The contract is for the Provision of Day Services,  Rehabilitation and Moving into Employment Services for Adults in Cumbria.

This success means that West House can continue to offer valuable activities and support to people at our various activity bases including: Café West, Grow West (Allerby), Catherine Mill, West Field and West Lea.

We are really pleased that the quality and value of our Community Activity Service has been recognised with the award of this contract and  most of all we are pleased our services can continue from June 2012.

The contract award is for an initial 3 year period and we anticipate the transition to the new arrangements should prove to be seamless for the many people using this service. However we are not resting on our laurels, despite this success we are committed to continuing to improve this service and we are currently planning some significant refurbishments and improvement to a number of our service centres.

Watch this space for further news regarding the development of activities and employment support within West House.

After surviving two floods in Cockermouth we decided to move somewhere a bit further from the river and finished up in a lovely farm cottage at Dearham.  It has a babbling brook running outside at the back but hopefully this beck won’t break its (and our) bank!

I am busy being a volunteer with the Lake District Osprey Project at Bassenthwaite Lake during the spring and summer. At other times I help to protect other rare birds here in West Cumbria. I also help out as a Forest Ranger at Whinlatter Visitor Centre, telling children about the forests and wildlife.

One of my hobbies that has developed since leaving West House is drawing and watercolour painting.  I haven’t sold any paintings yet, but someone told me that really good artists don’t become famous until after they die!

I still love playing guitar with my one good hand although its mainly electric guitar these days and I still enjoy (if that’s the word!) going down to Turf Moor as a season ticket holder to watch Burnley play football. We haven’t had such a great season – but heyho optimism always rules in football land.

Our youngest daughter Sammy is getting married in July this year, and Jopey, our other daughter is also getting married again in December so it’s a busy time familywise.

We have four grandchildren ranging from the ages of four to twenty one and they are all fantastically gifted in their own ways.

Lizzi has retired from being a Social Worker and keeps busy in the garden, doing ballroom dancing  (not with me!) and honing her acting skills.

Finally of course I’m still a member of West House and love keeping in touch with all the latest exciting things that are happening in the organisation.

Best of luck and my very best wishes to all my dear friends at West House.

Keith

In the year Margaret started at West House (1990) the Cold War officially ended, Margaret Thatcher was still Prime Minister, there were Poll Tax riots in London and the 1^st Gulf War had started. See if you remember any of these one hit wonders from 1990:

1. Hold On-Wilson Phillips

2. It must have been Love-Roxette

3. Nothing Compares to you-Sinead O’Connor

4. Poison-Bell Biv Devoe

5. Vogue-Madonna

6. Vision of Love-Mariah Carey

7. Another Day in Paradise-Phil Collins

8. Hold On-En Vogue

9. Cradle of Love-Billy Idol

10. Blaze of Glory-Jon Bon Jovi

11. Do me!-Bell Biv Devoe

12. How am I supposed to live without you-Michael Bolton

13. Pump up the Jam-Technotronic

14. Opposites Attract-Paula Abdul

Margaret started in 1990 as an Administration Assistant and she retires today as a Senior Finance Officer- BUT neither of these job titles come close to reflecting or explaining her role over the years.

In all good organisations there is always one person who:

• holds things together- someone who is the
  hub at the centre of everything
• who has all the important knowledge in
  their head
• who people turn to when there is a problem
• who can be relied upon to always do the
  right thing or go the extra mile to solve a problem.

In West House that person for many years has been Margaret.

Perhaps most importantly Margaret is someone who cares
deeply about people- the people in her own life- family and friends- but also people within West House- the people we support and the people she has worked with.

That care and warmth is probably what we will all miss the most.

A retirement celebration was held at the Hunday Manor on the 28^th March and Margaret was touched to be presented with gifts from Raymond Gill, Paul MacLaughlin, Willy Young and Christine Jardine.

Margaret will be greatly missed, but we will be keeping in touch with her and the friendships developed over the last 22 years will continue for the next 22 years!

The purchase of the vehicle has been made possible by the award of a Short Breaks Capital Grant.

The vehicle will be used to support short breaks activities for disabled children.

It can seat 8 including two wheelchairs. We are delighted to have been awarded this money and will get out on the road soon, enabling children to get about as much as possible- whatever their disability.

Derek the Assessor for IIP was really impressed with the people he met who represented all services in West House and gave back positive feedback about their commitment to the organisation.

The three days went smoothly and although some people were apprehensive before meeting Derek everyone left saying there was nothing to worry about, he had put them all at ease and that it was an enjoyable experience.

