We are delighted to announce that we are supporting abdi ltd to develop and deliver a programme of workshops to increase the commercial skills of CCGs to help them commission more effectively.

abdi ltd was set up in 2006 by Jane Massy and Jeremy Harrison to promote excellence in Global organisations of every sector in measuring the impact of learning and development.

abdi works with private, public and third sector clients to embed best practices in Planning, Data Collection and Impact Outcome reporting for training & other project interventions.

See more at: http://www.abdi.eu.com/clinical-commissioning/

Sue Whitfield proudly signs the agreement which transfers North Lincolnshire Council's young people's accommodation service into PHASE (Young Peoples Support) CIC.


PHASE is based at Cambridge House, Cambridge Avenue, Scunthorpe, from where its 20-strong team provides accommodation and support for young people who have left or are leaving care.  It is the Council's Children's Services first spin-out social enterprise.


We have been delighted to support Sue and the Council through the approval and transition process, and we wish PHASE every success for the future.

Congratulations to Liz Weatherill, Managing Director of Enable2 CIC, for winning Bradford's Inspirational Business Woman of the Year Award last Saturday night.  We were delighted to be appointed to provide business advisory support to Liz when she was seeking to set up Enable2 as an independent social enterprise. Since the launch of Enable2 CIC in October 2011 we have seen it double in size, with ambitions to win more contracts outside the Bradford area.  Liz inspires us by her determination to develop the business, adding more services to meet changing needs and demands, and continually thinking up new ideas and approaches to improve what Enable2 does. By focussing on excellence, innovation, customer service and looking after her team, she is building a very strong and successful business.  Liz is one of the most modest people we know, so being nominated as an Inspirational Business Woman would have come as a surprise to her, but not to us.  She is truly inspirational and we are delighted she has received recognition in this year’s awards.

Great news  - as an approved supplier we can offer support to infrastructure organisations in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. This programme is delivered under contract to the Big Lottery Fund by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

The programme works to support infrastructure organisations based in England to be most efficient, effective, sustainable and better able to adapt to the current and future operating environment.

Just back from Amsterdam after two days training on measuring and accounting for value.

It's like financial accounting only different.  

It puts black and white numbers into colour and strategic planning into 3D.

SROI measures change in ways that are relevant to the people or organisations that experience or contribute to it, and tells the story of how change is being created by measuring social, environmental and economic outcomes, using monetary values to represent them.

It is an immensely powerful tool for strategic planning and helps organisations really understand where they are adding value, as well as identifying risks and opportunities that are not always obvious with conventional business planning.

Find out more from the SROI Network at www.thesroinetwork.org

Breathe Arts Health Research held a magic camp for children with hemiplegia (a weakness in the arm on one side of their body) in August.  It culminated with a spectacular show at The Magic Circle, in Euston on Friday 30th August.

Yvonne Farqharson (Managing Director) and Dido Green (Research Director) introduced a group of young magicians who had been working solidly for two weeks learning tricks which were not only fiendishly clever, but which ensured that they exercised their weaker hand in the process.  The rule of the evening was to use two hands all the time.

The show was compared by David and Richard, two outstanding Magic Circle Magicians who have supported Yvonne and Dido for several years.

It was a real privilege and delight to watch each young magician go up to the stage and perform confidently for an audience of proud mums and dads, family and friends who were laughing and crying with admiration and joy.


To find out more, check the Breathe website at breatheahr.org or view the video of last year's show here.

Our thanks to the ICRF Panel for recently approving grant applications for two very different projects. 

One is to secure £4m investment in a scheme to provide independent living accommodation for people with mental illness who are currently in residential care.

The second scheme is to raise up to £5m working capital to support bids for substantial contracts to assist people into work. 

This message comes from Terrie Riley about mental health awareness:


Please could you show your support for Mental Health Awareness by passing my contact details on to anyone you know who might be interested. 

1 in 4 of your friends, colleagues and family WILL be affected by mental health problems within the space of this year, the majority will not know how and when to get professional help so they can start on the road to recovery. 

The stigma associated with mental health problems mean that people do not ask for help soon enough therefore the misery that these people suffer goes on sometimes for years and can be a very distressing time. 

Mental Health First Aid is designed to educate people as to the help out there and how to spot the early warning signs of mental illness and what to do when they do.I believe that Mental Health First Aid should be as important as Physical First Aid and be implemented in the workplace. 

In my opinion the only way to tackle the stigma and discrimination is to educate everyone whether they suffer from mental ill health or not. The training programme is designed to facilitate discussions and give people the confidence to talk about difficult subjects such as suicide. 

Should you or your company require further information or would like one of our consultants to come to your workplace to discuss how you can make businesses more productive and the mental health needs of your workforce please do get in touch. This training can qualify as a CPD. 

My contact details are as follows 


E-mail terrieriley4@gmail.com 

Tel: 07943 211 210 


Website: www.mhfacourses.webs.com 


Thank you for your support of this difficult subject. 

Kindest regards 
Terrie

A big thank you to everyone who has contributed bail money to secure Chris's release from jail.  Chris is still trying to riase more bail for Ormiston Children and Families Trust (www.ormiston.org).

If you can please continue to help this very special charity.  It's easy to do.  Just go to www.justgiving.com/chris-banks-jail or TEXT:  BANK90 £10  to 70070 (or less than £10).

NHS Expo 2013 starts this morning at Excel in Docklands. We are supporting the Healthcare UK team, part of UKTI, which has been established to promote the best of UK healthcare overseas www.ukti.gov.uk/healthcareuk.


Hope to see you there.