Bryde Beighton
Nominated by: Josie Hill
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Bryde works as Business Service Manager in the Homecare Scheduling Team, Adult Care. She is an exceptional worker and achieves an extremely high standard of work for herself and for her team. She has incredible drive, communication and relationship building skills and a real talent for getting stuff done!
I'm nominating her for the Vision Derbyshire Award for a particularly impressive piece of work that she has delivered whilst completing her Level 5 apprenticeship in Operational Leadership and Management:
As part of her apprenticeship, Bryde needed an example of project work. This meant that her ears pricked up when there was some fresh discussion about revisiting previous thoughts of getting a Flexible Resource Pool up and running. This would be a pool of skills and trained carers employed through Derbyshire County Council on a relief contract who could work flexibly across our care establishments and short term homecare service.
This idea has been floated many times over the last 5 or so years but has never come to fruition. This is because of the complex project and stakeholder management that is needed to deliver something so ambitious.
Bryde grasped this opportunity with both hands and quickly volunteered to take the project lead. She established a project plan and used all of the tools and skills from her apprenticeship to whip the idea into a plan of action.
She developed the business plan and designed an infrastructure for the new resource that is expected to reduce overall costs for the department whilst also driving up standards of care and service capacity (so that we can support more adults with need for care and support to get the support they need).
She made the most of her relationship-capital across the department to build networks with the key stakeholders and get to grips with all the opportunities and challenges that the proposal would bring. This also included an understanding of how this fits in with our partners in the NHS. She expertly led a project group and navigated feedback to various senior forums and boards.
And with extreme determination and patience, through the difficult financial circumstances of the council, she has proven that the model will be a real asset and investment opportunity.
And now, because of her skill, hard work and determination, we are now ready to recruit our new Relief Carers into the service! Something that no one before her has managed to get over the line. (and she did all this whilst keeping up the day job to her usual exacting standards!)
Whether she wins this award or not, the department owes her a great debt of gratitude for getting us to this point. We wouldn't be here without her!
Welfare Rights Service
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
The Welfare Rights Service support 1000s of residents every year and achieve high outcomes in terms of maximising incomes of individuals, who at a time of a cost of living crisis enables them to meet their day to day costs. They work well with other partners and agencies such as local councils, Statutory Bodies such as the DWP and with charities in providing advice and training to them.
The Service also meet the Public Health outcomes of improving health and wellbeing by supporting claimants especially older people and those with long term disabilities and terminal illness. They also continue to support people in work by ensuring that they are given the correct advice about in work benefits which can help people remain in their workplace.
Over £20 million raised for Derbyshire residents in the last year. Increasing caseloads show that this level of success is likely to continue which can only help more people in need.
Claire Gough
Nominated by: Anonymous
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
Claire Gough is the Commissioning Manager for Building the Right Support (BRS) in the Adult Social Care Commissioning Team. Since they came into post in 2023, they have driven significant strategic change within the world of BRS that has led to numerous positive outcomes for local people.
They have been the driving force behind joint working with partners and their arrival on the scene pushed the BRS agenda forward, where it was previously halted. Over the last 12 months, they have supported numerous endeavours, including:
- Developing a system approach that is delivering a focused/collaborative programme of activity across Derby and Derbyshire that puts people at the centre of planning
- Gathering the stratification of future care and accommodation needs for our non-AMH inpatients and began the stratification for those in our community and those preparing for adulthood
- Starting detailed mapping of current and future provision against community assets and infrastructure to make better use of resources and to inform our planning and decision making
- Delivering two JUCD BRS Provider Summits to help better understand and evolve our local specialist care and accommodation market and gathered further market intelligence through digital surveys
- Co-designing a PATH action plan with Providers, focused on our collective priorities and ensuring the PVI sector are recognised as equal partners
- Implementing the Gateway, a new quality assurance framework to bring new Providers into the area, placing high-quality, person-centred care at the heart of our commissioning decision making
- Designing a new pilot approach to commissioning post-discharge care and accommodation
- Supporting modern methods of construction for new accommodation
- Promoting new alliances between Providers
Additionally, they have brought a positive and professional attitude to everything that they do. I think Claires hard work deserves recognition in a system that often fails to acknowledge the hard work and sacrifices of its staff.
