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We continue to grow

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Last year we excelled in our CQC inspections with 3 of our homes receiving ratings placing us in the top 6% of homes in the country.  Not content to rest on our laurels, we have opened a brand-new service in Tadley (near Basingstoke).

The building has been undergoing significant renovation work since Summer 2017, transforming the ex-NHS day centre into 6 fantastic self-contained apartments as well as a large communal kitchen and dining room, and a staff room.  Each boasts plenty of space as well as many innovative solutions to issues often faced by providers supporting people with Autism and Learning Disabilities.

A competition was held amongst our co-workers to name the new home and the winner – Albertinah Malambo – was chosen by the Chair of Directors, Marion Cornick MBE and Area Manager, Paul Smithson.  The name that Albertinah suggested for the home was Karibu (Swahili for ‘welcome’) Place.

With Karibu Place’s opening, we have expanded the total number of people we support from 43 to 49, and of course the highly-skilled teams who work with them, which, in addition to day and night support workers, will mean we will need senior staff as well.

This will mean we will increase the number of people we employ to around 280 across Basingstoke and Romsey. Most of these are skilled support workers and specialists in supporting people with learning disabilities and autism.

If you would like to make a referral for one of these self-contained apartments, please get in touch here www.liaise.co.uk/make-a-referral.

If you are interested in working at Liaise supporting the very special individuals who live in our homes, check our Facebook page and website recruitment pages.  We pride ourselves on offering extensive training to ensure our co-workers can carry out our roles confidently.

Liaise is Growing!

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This is going to be an exciting year for Liaise.

At the end of the year, we bought two adjacent bungalows in Oakley, Basingstoke and we are now in the process of converting them for 3 or 4 individuals. 5 Kennet
It will take us a couple of months, along with obtaining registration from CQC.
Alongside expanding the total number of people we support from 39 to 43, we will of course, be growing our dedicated and skilled workforce.

All of the people we support need one to one care during the day and waking night staff, it means that to support one person, we need to employ a minimum of 4.5 people – often more! So, for a 4 person home, that up to 20 new co-workers.

Some of these will be day support workers, some of them will be people to work at night. We will need to add in new senior staff for the home along with support staff.

5 Kennet gardenSo, with these new homes, we will be employing nearly 250 people locally in Basingstoke and Romsey. Most of these are care workers and specialists in supporting people with learning disabilities and autism.

However, with an organisation with this many people, we need to also have good “back office” people providing support in recruitment, learning and development, training, finance, payroll, health & safety, IT management, business planning, communications and many others things that are essential to keep organisations going (and moving forwards).
For referrals for these new small, personalised placements, please get in touch with us here www.liaise.co.uk/make-a-referral.

And if you are interested in working at Liaise as we continue to grow, keep an eye on our Facebook page and our website recruitment pages.

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10 Good Reasons to Work at Liaise Loddon

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A career is so much more than just a job, it’s something we devote a huge proportion of our adult lives to, and more and more these days people want to make sure that this investment of time pays off in job satisfaction and fulfilment. Here are 10 reasons why many of our co-workers have chosen to build a career at Liaise Loddon:

1) They make an incredible difference to peoples’ lives

And not just the lives of the people we support, but those of their family and friends, as well as your co-workers and the community as a whole. Supporting and enabling our service users to lead happy and fulfilled lives is truly rewarding, one reason why this is so much more than just a job for most of our co-workers.

2) An excellent salary and benefits package

Liaise Loddon is committed to becoming a Living Wage employer, and we currently pay all co-workers at least  £7.85 per hour.  All co-workers are entitled to a generous company pension scheme, as well as access to tax free childcare vouchers and shopping and travel savings.

3) Generous annual leave entitlement

All our co-workers are entitled to the equivalent of 7 weeks annual leave (28 days per year for support workers on the standard shift pattern) with additional bonus leave entitlement granted for long service.

4) Career development

Within Liaise we believe strongly that our co-workers should be given opportunities to develop their career, and our steady growth means that opportunities are always there. The majority of our Directors and Registered Managers began their careers as support workers.

5) 24 hour Employee Assistance Programme

All our co-workers have free access for themselves and their family to a 24 hour confidential helpline which provides qualified advice on a wide range of work-related and personal issues. Any co-worker who is sick for reasons related to stress or anxiety is able to access immediate help from trained counsellors.

