People living at 8 The Cedars tell us what is important to them.

Supporting people to express their views and thoughts is very important to us and we actively listen to what people say every day.

Once a year we ask people to complete a questionnaire to provide us with information that we can include in our Strategic Plan. This ensures our plans as a Charity reflect the actual needs and expectations of everyone we support.

We have written and accessible versions of the surveys to reflect people’s preferred method of communication. Staff help people to understand the questions and support them to answer them using their own words wherever possible.

Sometimes this is done on a 1:1 basis but this year at 8 The Cedars in Sunderland this was done as a group at their house meeting on Saturday 28^th February.

There was 100% attendance at the meeting and everyone appeared to enjoy the meeting along with the tea and biscuits afterwards. Everyone was able to contribute about how they felt about their home and the staff team and they told staff about activities they want to do in the future. This includes holidays and visiting; Whitby, fairgrounds and the zoo supported by staff.

The following comments were made by people living at No 8:

Do you like the food in your home?

“I like cheese toasties”.   “I do not like sweet corn or peppers”

Does the staff team help you?

“Yes, they do”

What other activities do you like?

Holidays – “I want to go fishing”, “Holiday with Tracie, the lakes, Wooler, I am going on a plane with Paul and Gill”

At the end of the survey session the following question was put to everyone to assess the outcome in the event of sleep-in staff having an accident overnight leaving residents unsupported.

What would you do if the night shift staff were asleep and could not be woken up and you go to the sleep-in and they could not be woken as well?

One resident said:

“There’s a phone in the lounge and I would phone 999 and say my name is Stephen and I cannot wake up the staff and I need help, I live at 8 The Cedars”

‘Thank You’ to the staff and residents for taking the time to complete the survey forms and telling us about what is important to you.