Tanya Brown
Nominated by: Carol Weston
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
I am nominating Tanya for the commitment she has shown in working to successfully implement the use of the MOMO (Mind of My Own) app across children’s services during the last year. With an already very busy schedule as a team manager in children social care she has worked tirelessly to implement and promote this work with imagination and enthusiasm.
Tanya recognised the importance of ensuring our children and young people have the opportunity to share their views and wishes and feelings and was asked to lead on and pilot the use of MOMO initially in her teams and then across the county.
Tanya embraced this opportunity attending conferences and training to build her own knowledge. She regularly met with Mind of my Own to review the pilot and then the implementation across the county.
With Tanya’s support the social workers and CCW’s in her team soon saw the benefits of engaging with children and young people via this app. Statements were regularly sent to them from children and young people they were working with to support their plans or understand their lived experiences. Tanya emphasised in her pilot this was a tool which would help children to share but also recognised this did not replace the direct work undertaken.
After the completion of the pilot Tanya then moved on to plan with others how this would be promoted across the service. She attended meetings with senior leaders and team meetings across the country to promote the benefits of this app and share how she has implemented in her teams.
To ensure this was embedded into children’s social care Tanya delivered train the trainer and other training opportunities including with early adopters and other service areas. She has continued to offer support, advice, and guidance during implementation This is now included in the Learning and Development plan.
To measure the impact, she has also worked with QA and the children’s participation team to ensure evidence of impact could be obtained.
It is recognised that Tanya has undertaken this work successfully and with enthusiasm over and above her day to day to work. However, it is also recognised the impact of this for children and young people is significant and now embedded into children services.
White Hall and Lea Green Centre Team
Nominated by: Robin Heath
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Nomination for Vision Derbyshire Award: White Hall and Lea Green Outdoor Education Centres
I am honoured to nominate White Hall and Lea Green Outdoor Education Centres for the Vision Derbyshire Award. Their unwavering commitment to providing life-changing outdoor education opportunities for all Derbyshire young people, especially those in care, on the edge of care, and with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), is truly remarkable.
White Hall and Lea Green have made it their mission to ensure that every young person in Derbyshire has access to invaluable outdoor education experiences. Their tailored programs cater to the diverse needs of participants, fostering an inclusive environment where every individual feels supported and valued.
The impact of their efforts is undeniable, with many young people experiencing significant improvements in confidence, resilience, independence, and interpersonal skills. Their work has been particularly impactful for those who have struggled in traditional educational settings, providing them with a supportive and nurturing environment in which to thrive.
The dedication and enthusiasm of the staff teams at both centres are truly inspiring. Their passion for outdoor education and commitment to the well-being and development of every young person they serve shine through in the consistently outstanding feedback received from families, young people, and schools.
Countless Derbyshire young people have benefited from the transformative experiences provided by White Hall and Lea Green, both in terms of outdoor education and employment opportunities. Their contributions reflect a deep commitment to fostering a brighter future for the youth of Derbyshire.
White Hall and Lea Green Outdoor Education Centres exemplify the vision and values of the Derbyshire community. I wholeheartedly endorse their nomination for the Vision Derbyshire Award and celebrate their invaluable contributions to our community.
Vision Derbyshire Business Start Up Support Team
Nominated by: Sarah Smith
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
The Vision Derbyshire Business Start-Up Support Scheme began as a collaboration of 9 local authorities across Derbyshire in September 2021 to deliver a service to individuals wishing to start their own business, including tailored business advice and grant funding. Derbyshire County Council continues to be the delivery partner for the service across 6 Local Authority areas.
