We invited members to write a short 500-word story, either as a group or can be done individually. The subject was up to the individual to decide upon.
We are delighted to share the winning story with you
Steve was appointed Chair of NAPA in 2012 after retiring from a career in the care sector, mostly with older people. His last job was as a Director for 13 years with Methodist Homes (MHA). Trained in social work, Steve worked for various voluntary organisations, including Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and two London Boroughs in management, inspection and policy. He has a keen interest in working with older people, championing their rights – to equality and dignity, and to the best possible standards of care and support. Inspired by a NAPA talk at a conference many years ago, Steve revolutionised the way MHA provided meaningful activity, through staff training (NAPA, of course) and new policies and standards. He also developed new catering standards and gives talks on enhancing the dining experience for care home residents and ‘making meal times fun’. Steve lives in Cambridge and is a keen musician, playing with a couple of local bands.
Sue Goldsmith is the Director of Care Quality for SP & P, a Professional Services company and has worked in the care home sector for over 25 years. Beginning her journey as a staff nurse, she soon became a Registered Manager before joining a specialist quality team for a large corporate company where she led the group’s Care Improvement initiative.
Sue has spent many years focusing on improving care for people living with dementia, including the development of frameworks and strategies to drive improvement. Sue is an avid fan of Dementia Care Mapping and utilises this in a bid to see the world from the perspective of the person and identify opportunities to enhance well-being.
Sue is passionate about people and, through her work, promotes a values-based culture that aims to enhance the lives of every person, every day.
With nearly twenty years of wellness experience, Suzy works for a leading care home group and is the senior manager responsible for developing and directing the lifestyle and wellness provision across the organisation. She has an academic background in fine art and psychoanalysis and worked for over ten years as a yoga therapist in the community, including training yoga teachers and yoga therapists. With a real passion for promoting active ageing and wellness programmes for those living with frailty or dementia, Suzy has been an ardent supporter of the dedicated work of NAPA and became a Trustee in February 2018.
As a learning and development professional for over 25 years, I have been fortunate enough to spend the last 11 years working full-time in the Social Care and Health sector, with a particular focus on older people’s care.
My work centers around providing engaging learning and workforce development tools such as online appraisal systems, for people working at all levels from front line workers to managers. The learning and training side of my role covers compliance training through to leadership development. My passion lies in developing leadership behaviours for all and seeing those behaviours applied to deliver care with dignity and compassion. Lately, I’ve had the opportunity to build on previous work that put me in contact with colleagues in Australia. This time I’ve had opportunities to find out more about older people’s care in China, all making the world seem a much smaller place!
Outside work, I love my garden, my family and reading (including the newsletter) I also volunteer at the local hospital through NHS Workforce and I would love to see a similar national initiative for volunteering in Care Settings. I am a Dignity Champion and Dementia Friend and take every opportunity to spread the word about both initiatives wherever I go.
During the last 11 years, I have worked with colleagues at NAPA and admired greatly the work they do and the impact it has on members in both large and small organisations. I’ve heard many stories about the training, the support through qualifications and the information conveyed through the newsletter and this inspired me to offer some time on a volunteering basis back in 2017. When I then had the opportunity to join the Board at NAPA as a Trustee, I was delighted, and I look forward to contributing through my knowledge of the sector as well as through my experience in learning, training and people development.
I am an enthusiastic member of the NAPA Trustee team and enjoy using my skills and experience to help inform the strategic direction and future focus of the charity.
I have a long background in social care and have had a wide range of roles, all of which have been focused on improving outcomes for people that use services, be that as a Care Assistant, Registered Manager, Commissioner, Care Manager, Auditor or as a Regulator. But I must say that my main passion has been Regulation be that as an inspector of care services or performing national roles with both CSCI and CQC developing inspection tools and methodologies.
I found myself in the fortunate position of being able to re-evaluate what I wanted from life and made the decision to really cut down on my 9-5 work and focus on what makes me, and my family, happy. This resulted in a big change and gave me the ‘headspace’ to explore new opportunities, with one of these being a trustee for NAPA.
I have always had a passion for improving the quality of care for people and have found that if you give people the opportunity to be as independent as possible and create a stimulating environment that encourages engagement and communication you won’t go far wrong! Over the course of my career this has always been enabled by providing good quality activities for people, and the guidance and support to do this effectively has consistently been provided by NAPA.
For over 25 years Julian has worked within some of the London’s most renowned design agencies helping clients with their brand communication challenges.
In recent years he’s been working in the third sector helping clients to communicate complex issues as well as raising awareness of their mission and objectives.
On top of his charity work he’s also providing design consultancy services for governmental agencies such as Healthwatch and Monitor.
Suzanne’s has had a successful career in Social Work and Management, she qualified as a social worker in 1985 and specialised and majored in Management and Counseling. Suzanne is a Care Home Director, with extensive knowledge and experience in managing multi-site operations. She has an excellent track record of growing and developing care home businesses, achieving KPI targets and improving services.
Suzanne is acknowledged as a successful leader who has been able to develop and motivate others and lead by example. She believes in creating a working environment where strong teams and effective communication are vital in promoting staff loyalty and retention.
On top of this she has been an active Trustee board member of NAPA (National Association for providers of Activities for older people). She has dealt with peoples’ problems, from all walks of life, and working with them, is where Suzanne found her passion.
Jean is a Controller for Unilever Food Solutions, the specialist foodservice arm of Unilever, manufacturer of well-known brands such as PG Tips Tea, Flora Spread, Colman’s Mustard, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise and Knorr Stocks.
Jean’s 20+ years’ experience in the food industry is a successful blend of marketing and sales, combined with leading teams and developing talent.
Recently she lead the development of Unilever Food Solutions strategy and action plan for Elderly Care Operators, inspired by creating meaningful occasions for all! Jean became an active Trustee in 2016.
My 30+ year career in health and social care is about changing hearts and minds to achieve quality of life for older people. NAPA is my favourite charity as it is small and inspirational with extraordinary influence. Activity organisers are hidden gems in the care world and NAPA created them.
My privilege was to know its founder, the late Margaret Butterworth in the 1980’s. I saw her spot ‘activity’ as being key to creating energy in a care home, where institutionalisation was accepted. She had courage, determination, imagination, energy and they shine through NAPA’s amazing team today. What a legacy!
