I am the very proud owner of Home Instead Portsmouth. As a relatively new business, being only 2 years old, we strive to be the very best in care for the whole region. We have already won The News Health Innovator of the Year award (October 2022) are really do feel that we make a difference to the lives of the people whom we're involved with. We are not just 'another care company'. We really do believe that a life well lived should continue at home, and that includes being able to get out and about safely and at a time of your choosing as well as providing unique ways of supporting within the home itself.
We hold the Princess Royal Training Award for our dementia training and are the only care provider to be directly partnered with Parkinson’s UK. We put this to good use by offering free community dementia and Parkinson’s training to business and to families. We design bespoke community dementia programmes to support the learning and development of local businesses, as well as family carers, and have already delivered these to The Portsmouth Carers Centre, Spark Community Space, both with visitor numbers of about 200 people, with continuous programmes planned, as well as for Gunwharf Quays with its visitor numbers in the 10’s of thousands annually. We were proud that Portsmouth City Council took the opportunity to send people from two Social Service Providers to learn from us. We were happy to welcome them and share our knowledge and hope that this has been disseminated to their staff teams.
Through Shaping Portsmouth, a group of 100 local business of whom we are the only business focussed on supporting older people, we are planning bespoke support for HoverTravel, the Historic Dockyard, Spinnaker Tower, as well as the passenger cruise liners. With the wealth of visitors Portsmouth receives, we want to make sure that all people are welcomed and supported, not just the people who live here.
In addition to these businesses, we are creating an additional programme with Gunwharf Quays to develop the high street by creating a safe space within a myriad of different retail and hospitality outlets to enable older people to 'take a seat'. This is a simple and effective method of providing a simple seating arrangement within the space to allow an older/vulnerable person to sit and regain their composure. This allows families time to go out together, knowing that they are never more than a few steps from this 'safe space'. The outlet themselves only need provide a chair and offer a glass of water. Each outlet will be denoted by a simple sticker on their window and their business will potentially benefit too as they will have people cross their threshold whom may never have previously entered.
Our community projects will always be a free resource for all who wish to access this. We are aiming to empower everyone to go out, to be involved, to be a family again, and to enter shops, restaurants, or other businesses safe in the knowledge that they, and their needs are understood and supported.
Similarly, we are giving local businesses free vital training and support so that they have confidence in having all who pass by, come into their environment- people whom may not have chosen to enter before. Not only are we enhancing their skills, were opening opportunities for them to reach out to a wider audience. For us as a business, this is about creating opportunities for other businesses too. It's about understanding the pressures businesses are under, and looking for innovative ways to alleviate these pressures at no financial cost. We are aiming to make all businesses community aware, to understand that diversity is not just a 'thing to do' but a way of being- and one that if properly embraced will enhance the lives of those whom they support and also their own business.
It's about creating community and giving people the opportunity to become involved. We want people to join in with this, to become a part of our team, to continue to serve our older community and grow our support for them. Giving our wider community not only training opportunities but significant employment opportunities also- from planning and management, to training and community engagement, to, most significantly learning skills to enhance lives by caring for all.
Right from the outset, my original business plan included our desire to make key areas of our territory dementia friendly. What I hadn't appreciated was just how well received this ideal was and the shared desire of local business to adopt key practices and learn how best to serve their community. The further development of this to the 'take a seat' to open up the community to all, has been an added, originally unseen bonus, but which has equally been jumped upon as a low-cost, high impact initiative offering support to many. What has surprised us was the wealth of families whom we could support with this project and the genuine lack of wider support these people feel they have currently. People feel as if they are facing issues alone, and this has given them an experiential platform in which they can share their learning and in which they can learn from each other. Our business is becoming well known for all the right reasons in the community and we are seen as being a care provider who genuinely cares for the community. During a recent meeting with the Assistant Director of Public Health she opened the conversation stating how we had been favourably mentioned during a meeting she'd been at. Given that we had never spoken before, this was so encouraging to hear. At the heart of who we are, and who we strive to be, is ensuring the very best outcomes for all and that all can continue to live well in a way that they choose.