Two of our Residential homes, Norland view and Amar house, teamed up to decorate for Halloween.
The young people had so much fun and fully immersed themselves in the process.
Afterwards, everyone enjoyed a buffet and did some pumpkin carving and baking.
It was such a memorable experience for them and we wanted to share some pictures of the fun they had.
During Black History month, Restorative has seen various educational and captivating activities happening in our homes.
Let’s take a look into the experiences of two young individuals residing at Grove House.
They visited the MAPA African market, nestled within the heart of the Bradford community centre. Enthusiastically, they explored the market’s offerings and indulged in purchasing a variety of goods, particularly spices sourced from Africa and the Caribbean.
Back at the home they planned to unite their culinary skills and prepare delectable meals, celebrating the essence of black history month.
We are very pleased to announce that one of our young individuals, Waqas Khan of Somerset House, has achieved remarkable success during his first season playing semi-professional cricket with Birstall CC.
Waqas was awarded three prestigious accolades at his presentation evening. Firstly, Waqas has been honoured with the ‘Young Player Of The Year’ award, recognising his exceptional eye-catching performances throughout the season. His remarkable skills and talent have captivated the attention of both spectators and fellow players.
Furthermore, Waqas has also been bestowed with ‘The Best Bowling Average Award’. His exceptional bowling abilities have played a crucial role in securing victories for his team, showcasing his dedication and commitment to the sport.
In addition to these achievements, Waqas has also been awarded the ‘Champagne Moment Trophy’ for the season. This accolade was earned through his outstanding display of batting and bowling skills, leading his team to victory single-handedly.
The staff at Somerset House are thrilled with Waqas’ accomplishments, as he has demonstrated a high level of resilience, determination, and hard work.
Senior UASC Support Worker at Somerset House, Aysha Parveen says “His success serves as an inspiration not only to other young individuals but also to his teammates, reaffirming our commitment to nurturing and supporting individuals”
Young people from Birk and Grove Houses had a happy, vibrant and musical day celebrating diversity and inclusion at the Yorkshire Integration Festival at Sheffield Peace Gardens.
There were lots of smiles, tunes and fun as the young people from Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Afghanistan had a great time singing along to songs from their own countries by the World Choir and dancing to a Bradford Punjabi band.
Part of Migration Yorkshire, the festival brought together people of many different cultures and young people got the opportunity to chat to lots of people from their own homelands, creating a sense of inclusion for all.
The group decided to welcome a new young person, who had only been with Restorative for two weeks and is from Turkey, by eating a meal at the Istanbul Restaurant in Sheffield, which everyone greatly enjoyed.
“It was a day full of smiles and happiness,” said Lisa Mullally, Supported Accommodation Zonal Manager at Grove House. “And we finished it off with cake and hot chocolate as the rain came down, which was lovely.”
Young people said, “Today I feel very happy, this is the best day”. And, “My life is amazing, thank you for looking after me and keeping me safe”.
“Everyone had a great time and especially loved the DJ,” said Lisa.
Well done to everyone at Princeton House, recently receiving an inspection rating from Ofsted of ‘good’ in all areas of provision this August.
Inspectors noted how the registered manager’s “positive and solution-focused attitude is reflected by staff” and how “warm and welcoming” the home is. It was recognised how children are involved in helping to choose furniture and artwork within the home and have the freedom to decorate their rooms in a way that “reflects their personalities, interests and tastes”.
It was also commented upon how children “influence the way their home is run and are listened to by staff”. Particularly too, inspectors noted how children are supported and encouraged to talk about any worries or concerns they may have during transition times, when they “move into the home or leave as part of move-on plans”.
Ther importance of family connections was also positively noted and that “staff recognise and respect each child’s heritage”.
At Restorative, all children are supported to be active and take part in their local communities. Not only does this benefit children’s physical and emotional health, but it leads to further opportunities for the children. Ofsted recognised this and how such encouragement led to one child recently singing on the main stage at a community event.
Safety, and how children say they feel not only safe but how they can seek help if they need to, was another positive area of inspection. Again, the staff support was recognised, and how staff “take on board” children’s viewpoints, helping them to “find strategies to help them manage their own emotions and … keep themselves safe”.
Well done on a great inspection result, Princeton House team. Due recognition for all your hard work and dedication to the children we care for and support. Congratulations from everyone at Restorative!
We’re delighted to be celebrating another Ofsted ‘good’ rating, in all areas of our provision, this time for Ogden Moor children’s home.
Positive comments from inspectors include how staff at Ogden Moor have taken time to “build those bonds” with children and, consequently, how children have developed “trusting relationships with the adults who care for them”.
Help with education, and achieving academic goals are always a priority within Restorative’s model of care, and inspectors noticed particular success in this area, as well as children having opportunities to learn and grow, with extra-curricular social activities.
It was also remarked upon how well the team and families work together and the positive effect this has for the children, and the work being done to help children to build positive self-image, identity and confidence.
Ogden Moor, you did well and we’re proud of you! Congratulations from the rest of the Restorative team.
Muhammed, one of our resident UASC young people at Grove House, has received resounding applause for his confident performance in Because at Bradford College and a trip to London to perform at Shakespeare’s historic Globe Theatre.
