Councillor James’ Foreword: Sutton Care Bulletin #1

Season’s Greetings!

Welcome to this first edition of the newly formed Sutton Care Bulletin. A bi-monthly round up of all the good news and latest successes from our borough’s social care sector.

I hope you will feel a sense of pride in seeing all of your good work pulled together in one place, celebrating our major successes and reminding you all of the valuable service you provide to some of our borough’s most vulnerable residents.

I am incredibly pleased with our work to launch the Sutton Care Hub website in November. The site will be updated regularly with all of the latest news and updated guidance relevant to our borough’s care sector staff, from COVID-19 testing and vaccination updates to useful resources and training opportunities. We have ambitions to grow the remit of the Sutton Care Hub in the New Year to fully inform staff at every level within all of the borough’s care services, so please do continue to check it regularly.

It has been a difficult year. One in which our care providers have had to adapt and react to unprecedented circumstances, in a constantly changing environment. Your incredible efforts this year are appreciated, hugely, by the whole borough. Sutton Council, with our partners at Sutton Health & Care, have produced this video to celebrate the care sector’s remarkable response to the first national lockdown as a result of COVID-19. The bravery and compassion shown by staff to keep doing their jobs in the face of an unprecedented situation was nothing short of heroic. The video is a small thank you to those who have given so much to keep others safe this year. If you haven’t yet watched it, please do take the time to.

On the subject of giving thanks, the schoolchildren of Sutton will be spreading some Christmas cheer among our residents and staff in care homes this festive season, having made cards and recorded videos to be sent to each of our providers. This is part of our Care at Christmas initiative, which will see each resident receive a handmade card, staff a thank you ‘goody bag’ gift and will provide homes with the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with carols and Nativity scenes recorded by the young people of our borough. This project will be covered in more detail on the Council’s social media channels and on the Sutton Care Hub as we near the day itself later this month.

It is our ambition to share more of the care sector’s successes, key information and useful resources with staff at every level, so please work with us to tell us what you would find helpful, how we can improve the bulletin and anything you feel needs adding to the site. If you have a colleague or know of a service that deserves recognition, please let us know by emailing [email protected]

We want to celebrate the incredible work being done in our community to care for the most vulnerable.

Stay safe and continue to look after each other.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

Best wishes,

Councillor Marian James

Chair of the People Committee