has done for the local homeless people.The boxes will be given out at a Christmas Eve Meet where homeless people are provided with a meal”.

Community Spirit…

As a member of the ‘Outstanding Society’, Russell was recently asked tocontribute to the Skills for Care Guide to Improvement which is scheduled tolaunch in April 2019. Russell’s contribution (below) on ‘Effective Leadership’ canbe found within the Developing strong leaders and managers to supportimprovements section of the guide.

The Staff and people supported at Ferndale Lodge had a nicesurprise when they checked their mailbox ! A young girl namedCharlotte left them a lovely card.

‘To all the people that live in this house

hope you all have a lovely day’

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And it’s not just the staff who arehaving training …. Russell, wholives at Ferndale Lodge, took partin a recent Basic First Aid coursealong side the staff. He enjoyedthe experience and, as you can seefrom the photo, right, was able tomaster ‘chest compressions’.

… is a priority for all of our staff and Moving and Handling training isalways high on the agenda for John Fletcher, Deputy Manager at

Ferndale Lodge who is also our accredited ‘Moving and HandlingTrainer. John took this ‘selfie’ at a recent training session at

Windsor Court whilst making the most of the good weather.

Horizon Healthcare Homes now has a dedicated TrainingCoordinator, Kath Howitt, who joined the ‘Horizon Team’ in December

of last year. She has over 20 years experience in the learning anddevelopment field, specialising in statutory and mandatory learning and in

leadership and management development. Kath is working closely with themanagers at our homes to ensure that our staff have the relevant training

they need to provide an outstanding level of care for the people we support.

Written by Kath Maguire

When Maggie’s life drasticallychanged after having a fall andsustaining a spinal injury, we werefaced with finding her a new homeafter been in hospital 6 months.

The hospital was pushing us tolook at some large nursing homeswith 60 plus beds. They had totallyforgotten that Maggie had alearning disability and needed tobe with people that wouldunderstand her. We neededMaggie to still enjoy some sociallife because, before her accident,she had a very active life. We werehitting a brick wall! Then we weretold about Horizon and WindsorCourt.

Maggie was at Windsor Court foronly 8 months before she diedfrom Cancer. The care and lovethat she was given wasexceptional. In the last 6 weeks of

her life she had a month inhospital where the staff fromWindsor Court spent hours withMaggie; they even visited her ontheir days off. The support theygave also included us, her family.

Maggie was terminally ill and wewere asked where we would likeher to die. We said, not inhospital, but we were notexpecting her to go back toWindsor Court. We couldn'tbelieve it when they said theywanted her home; and when I toldMaggie she was delighted, her facelit up.

Shannen and her team along withthe community Matron, RuthFoster, worked so quickly andefficiently to get her home thenext day. Maggie arrived home,escorted by Jade, to a welcome ofballoons, banners and welcome

home cards. We were phoned tosay that she was ‘home’ and theysaid that they wished that theycould have bottled her delight.Sharon took the lead in her ‘end oflife’ care; the room looked lovely,everything clinical had beenremoved. When we saw Maggie inher own bed and how comfortableshe was, we were choked.

Over the next ten days, Maggie gotweaker. Shannen and her team,supported by Ruth Foster and thecommunity nursing team, caredand loved Maggie until she died.

We wish to thank and praise all thestaff at Windsor court. Our thanksalso to everyone that supportsWindsor Court from behind thescenes and to Roger; without himwe don't think all this would bepossible.

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Tanith, celebrated her 61st birthday with her friends at CranmerCourt with a house party and was entertained by a Jazz band.

Chris’ had his 50th birthday …he went out for lunch tocelebrate with his keyworker,Josh, and Seb from Pyramidof Arts music group.

Red nose day fun!First we had abaking challenge,then a danceathonwhere we all triedto master the new

‘triangle dance’ also during theday completed the babybellcheese challenge where we had tocomplete the babybell task . Asyou can see in the photo (middle)Mr Bean and teddy also turnedup!

at Ferndale Lodge

Fixby Lodge Events...Andy sat in a pub for his entire lunch which is a great achievement, Andy has beenworking on his confidence in the community and does not like new environments.Staff at Fixby Lodge have been supporting him with this. He even stayed forpudding. Well done Andy and many more puddings to come!

Paul, Chloe and Andy had a day out atYorkshire Wildlife park, everyoneenjoyed their day in the rare Februarysunshine. They even saw a Polar Bear !!

Following Anthony’sconfidence buildinghe has made it into afish and chip shop andeven managed toorder his own fish andchips! This hasbecome a regulartreat for him now.

The staff and people supported are learningMakaton together, two signs per week aredisplayed in the kitchen for all to learn. Thisenables everyone to be able tocommunicate together effectively as wellas learning something new whilst havingfun.

Fixby Lodge are holding a ‘Come dinewith me’ competition where each homewill cook and host an afternoon ofguests. The winner will receive avoucher for an afternoon tea at theNorthern tea House. Everyone welcomefrom all homes to take part.

Birthday celebrations at Cranmer Court