6) Excellent Training

At Liaise we see the best training as being an essential part of our commitment to delivering the best possible support to our service users. Whether it be through our comprehensive in-house induction programme and ongoing development opportunities, or through our commitment to supporting our co-workers in achieving external qualifications such as the QCF, our priority is to ensure that our co-workers are fully equipped with the knowledge and skills they need.

7) Investors in People

Liaise Loddon has achieved the Investors in People Bronze Award, in recognition of our continuing commitment to achieving organisational excellence.

8) An active, varied day

Working with us means supporting our service users in every aspect of their daily lives – this could be anything from intensive sensory activities in the home, to making sure they have access to the widest possible range of activities in the community. Activities can include swimming, horse riding, gardening, visiting the local pub, or a trip to the seaside. No two days will ever be the same.

9) A predictable working schedule

As a co-worker at Liaise you will be working to a fixed rolling shift pattern, meaning that you can plan your life always knowing in advance what days you are going to be working.

10) Job security

There is an increasing need for adult care services of all kinds, and Liaise Loddon’s expertise in supporting adults with the most severe learning disabilities ensures that there is a constant and growing demand for our services.


If you want to find out more, you can see some of our co-workers talking about working with Liaise at https://www.liaise.co.uk/meet-our-co-workers/ , call us on 01256 812663, or email us at careers@liaise.co.uk.?????

Moving Forwards

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Despite the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, which has not done anything to plug the funding gaps in the generally rather precarious social care sector, we are still moving onwards and upwards!

So, this week, we are completing on two new homes in Basingstoke. They are two neighbouring bungalows, each suitable for 1 or 2 individuals.

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With these properties, we are continuing our move to provide even more personalised home environments for those people we support.

Shortly, we will begin refurbishing these two properties around the needs of the individuals moving in. It our plan to have them both open by April 2016 – sooner if possible!

And Marika 3 is getting close to its finish as well. This 1 person unit in the grounds of Marika has been specifically designed around the needs of one individual who is looking forward to spending Christmas in their own, new home.

With these new units, comes all of the other activities within the Company, as we grow to support another four people.

So, the HR team and Care Management Team are working together to recruit and train more co-workers, both support workers and unit leaders, making sure that we have yet more great co-workers across the organisation, both in Romsey and Basingstoke – checkout our recruitment pages for more information over the next few months.

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Our ever diligent maintenance team will have yet more locations in which to provide support to make sure that the environments are working as they should.

Experienced managers are working together to manage new referrals, conduct in-depth assessments, develop clear proposals and possible transition plans. Please contact us if you would like to find out more about any vacancies across the organisation.

We are looking forward to a great 2016 within Liaise – and have another few projects in the pipeline that we hope to share with you next year!

Exciting Times!

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We have a few busy weeks ahead of us and then a busy year!

The Loddon Conference

Loddon Training and ConsultancyThis week, I am running a workshop at The Loddon Training and Consultancy Annual Conference on Promoting Wellbeing. Presenting isn’t one of my favourite things to do, but how could I resist talking about the work that we are starting to do at Liaise on Mindfulness!

PROACT-SCIPr-UK(r) instructors come from across the country to  listen to renowned speakers sharing new ideas and recent research.

This is a great opportunity for our many instructors to network with other professionals within our sector, sharing the work that we are doing and getting new ideas of how to continue to provide increasingly personalised support.
Liaise 20th

Annual Awards Evening

Next week, we have our annual co-worker awards evening. This is a great time to celebrate the hard work and dedication of everyone who works are Liaise Loddon. This year, we are also celebrating the organisation’s 20th birthday! Watch out for pictures and check out our twitter feed for (hopefully) some live updates on the night.

Another visit to Zambia

IMG_0136And then, the week after that, Marion is heading back over to Zambia to continue the work sharing good practice with the teachers at UTH Special School in Lusaka.

Because of the great successes that they have had, the staff at the school are arrange a conference to share information with others and the Ministry of Education is now interested!

Watch out for an update from Marion later on in November.

New Homes!

We have our new single person service, Marika 3, being built and everything is all to plan and we are aiming for a Christmas opening.

