Update from Angie Ridgwell 28 May 2024
Firstly, a big shout out to each and every one of you who worked across the bank holiday providing vital services to our residents. For those of you lucky enough to be able to enjoy the extra day, I hope you had a great time.
I'm really pleased to share this month's recognition blog showcasing some of your awesome achievements. It's great when we get good feedback and remember, just being kind, polite and sharing a smile can make a real difference to someone's day.
As always, a PDF version of this email is available for people to print and share with staff who are offline. Please request a copy by contacting internal.communications@lancashire.gov.uk.
Gold again!
I am very proud to share with you that our Public Health Team commissioned services have again received the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) Gold award following their re-validation visit in March 2024. This Initiative enables public services to better support families with feeding and developing close, loving relationships so that all babies get the best possible start in life.
Lancashire's 0-19s Public Health Nursing Service, HCRG Care Group, our Children and Family Well-being Service, and Lancashire's Breastfeeding Peer Support service (Families and Babies) were all highly commended for the quality of the evidence they submitted. They were also praised for the thorough way they planned and implemented care related to the Baby Friendly Standards.
"Led by inspirational Baby Friendly leads and infant feeding champions…the pride, enthusiasm and commitment to drive improvements, increase quality and innovate was apparent from all partners." This is just one example of the excellent feedback we received from UNICEF.
This is a brilliant example of collaborative working which ensures we continue to achieve our objective of delivering better services by helping families live a better quality of life. I know that there is more work planned over the next three years to further progress baby friendly care. Well done to everyone that was involved.
Randip Bhogal Safeguarding Award winner 2024
The Randip Bhogal Safeguarding Award was introduced in 2021 in memory of our former colleague Randip Bhogal, who was a Safeguarding Service Manager. The award is open to staff in Adult Services and recognises outstanding contributions to safeguarding - where the interventions of a member of staff have meant that our residents have been kept safe from harm or abuse. This year's winner was Niamh Jones, a Social Worker from our Older People and Physical Disabilities Service (Central).
Niamh's nomination highlighted her sheer dedication to the role and the people she serves, demonstrating her efforts to truly understand individual circumstances in a person-centred and empathetic manner, while also balancing rights and risks. Well done Niamh, you are a truly deserved winner.
Lancashire leading the way
Congratulations to the Lancashire Music Service who have been recognised as an Apple Regional Training Centre for 2023–2024. They are the only one in Lancashire and the first Music Service in the UK or Ireland to achieve this award!
Teachers from across Lancashire and beyond can attend courses to build knowledge and skills. They can also earn badges to achieve Apple Teacher recognition, building their confidence to use Apple technology in the classroom.
It's fabulous to see our amazing Music Service leading the way. Well done to everyone involved!
If you would like to know more about the Regional Training Service visit the Lancashire Music Service website.
Staff Excellence Awards
We will be opening our Annual Staff Excellence Awards for nominations on 27 June. This is earlier than in previous years and will allow you more time to submit nominations and recognise your colleagues for the excellent work that they do. Although the nomination process is not yet open, the Staff Excellence Awards website is available for you to look at the categories and read about previous winners.
Round up of shout outs
It's always wonderful to see so many people recognised through the intranet shoutout section. It truly highlights the valuable work we do on a daily basis, and being recognised for that can really brighten someone's day. A simple thank you also goes a long way!
Dan Holden - for his work on the Lancashire Warm Spaces Scheme. Dan has been crucial to the Scheme's success, ensuring timely inquiry responses, processing grant paperwork, and quick payment requests for our successful applicants. Well done, Dan!
Ian Gore – A huge shout out to Ian Gore a Social Worker in the West Lancs Mental Health Social Care Team. He completed THE LAP, which is a 47 mile/75K trail ultra marathon that circumnavigates England's largest and most iconic lake, Lake Windermere. Ian did this for Mental Health Awareness Week, which is a lovely thing to do for a great cause. Great achievement Ian!
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding Business Support Team - for their hard work in submitting the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding national returns. This huge task was undertaken efficiently and collaboratively. Super work by everyone.
These are just a few of the many shoutouts that have been submitted this month. If you would like to recognise a colleague with a shout out please complete the form on the intranet. And, if you would like an achievement recognised in one of these emails, please email internal.communications@lancashire.gov.uk.
I hope you have a great week everyone.