“There’s so much to be proud of” – North Tyneside celebrates Adult Social Care Practice Week

Adult social care employees at North Tyneside Council have taken part in a week of celebration, training, and development to mark Adult Social Care Practice Week.

Running from Monday 17 October, the week involved training and networking events, team sessions and a conference.

Adult Social Care in North Tyneside delivers a wide range of services to adults living in the borough including support to older people, reablement support, people with mental health conditions, people with a learning disability, and their carers.

A staff conference kickstarted the week, featuring touching footage from service users, who expressed their gratitude for the support they’d received. ‘Ways to Wellbeing’, a strengths-based approach to supporting carers, was launched, with North Tyneside Carers’ Centre training staff on best practice in supporting the families of older and disabled people.

Supporting the training and development of its colleagues is something the council takes great pride in, and colleagues joined training about trauma-informed approaches and how to support relationships, inclusion and safeguarding in an increasingly digital world.

While the training was designed to support the development of the colleagues, it also provided the perfect opportunity for them to reflect on why they do the jobs they do. At the end of the training, one participant said: “Social Care workers are the ‘Engineers of Hope. I love this phrase; we can so often forget this.”

The successful week was rounded up with a packed community and voluntary sector networking event, where North Tyneside’s adult social care colleagues met with colleagues from the voluntary sector to find out more about the resources available in the community.

Joined by representatives from brilliant community initiatives such as Helix Arts, Living Well North Tyneside, The Shed and North Tyneside Dementia Friendly Community, the morning highlighted the fantastic support, resources, and alternative options on offer for residents.

Attendees praised the event for opening their eyes to the amount of voluntary sector groups that support people in the community, while others are planning to use the information to support their service users to receive the best possible outcome.

Eleanor Binks, Director of Adult Social Care at North Tyneside Council, said: “Our Adult Social Care teams do incredible work every day providing vital services to our residents. Whatever support they provide, the work they do has a huge impact on people’s lives.

“Practice week is a fantastic opportunity for us to not only say thank you to our workforce, but to provide development and networking opportunities to help colleagues strengthen what they do.

“Working in adult social care can be a challenging but extremely rewarding career and it’s great to hear so much positive feedback from our colleagues and service users which reminds us why we do what we do. I’m delighted the week was a success and I’d like to thank each and every colleague for their hard work and commitment.”

If you’re considering a career in Adult Social Care, North Tyneside Council has a range of opportunities available, with training and support provided. Head over to North East Jobs to see the full list of available roles: https://www.northeastjobs.org.uk/northtynesidecouncil/aboutus