It’s National Storytelling Week, and we are celebrating by sharing some of our favorite stories over the past few months!
As a national care provider, we have services across all parts of England and Wales, so we want to shine a spotlight on some of the best stories from all our regions.
We kick off National Storytelling Week with some of our favorite stories from the North West region of the country.
North West
Affinity: Visit to the set of Coronation Street
Stephen, John and Lesley, individuals we support, were able to visit the set of Coronation Street in Salford.
They were given a special tour of the set and visited the iconic locations on the soap show.
This included pouring a pint at the famous Rovers Return Inn!
Affinity: Shane and Daniel at the WWE!
Shane and Daniel were at the MEN Area, Manchester, to watch the wrestlers battle it out in the WWE!
Sam Beardsworth, Team Leader, supported both in attending the event:
“Shane and Daniel had a great time cheering their favourite wrestlers on and are looking forward to going to another event in 2020.
Both are huge fans of wrestling, so the support team worked hard to ensure that they were given the opportunity to go and supported with budgeting and travel.”
Affinity: Tom goes abroad!
Tom was supported to go on an all inclusive trip to Salou, Spain, along with his support team, Matt and Calum.
Whilst on holiday, Tom enjoyed days by the pool and exploring the resort town.
He also spent a day in Barcelona and had a fantastic time throughout his holiday. where he enjoyed the magical fountain display.
Affinity: Sea Life visit for Ian
Ian recently visited the Sea Life Centre, Blackpool, thanks to Popcorn Pass Rewards!
He was able to see all the amazing creatures and learn more about the aquarium.
Sharon Rigby, Support Worker, said: “Ian had a fantastic time at the Sea Life Centre, he especially enjoyed taking pictures with all the creatures.”
Ian also had time to visit the beach and had fun in the sun!
Affinity: Lindsey’s welcome party
Lindsey moved into one of our Morecambe services and to give her a warm Affinity Welcome, staff and the people we support arranged a welcome party for her!
Other members of staff and people we support attended the Welcome Party at Lindsey’s new home, where she was able to make new friends from around the services and she now feels apart of the Affinity family.
Staff took pictures and were able to play a lot of fun games to help Lindsey feel welcomed.
Welcome to Affinity Lindsey!
Affinity: Day at the theatre
Jake, Leon and Alex enjoyed a fantastic afternoon at the theatre where they watched The Greatest Showman at the Civic Hall in Oswaldtwistle.
Leon was even invited on stage to sing with the cast!
A really enjoyable afternoon for all three of them.
Affinity: Cheering for Affinity FC!
Staff and the people we support at Affinity Supporting People, created their own football team, featuring a mix of the people we support and their support staff.
The football team was created to help the people we support get involved in local activities and interact with other individuals within the care services.
Staff worked closely with the individuals we support to ensure that training / practices were organised on days that suited them and that they were able to have fun.
The team played their first competitive game on 18th October in a football tournament which has been desgined for people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health.
Sam Beardsworth, Team Leader, who helped to organise the team and captains them said: “It’s fantastic to see the people we support and our staff come together to play a game of football and compete with others on a similar skill level.”
Leah Whelan, Registered Manager, was delighted for the team: “Well played everyone, a great team spirit and can only get better throughout the season!”
Well done to Affinity FC and everyone at NCG would like to wish you all the best for the rest of the season!
Affinity: All aboard
Tom and Lewis, two individuals we support, were able to enjoy the steam trains at the East Lancashire Railway.
The cold weather didn’t stop them from having a great time going on the train and seeing the amazing sights.
Our Values: Jack and his passion for football
Over the coming months, National Care Group will be producing videos featuring the people we support talking about activities or tasks they like to do that reflect our values…
Passion I Empowerment I Respect I Collaboration
Jack, an individual we support at Affinity Supporting People, featured in our first ‘Our Values’ video, where he spoke about what he was most passionate about.
For Jack, he is most passionate about football, playing as a goalkeeper for two local football teams, including the newly formed Affinity Football Club – a team with players consisting of staff and the people we support.
Jack talks about why he enjoys playing football and how his staff team help him achieve his goals.
National Care Group were also able to watch play football for Affinity FC and were able to capture him making some fantastic saves.
We would like to thank Jack for taking the time to be part of this amazing video and we hope that this inspires both our staff and individuals we support, we should all be passionate about care and helping those achieve their goals in life.