My visit to Chilterns MS Centre

Hello everyone,

This week is my 10^th blog. I’ve been really enjoying sharing details of my weeks with you and have loved reading the interaction and conversations so far. Don’t forget you can join in the conversation below and comment or ask me a question and I’ll be in touch.

In this blog, you’ll hear about my visit to the Chilterns MS Centre, our Executive meeting where the Exec and I visited a number of London nurseries and our most recent Food acquisition.

The Chilterns MS Centre

My blog begins with a visit to the Chilterns MS Centre. I heard about the amazing work that Chilterns do after speaking to Josh Jolliffe, the Manager at Thame Food Store, at the High Wycombe and Thame Members Day on the 22^nd June. Josh had dealings with the group when he was the manager at Prestwood Food Store and has had a lot of involvement with them since.

The Chilterns MS Centre have been providing advice and care to people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their families for over 30 years, working to help people gain greater control over their MS so they continue to lead happy and healthy lives. They offer care such as Physiotherapy, Hydrotherapy, Oxygen Therapy, Acupuncture and Massage to over 330 people each week.

Here I am pictured with Sharon Cooper, one of Chilterns’ Corporate Fundraisers

I was fortunate enough to see the double barometric chamber they have for their Oxygen Therapy; where 100% oxygen is breathed through a mask. The benefits of this to MS sufferers are vast with an improvement in fatigue levels and reduced numbness to name a few. Below is a picture of one of the trained volunteers with the machine. 

I also saw the pool where they offer Hydrotherapy; which helps weakened muscles operate and strengthens them using the resistance of the water. Again, the benefits of this to people with MS are extraordinary; from improved mobility, balance and posture, to overall better general health. 

The type of long term care that Chiltern MS Centre provide is not available on the NHS and my visit highlighted the lifeline that the charity offers to MS patients. The work they do is extraordinary and well done to Josh for forging this great link with this important and life-changing charity.

Exec Meeting

It was the Exec meeting last week and we held it in London. We discussed important matters about our financial forecasts and preparing budgets for next year, as well as how, as a team, we can review some of the ways we work together.

In the afternoon, we split up into pairs and visited our London Childcare Nurseries. I feel it is very important that as an Executive team we stay close to our trading operations and gain insight into areas outside our individual responsibilities. Below is an image of some of our the Hackney Nursery team alongside our Society Secretary, Edward Parker and Rad Sofronijevic, Chief Operating Officer for Travel. 

Edward and Rad at the back on the left.

I also visited Maida Vale Nursery whilst in London and met Mina, the Nursery Manager. 

You may recognise Mina from one of the most recent Team Talk stories ‘Bridging the Generational Gap’ where Mina spoke about the work they do in bringing the elderly together with the young; some heart-warming and fantastic work.

Maida Vale is the largest nursery in our estate and whilst walking around, Mina and I discussed local competitors and the future plans of the nursery. It was great to hear about the nursery in more detail and I was really impressed with the standards of the nursery and the great work that Mina and the team do there. 

The nursery is a fantastic example of diversity within Midcounties, with colleagues from around 23 different nationalities.  Alongside this the Maida Vale team have developed a culture wall (pictured above) where they celebrate different beliefs. Not only is it great for our colleagues to be supportive of diversity, but it also allows the children from many different cultures to learn and understand about the importance of it.

Recent acquisition in Food

Our most recent addition to our Food estate is a store in Wiltshire, which was previously owned by an independent retailer. It is located in a former school building owned by the community and the Duchy of Cornwall in the beautiful village of Sherston. The store was launched on Wednesday by the Chairman of the Parish Council, Captain Williams and the store team (pictured below). The Chairman gave a speech welcoming Midcounties to the community of Sherston and talked about how we will work together in the local community.  

The store will be fitted out to our latest specification once it has the opportunity to settle down. In the meantime, we have begun to trade in the store’s existing format with the addition of our till systems and Co-op range, whilst maintaining many of the interesting local products originally sold in the store. Ensuring that we highlight great local produce and support the local community. Finally, a big welcome to all our new colleagues who have joined us in our Sherston store!

Members meetings

Next week brings the start of our half year members’ meetings. Members of the Board and Executive will be at Swindon on Tuesday, Gloucester on Wednesday and Shrewsbury on Thursday to present our half year update to members. We are changing the format slightly this year and have invited guests coming along to discuss and debate some important areas of interest. Full details are on the website and if you can get along to your local meeting we would love to see you. The week after next we will be at Kidderminster on Tuesday, Walsall on Wednesday and Oxford on Thursday.

Thank you all for reading. I hope you all have a fantastic week and don’t forget to check back next Friday at 10am for another blog.