The scheme began with a small team of business advisers and grew to its full potential of 5 business advisers in Jan 2022. The team has worked hard together to overcome initial challenges expected with a new programme. By listening to feedback we have developed the scheme to make it fit clients’ requirements, whilst balancing government obligations. Along with collaborating closely with our District partners, we have worked with the wider Derbyshire County Council teams: Finance, Audit, Legal, Procurement, ICT and business administration, along with external providers to build robust systems to deliver an effective grant application process and business advice service which regularly receives positive feedback from clients and was nominated for an LGC Award in 2022.
Through weekly meetings the team shares experiences to support each other. Any learning from training or networking events attended by individuals is shared with the rest of the team to foster learning and knowledge. We have monthly meetings with District colleagues which helps to collectively address challenges to shape better outcomes for individuals and districts throughout Derbyshire, and ensure we are delivering a service which continues to be relevant.
As a team we have delivered exceptional performance and consequently, the scheme received further funding to continue from December 2023 to March 2025. We have supported 1103 individuals to realise their dreams of becoming business owners, which is having a positive contribution to people and places across the county.
Community Safety Team
Nominated by: Colin Potts
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
This nomination is for the Community Safety Unit (CSU) team. Since the Head of CSU played a key role in obtaining agreement to a new structure for the partnerships dealing with community safety in Derby and Derbyshire in 2022, the CSU team has played a pivotal role in developing the thematic boards established under the new structure. Each member of the team has been, and continues to be, instrumental in driving this work forward.
The members of the team have, for the thematic boards under their respective remits:
- drafted and sought agreement for Terms of Reference, Key Performance Indicators, strategies and / or delivery plans, and highlight reports to the main Safer Communities and Safer Derby Boards,
- reviewed membership of the thematic boards, encouraging existing and new members to contribute thereby improving the effectiveness of the partnerships.
- co-ordinated a draft information sharing protocol.
This work has been carried out whilst maintaining their existing workloads.
Their efforts have ensured that the aims of the new structure (to improve co-ordination, reduce duplication, and ensure consistency by better integrating community safety structures across the city, county, districts and boroughs) has been met. Partners are now better placed to make decisions in relation to priorities and allocation of resources, and to work more collaboratively rather than working in silos.
The commitment and dedication of the CSU to see these changes through, will undoubtedly improve the lives of those living and working in Derbyshire with the more effective use of scarce community safety resources.
The work of the CSU was acknowledged by Councillor Hart (Chair of the Safer Communities Board) in June 2023, during an update of the progress of the new structure, as she “commended the fantastic job a small group of people are doing to bring all this together.”
Donna Perera, Bethan Coombs, Becky Wrath (Transition leads)
Nominated by: Becky Wrath
Department: Adult Social Care and Health
Reason for nomination:
I feel myself, Donna and Bethan deserve recognition for the hard work achieved via our work to support practitioners working with young people transitioning into adulthood.
We are a very small resource which has worked tirelessly with partner agencies, recognising and creating a collaborative and joint approach across health, social care, education and other local authorities. We have maximised resources and evidenced our work which has resulted in cost efficiencies. However we are most proud of the creation of a new resource (a small transition to adulthood team of social workers) which will improve the outcomes of young people moving from children's services to adulthood.
In just 12 months, we have evidenced that our work has supported to improve the outcomes of at least 71 young people, promoting more independence, whether this is using more community resources, having less restrictive housing, depending less on services or being empowered through strength-based planning.
We have developed and delivered hours of training to enhance practice and break down barriers with partner agencies, especially SEND and health. We have reached out across Derbyshire to support and guide colleagues, ensuring they understand their roles but also, that we scrutinise data to ensure young people are experiencing as seamless a transition as possible.
This has taken a lot of hard work, data collating, building evidence, identifying need, changing processes etc and we are proud that we have been able to create such a valuable resource and big shift in practice, which will allow us to work in a targeted and swift way to change the experiences young vulnerable people have at this crucial point in their life.