Many thanks to all staff involved with the process.

Spring looms over the horizon and before we know it song birds will trill their little hearts out and rabbits will be zooming around the fields and meadows like the fury cannon balls they are, so the memory of this winter is consigned into its deserved obscurity.

Seeing as nature is budding out all over, we at Cafe West are doing so too, our second cafe west comes online in April at the Community Hospital in Workington, the same quality breads, cakes, soups and service that the guy’s have worked so hard to achieve will be available Monday to Friday.

So if you’re passing- pop in and see some familiar old faces and some new, guess I could say the same at Whitehaven too as new people grab their bit of life too.

Why not try the recipe below- really simple and delicious!

Harry…

Coconut Pyramids

8oz Desiccated Coconut

4oz Caster Sugar

2 Egg Whites

Lightly whisk egg whites

Add to coconut and sugar until stiff

Shape by using a small cup

Cook at 170 degrees centigrade for 10 minutes

See you soon, the guy’s from Café West.

10.00am – 4.00pm Sundays and Bank Holidays

Grow West has a wide variety of bedding and basket plants 
perennials , shrubs, hanging baskets and planters available. We also have vegetable plugs, jams, chutneys and marmalades on site for sale.

Hanging baskets and garden pots can be made to order.

Fresh free range eggs available daily.

Come and look round at your leisure, enjoy our hospitality,   competitive prices and quality produce.

From April this year West House will be providing care and support in the community for adults with disabilities under the Care and Support at Home Framework Contract.

This enables West House to continue to provide services to people in their own homes, including shared supporting living services and enables us to offer our services to people with a broad range of needs across all of Cumbria.

For our existing customers and service users our services will continue uninterrupted from April and we very much look forward to talking with new potential customers and their families about the range of services we are able to offer.

Café West Workington

Again from April West House will be opening our second Café West. This development follows on from the success of Café West in Whitehaven. This new venture will be delivered in conjunction with The Cumbria Partnership NHS Trust as we have secured the contract to provide the café and catering within Workington Hospital.

We are delighted that the hard work and quality of service provided at Café West Whitehaven has been recognised and enables us to secure this contract. Café West at Workington Hospital will continue to offer the same excellent service and home-made food that Café West has become renowned for and we are really excited about providing this for the patients, visitors and staff within the hospital.

The first contract will be to continue delivering services to children 0-8 and the second covers children from 8-13 and 14-19. We are busy putting together ideas for services and look forwards to being able to contact children, young people and their families from the older age groups. We are working closely with Action for Children to ensure a smooth transition for those already receiving support.

Press Release…

WEST Cumbrian charity West House is setting up four new
youth groups for children with disabilities.

The charity currently runs one group for children aged up to
eight years old but are now introducing four new ones for children aged eight to 10, 11 to 13, 14 to 16 and 17 to 19.

The groups will run in Workington, Cockermouth and
Whitehaven and include holidays and activity days through the year.

They will also provide activities such as bakery, pottery,
arts and crafts, games and ten pin bowling all tailored to the particular age groups and individuals making use of West House resource centres and community
based activities.

Katy Holliday, 32, senior support worker for children’s
services at West House said: “These new groups will allow the children to build up new skills and make new friends.

“It will also give the parents time to themselves to go and
do things that we take for granted such as going shopping.

“A lot of parents need some time off and these groups will
allow children to build up skills in a group which will make them feel accepted and part of their community.

The service provided for children up to 8 years old has been
extremely successful offering families up to 4 hours support each week.

The groups receive funding from Cumbria County Council’s
Short Breaks programme and the charity will be taking referrals for the new youth groups from February 1.

Press Release….

Families in Cumbria with disabled children will continue to benefit from Short Break services.

Cumbria County Council has secured the continued provision of these services for another 14 months from the start of February.

Short Breaks provide positive activities for disabled children and young people while enabling their main carers to have a break from their caring responsibilities.

As part of the process to secure Short Break services, the
county council tendered contracts for providing the care. Group and individual short services have now been recommissioned to the following providers:

Carlisle & Eden - Carlisle Mencap

Barrow & South Lakeland - Oaklea Trust

Allerdale & Copeland - West Cumbria Care and Support (West House) replacing Action for Children who are continuing with their provision of children’s centre services including the provision of services to younger (0-8 years) disabled children.

Between now and March 2013 a full evaluation of short break services for children with disabilities will be undertaken before further contracts are placed.