Also, we have now made offers on some new houses. It is our aim to be able to support another 3 or 4 individuals in Basingstoke by April 2016 and then another 4 in the Romsey area a few months later. We are so excited to talk about this, but really should wait until all the legal stuff is in place.

We will be looking to recruit new co-workers in a range of roles in both Basingstoke and Romsey area. Please contact us if you want to find out more – you can register on our recruitment page to get updates on new positions as they come up.

Keep in Touch

So, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, check back on our blogs – it is going to be an really exciting time at Liaise!

Deborah Cornick, Managing Director


 

So you want to be a support worker at Liaise? Some tips on how to apply:

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When we recruit new co-workers, there are three parts to the process – the application form, the practical assessment and the interview. Here are some tips from our HR department to help you through each stage.

The Application Form

The application form is your first point of contact with the company – your first chance to make a good impression, and the first thing we look at in deciding if you’re the sort of person we are looking for.  To give your application the best chance of success:

  • Apply online via our website if at all possible – this makes it easier and quicker for us to deal with your application.
  • Tell us why you want to work supporting adults with severe learning disabilities. The most important qualifications for this work are compassion and a genuine desire to improve the lives of the people we support. Show us that you care!
  • Complete the online application or paper application form in full. We know it’s quite a lengthy form, but we really do need all the information we ask for.
  • Tell us about your whole employment history. If there are gaps, tell us why, and don’t forget to include any voluntary work.
  • Be honest. We expect you to present the best image of yourself, but please don’t put anything on the form that isn’t true.
  • Write clearly, using formal language and correct spelling and punctuation. An important part of your job will be completing records and forms, and a good application form shows us that you will be able to do this.
  • Don’t forget to include any relevant qualifications, or anything else which will show us that you are the right person for the job.

The Practical Assessment

For the practical assessment you will be invited to spend up to four hours visiting one of our homes. This gives us an opportunity to see how you respond to the people we support, and how they respond to you. It also gives you the chance to experience our working environment, and make sure it’s right for you. To get the most out of your assessment visit:

  • Wear comfortable, casual, practical clothes and shoes. Avoid wearing jewellery and if you have long hair keep it tied back.
  • Arrive with an open mind. The people we support all have their own unique needs and show these in their own way.
  • Listen to the instructions given to you by our co-workers. Small things can make a big difference to the people we support, so help them by doing what you are asked to do.
  • Join in with activities as much as you can, guided by our support workers.
  • Ask lots of questions.
  • Be positive – remember that you are being assessed on the way you interact with our co-workers as well as the people we support.

The Interview

After the assessment visit (normally on the same day) there will be a formal interview. This normally lasts around 45 minutes and will be with a senior member of staff in one of our homes. You will be asked about why you want to work with us, and about specific qualities we are looking for. To succeed at the interview:

  • Before the interview, think about why you want this job, and why you want to work for Liaise. Find out as much as you can about who we are and what we do.
  • Think about the qualities we are looking for in our support workers, and how things you have done before show that you have these qualities. Prepare some specific examples to tell us about.
  • During the interview, listen to the questions, and answer them carefully. The purpose of the questions is to give you the chance to tell us what you can do. If you don’t have work experiences you can tell us about, what about experiences from family, volunteering, or sports and hobbies?
  • Show us that you care. The most important things we are looking for are compassion and the desire to help the people we support live the life they choose, so make sure this comes across in your interview.
  • Prepare some questions beforehand to ask us during the interview. Not only does this create a good impression, but if you prepare questions beforehand it helps you not to forget to ask something important because of the pressure of the interview.

If you have any questions about working for us or our recruitment process, email careers@liaise.co.uk or call us on 08450949295.

Job of the Month May 2014: Support Workers

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This month, we’re focusing on support workers in Romsey.

If you’re looking for a new and rewarding career helping to make a real difference in people’s lives, you’re in the right place.

You can find out more about what it’s like to be a support worker here – you don’t need any previous experience in the care industry. We’ll give you all the training you need to do your job brilliantly. You can find out all about all our  current vacancies here.

Don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter if you haven’t already – we’ll be able to let you know when vacancies come up.

Recruiting Now!

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We are currently recruiting for support workers and senior support workers in both Romsey and Basingstoke.

We are always keen to hear from experienced and inexperienced care staff interesting in joining us to help in supporting our very special people.

You can find out more and apply on our website.