Ruth Marshall
Nominated by: Richard Bonner
Department: Place
Reason for nomination:
Ruth joined the council as its Million Trees Project Officer in September 2022. Since then, Ruth has enabled the planting of 407,138 trees across Derbyshire in the delivery of the council’s target (set in 2021) to facilitate the planting of a million trees by 2030. This achievement has had significant benefits in connecting many of Derbyshire’s communities with the natural environment, enhancing biodiversity, supporting climate change resilience, and contributing to Derbyshire becoming a net zero county by 2050. These benefits are apparent at a landscape scale and so represent a major improvement in “place”. Hence, the Vision Derbyshire Award is appropriate for Ruth.
Ruth’s achievements are testament to her vision, determination, and commitment to building new partnerships and maximising the value of existing collaborations. Ruth has established an important strategic relationship with The Woodland Trust and The Greenwood Community Forest which has resulted in the sharing of expertise, funding, and land for woodland creation. Her friendly and open approach has very much encouraged these partners to invest in Derbyshire’s people and places.
Ruth evidenced this track record of delivery within a bid submitted to the Government to create a new Community Forest in Derbyshire. This was a national competitive process and at an interview with senior civil servants Ruth confidently explained how the council would work with partners to develop the Community Forest proposal. This key contribution led to the Government approving the council’s Community Forest bid in September 2023 which allows the us to directly access generous grants from the Government for tree planting and maintenance on public and private land.
Ruth can readily transfer her skills to other projects. A primary example being her hard work in preparing and delivering the council’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy conference in January to which over 120 delegates attended for partner organisations.
Portage Home Visitors in EYSEN and Foundation Years Practitioners in Early Help
Nominated by: Rebecca Jones and Lisa Anderton
Department: Childrens Services
Reason for nomination:
Nomination for Vision Derbyshire Award: Derbyshire Portage Service (DPS) and Foundation Years Practitioners (FYPs) from the Early Help Team.
Both these teams work with young preschool children with SEN. Reflections and evaluations of their work identified a need for an alternative small group offer for children with social and communication needs. These children were not accessing community group activities - parents felt that these busy spaces and age-appropriate behavioural expectations made it impossible for their child to fit in. These children were also not accessing their 2-year-old funding entitlement and missing out on valuable preschool experiences because parents felt that mainstream settings would/could not meet their child's needs. These children were also struggling to access the FYP Little Learners groups and needed an alternative to this offer.
The impact of this on DCC services was that DPS input was needed for longer periods of time, blocking spaces for new referrals and more parents applied for Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment because they wanted special school provision in the belief that their child's needs could not be met in mainstream schools.
The co-produced solution was to offer a group, Portage Pals for children on DPS and FYP caseloads. This started at Birdholme Children's Centre in 2023 and after evaluation the offer has also been introduced at Shirebook Children's Centre.
Each group runs for 10 weeks and is run by a Portage Home Visitor and a Foundation Years Practitioner. The group has a set of co-produced aims around bringing together families with whom either DPS or FYPs are involved to increase parental confidence in meeting their child's needs and to provide a small group experience for these children who were at risk of becoming very socially isolated.
Sessions include supporting the children to regulate their sensory processing needs so that they can access their play experiences and develop their social interaction and communication skills. Parents attend alongside their children and are supported to build their confidence around understanding and meeting their child's needs. The feedback from these groups has been fantastic; parents have reported that:
- they have formed friendships and meet up outside of the group, discussing any worries or struggles
- they are sharing ideas and what works for them
- they have set up a Whatsapp group between them and they plan outings
- they feel more comfortable accessing community-based provision such as soft play with each other
- all the children can now widen their experience outside of the family home and portage group.
The groups have meant that for these families, social exclusion has reduced and their resilience as families has increased. Children have started to attend pre-school nursery settings as a direct result of attending Portage Pals. Parents have accepted places for their children at mainstream schools and have changed their mind about deferring their child's start to school. Children have grown in confidence and are able to access the incredibly valuable pre-school experiences to which they are entitled, to give them the best start to their educational careers.
All this has been achieved through purposeful co-production, evaluation, reflection and development of the offer, using existing resources in innovative and creative ways to improve the lives for families and young children with complex SEN. All the staff involved should be very proud.