Sunderland & Newcastle Little Pioneers Visits

Little Pioneers visits

Earlier this week I visited six of our nurseries in the North East, including three new nurseries which we acquired in November last year: Seaham Nursery, Hetton Nursery and Tavistock Nursery. All six of the nurseries had their own unique charm and it was wonderful to meet the fantastic teams. Everyone I met demonstrated great passion and dedication for what they do and how much the development of each child matters to them. I was particularly pleased to see how well our new colleagues have settled in and they are a brilliant addition to our Childcare group and Team Midcounties.

As you can see from the picture above Seaham is on the coast and I was told by Kim, the Nursery Manager, that the children love to sit and watch dolphins out the window – you can’t top that. From left to right, Kim Goss (Nursery Manager at Hetton), Sally Bonnar (Chief Operating Officer - Childcare), me and Nicola Wardropper (Area Manager)

Pictured above from left-right: Me, Lisa Douglas, Quality Training Advisor, Rhiannon Thackeray, Newcastle Nursery Manager, Sarah-Jane Leadbitter, Hetton Nursery Manager, Kim Goss, Seaham Nursery Manager, Lisa Robertson, Tavistock Nursery Manager, Nicola Wardropper, Area Manager, Claire Robson, Head of Nurseries and Sally Bonnar, COO for Childcare. I was astonished when we calculated that the total number of years’ service in Childcare from everyone you can see in the photo above totalled 172 years!

A huge thank you to Kim, Sarah-Jane, Jennifer, Rhiannon, Joni, and Clare for showing me around their wonderful nurseries and to Lisa and Lisa for joining us at the meal – it was a fantastic visit.

From left to right, Sally Bonnar (COO - Childcare), Korinne Armour (Deputy Manager at Newburn), Claire Robson (Head of Nurseries), Clare Rice (Senior Nursery Manager at Newburn) and me.

From left to right, Sally Bonnar (COO- Childcare), me, Clare Rice (Senior Nursery Manager), Claire Robson (Head of Nurseries) and Korinne Armour (Deputy Manager at Newburn)

One of the most popular personalities at Newbiggin Nursery is Peter the Budgie!

 

Alz Cafe - Coffee Morning

On Tuesday I dropped into Alz Café, a monthly gathering at Penn United Reform Church in Wolverhampton, where people with dementia and their family and friends get together to support each other. I talked to Alan Richards who is a regular at the café and used to attend with his wife who had dementia. During her long illness, the café provided him and his family with a lot of help and advice. Sadly, his wife died a few years back but he continues to attend, sometimes with his two daughters, to provide support to other people in the same position.

 

The visit and with Alan Richards at Alz Cafe

 

Talking to Alan and other people attending the café was incredibly moving and so I’m proud to say we have just extended our partnership with the café for a third year.  Over the last few years, we have raised over £5,500 for the group. As a result of our help, Alz Café is now able to put on a morning event, as well as the busy evening events they already hold. I was really impressed with the team who run the café and wanted to thank the organiser Julie Grainger and Mavis, Jools and all the volunteers for making me feel so welcome.

 

Young Co-operators Network

I am delighted to announce that today we are launching our new Young Co-operators Network as the future of our business depends on the next generation of co-operators. The network is for members aged 16–30 and aims to get more young people actively involved with their Society. It will ask young people for their ideas on all aspects of the Society’s work including the development of our member services and products to ensure they appeal to the next generation. It will also promote the many personal and career opportunities that Midcounties can offer young people.  As part of the launch, we will be widely promoting a Student Discount with a National Union of Students (NUS) card and offering monthly prize draws and social media competitions.

Our ongoing schools' programme will be extended to ensure we are reaching many more young people at schools, colleges and universities. We will also be delivering a variety of campaigns aimed at younger people, aligned to our existing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme.  If you know anybody who may like to join the network aged 16 – 30, please encourage them to visit the website here.

 

40 Year Service Award

 

Presenting Sharon Palmer, Wooton Under Edge food store with her 40-year service award. They also showed me this black and white photo from the early 1980’s with Sharon (in the middle) helping with other colleagues to clean up after the store had flooded which it did a lot in those days! 

Last week I headed to our Wooton Under Edge food store to surprise colleague Sharon Palmer, who is celebrating her 40 Years’ Service with us this year! Sharon joined the Wooton Under Edge retail team on 21^st January 1980 and I was amazed to learn that it was her first job after leaving school. She is extremely dedicated and is especially passionate about the health and beauty section of the store. Outside of work, Sharon shares her love of line dancing and Country & Western music with her husband, Garry and their two daughters, Charlotte and Leanne. On behalf of everyone at the Society, congratulations Sharon on 40 years’ service!

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