Holly Bank host an end of summer party
Supported Living housemates, friends, family, support workers and colleagues gathered at Holly Bank recently to celebrate the end of summer…in style!
Everyone enjoyed great food, mocktails and music (thank you Imogen-Paige and your duet partner, Gary!), and we even had time for a dance and a very well-stocked raffle.
We were grateful for a few first-time visitors including Oldham’s Mayor, Councillor Eddie Moores and the Lady Mayoress Kath Moores, who received a warm welcome and got the full tour courtesy of proud residents Chris and Joanne.
Congratulations to all involved, and a huge thank you to everyone who came along and the people who put in so much effort to organise such a memorable party.
Your voice counts – thank you, Healthwatch Oldham July 4, 2025
Your voice counts – thank you, Healthwatch Oldham
We’d like to extend our gratitude to Jules and Gaynor from Healthwatch Oldham who recently ran a focus group with people we support through our Learning Disability Supported Living Service, with a focus on diabetes.
Jules and Gaynor gained valuable insight, identifying what’s working well in terms of diabetes understanding and support in Oldham, as well as potential stumbling blocks and areas for improvement.
Housemates Alan, Richard and others shared their experience, as did some of their MioCare Community Support Workers.
A positive learning experience for everyone, and thanks again to all involved.
A successful student placement in MioCare’s Supported Living Service October 17, 2024
A successful student placement in MioCare’s Supported Living Service
Michelle, a student at The University of Salford who’s currently completing an apprenticeship with Northern Care Alliance, recently joined us for a short placement.
She’s pictured on the left of the photo below alongside Oliver, Oliver and Laura.
It was great to have Michelle with us and it was really beneficial for all parties. We want to extend our thanks to her and wish her all the best as she completes her nursing studies.
She wanted to share some feedback too, which you can read below…
“Last week I completed a four-day placement in MioCare’s Learning Disability Supported Living Service.
Firstly, I am extremely grateful to Janet (Resource Manager) for arranging this placement for me. Her kindness, and the service’s willingness to allow my attendance, is deeply appreciated. Thank you all so much.
During my four days, I spent time in several different houses in Oldham and met some wonderful Community Support Workers and many of the people they support.
This experience has greatly supported my learning and will positively impact my ability to support patients with learning disabilities in a hospital setting.
I truly cannot thank you enough for facilitating this placement. It’s helped me understand the diverse needs of the people MioCare support, and I observed an outstanding level of care provided by the staff. It was evident that the they thoroughly knew and understood the needs of the people they support day-to-day. Their commitment to ensuring the best interests of those in their care was truly inspiring. Observing this level of care has profoundly influenced my approach to person-centred care, and I aspire to provide the same level of care to my patients in the future.
Please extend my sincere gratitude to the entire team for their exceptional work, which truly reflects their professionalism and dedication.”
Celebrating our updated Autism Accreditation January 30, 2024
Celebrating our updated Autism Accreditation
After a long and thorough process, we have some great news…
Our Supported Living Service has received an updated Autism Accreditation from the National Autistic Society.
A huge achievement, and a reason to be very proud!
The NAS Autism Accreditation Programme consists of three different awards: the Autism Specialist Award, the Autism Inclusion Award, and the Autism Friendly Award. It is the UK’s only autism-specific quality assurance programme of support and development for all those providing services to autistic people.
The Autism Specialist Award is tailored to specialist providers in the education, social care and prison fields. Being a social care provider, it was the Autism Specialist Award that we were assessed for with outcomes being measured against specific criteria that must be met and demonstrated in order to achieve one of the following stages of ‘aspiring’, ‘accredited’ and ‘advanced’.
We are pleased to report that we got a mixture of ‘accredited’ and also ‘advanced’ across all the Supported Living houses that assessors visited.
A few standout words from the report (completed by the NAS Assessor)…
“Autistic people are well supported. For example, relationships between staff and those they support were very positive. Staff treat autistic people with care and dignity and are conscientious with regards to cultural diversity and differences, making sure that these are managed appropriately within the services.”
Great feedback to receive; well done to all involved for such brilliant work.
We couldn’t let the moment pass by without celebrating, and residents and colleagues did just that with a small gathering earlier this month at our HQ in Failsworth.
Good company was enjoyed, speeches were made and certificates were framed! We heard from a variety of people who have been involved in the assessment, including one of our Senior Community Support Workers, Clare, who had prepared a video to share in advance of the event.
It was great to hear from some of the autistic people we support too, including Andrew, who said the following to an inspired audience…
“I’d just like to say thank you because when I think about autism, not many people know what it is and the fact that people are taking the time to appreciate and celebrate it means quite a lot. It means that people do care and are willing to put us young people and adults with autism first. The fact that someone came to see me and interact with me shows that they care and that they want to learn and see if MioCare are doing a good job!
And personally, I would like to say that my support team are doing a good job with me and my autism, because when it comes to struggling with certain things they always give me the time that I need to be able to process and understand things.”
A big thank you to everyone at the National Autistic Society for their continued work and support – we share your continued vision of a society that works for autistic people.
