Congratulations John Imms!
Huge congratulations must go out to our long serving Unit Manager John Imms who retired in September.
In November John was nominated (and won!) a Nottingham City Council "Going the Extra Mile Award" under the category of "Outstanding Nomination of the Year". The award was a special discretionary award introduced this year to recognise colleagues who were nominated in any category but who displayed something extra special.
John worked for the council for 41 years, advising, supporting and helping young people with disabilities and had a massive impact on the development of Crocus Fields, the Disabled Children's Team and all short breaks serviced across the city and county councils.
To watch the short nomination video that outlines the good work John has put into Crocus Fields and beyond click here.
Once again on behalf of everyone at Crocus Fields, we would like to congratulate John and wish him all the best in his retirement.
Congratulations to Our Young People.
Following John's success in the Gem award, several young people followed this up by scooping "Big It Up Awards". At a glitz and glamour night held at the Nottingham Conference Centre PJ, Vicki and Nick all collected their certificates in style and joined in the festivities of the evening.
A huge well done should also go out to Morton, Matt, Keenan, Declan and Kaden who were also Big It Up Award winners this year.
The awards celebrate the achievements of some of our young people throughout the year and is a chance to recognise their progress. Thank you to all the staff who nominated young people and for those who attended the night.
European Union Project
You may remember last month an article discussing a project that we have been involved in with the European Union and the Ann Craft Trust.
We were due to be inspected by a team of researchers late in November and many of you will have been sent consent forms for you to complete so that they can meet your children. However at the last minute, the Trust had to cancel their inspection due to the fact that stipulations within the project stated that they could only inspect one short breaks unit.
The Ann Craft Trust were very apologetic and have agreed to provide our staff with some free training on human rights and disabilities.
Thank you Nottingham Forest in the Community
We would like to thank Nottingham Forest in the Community workers for the sessions that they have put on fro the unit for the last six months.
Each Friday they have visited Crocus Fields and taken part in active sessions with the young people. This has really added something to our Friday night and the young people have loves the experience. This has been the second year running that we have been awarded the funding for this project and we are extremely grateful for it.
Thank you Nott's County!
Did you know that Nott's County now offer sensory rooms for hire to watch the football?
The club have launched the project after seeking advice from a number of specialists including Autism East Midlands, Rompa, the Shipper Campaign and Indigo to ensure the rooms would fully meet the needs of those with complex learning difficulties.
This is the first of it's kind that we have come across and so we thought we would let everyone know about them!
The rooms can be hired to watch the match at a cost of just £40 for everyone and would be a great way to watch the match with some of our young people. When Crocus Fields first visit we plan to write up a piece on what the young people thought of it.
For more information about the rooms, click here.
The Festive Season
Crocus Fields would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and New Year.
We are closed from Friday 23rd December until Tuesday the 27th. If you urgently need to talk to someone at this time we advise you either contact the Disabled Children's Team on 0115 8838266 or the Emergency Duty team on 0115 8761000.
Have a wonderful break.