Muhammed was one of a group of ESOL (English as a Second of Foreign Language) students in the Shakespeare Club at Bradford College to perform in Because, as part of their Moving Stories project, and welcome the award-winning playwright, David Edgar, who attended the performance.
David Edgar, a playwright who has had more than 60 published plays performed around the world and is one of the most prolific post 1960s dramatists of Great Britain, said of the performance, “it was so moving. It will really stay with me”.
Muhammed then travelled to London to present Because as part of events to mark Refugee Week, alongside other sketches, short plays and songs highlighting the experiences of refugees.
Tahira Hussain, a support worker at Grove House, said of Muhammed’s achievement, that it shows “hard work and great confidence performing in front of so many people”.
Our Calderdale Outreach team and young people have been embracing the spirit of Eid Ul Adha celebrations with great enthusiasm. This was a particularly special occasion for those who were celebrating it in the UK for the first time.
Everyone took a day trip to Ninja Warrior in Leeds. It was an unforgettable experience! They all had a blast testing their skills and seeing who could conquer the infamous wall. It was a fantastic bonding experience for all.
Farman and Hijrat put together an incredible Eid feast, featuring mouth-watering traditional Afghan cuisine. The dynamic duo extended a warm invitation to other young individuals in their outreach community, creating a vibrant and inclusive celebration. It’s heartening to see such acts of kindness and camaraderie. Thank you to Farman, Hijrat, our Zonal Manager Nadia, and all those who made this special occasion a memorable one!
We’ve always believed in a strong corporate culture at Restorative. Our dedication to excellence and best practice in children and young people’s social care has taken us into every aspect of our business.
Our corporate culture in evidence
At every level, as an organisation, business and brand, we work to achieve our main aim – providing the highest quality social care that helps looked after children and young people achieve the life they want.
From the high standards of our settings, residential children’s homes and supported living, to training programmes and progression pathways for staff, to a responsive and committed head office team – we manage every part of our organisation to ensure it works toward our aim, while at the same time demonstrating our values and beliefs through the way we work and our behaviours.
Residential homes children thrive in
The high quality of our children’s homes and settings set us apart. It’s in our values to provide homes children and young people genuinely wanted to be in and feel safe, secure and valued. The care and attention we take with our properties mirrors the care and attention we take with every aspect of our care and support, helping to promote wellbeing, self-worth and a sense of pride.
Highly qualified staff with roadmaps for progression
Our staff are selected for their personal qualities, and ambition to make a difference to young people’s lives. We provide the training and qualifications that sets each staff member up in their career and ensures they’re superbly equipped and confident to do the best job they can. Not only does this ensure our looked after young people get the high-quality support they deserve, but it also demonstrates how we believe in supporting our own team too to get them to where they want to be in life.
For all staff, we also provide a clear career roadmap and salary progression, and a rewarding career for life.
Setting our own pay scales – above the Living Wage
We believe in a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work. We know the work we do isn’t easy, so we actively look to deliver real benefits to staff, including being accredited by the Living Wage Foundation. All qualified members of staff receive an hourly rate that’s not only in line with the Living Wage hourly rate, but above it.
For those not yet qualified we look to enroll them as soon as possible to keep on track with their self-development and increased earnings.
Real head office support
We’ve developed a fully designated head office team with the experience, knowledge, qualifications and commitment to support our social care teams because that’s how we know we can provide excellence in our back-office systems.
Our HO support is vital for the high functioning of our social care professionals and the strict levels of compliance and administration we work to in the industry.
Director support and involvement
Support is as crucial for the children and young people we look after, as it is for each other in our support teams. So our three founding directors work day-to-day in the support and involvement of everyday work with staff and teams and are as present on the rotas as other members of staff.
Our three directors have always believed in working to develop and support the team, which means being as accessible and non-hierarchical as possible.
A sign of our success and quality as an employer
We’re proud of the culture we’ve created at Restorative. It contributes to our success in achieving the high-quality care and support we provide to young people, the development of our staff, and positively defines and guides as a workforce, making us a great place to work.
Check out our vacancies page to see how you can apply.
June, as Pride month, is special for us at Restorative. We look forward to our Pride celebrations, with special events planned throughout our homes. But, importantly, it’s an opportunity for us to bring a laser focus to Pride’s origins and values, and what these means for us as an organisation and in our work to support young people.
Pride values inform our practice
Equality, diversity and the freedom to live a visible, authentic life is, unfortunately, not the reality every young person faces. Our model of support to young people works directly to combat this and we aim to promote inclusion at every level of our practice. Acceptance, understanding and visibility of every young person, and employee in our organisation, underpin our approach, but involved in this work, is also understanding what holds us back.
Pride month is therefore a useful opportunity, to talk and discuss with our young people, and within our teams, about more we can do, and the actions we can take, to further embed Pride values of equality, tolerance and celebration of ourselves as individuals into our work processes and practice.
What Pride is and how it began
Pride month, typically celebrated in June, although some Pride events take place in July, originated from the first Gay Pride march in London on the 1st of July 1972, sparked by the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York. The Stonewall Riots were a protest at the police harassment experienced at the Stonewall Inn in by New York’s gay, lesbian, transgender and crossdressing community.
The first Pride month was known as ‘gay Pride month’ but has, in more recent Pride’s, come to include and celebrate all of the LGBTQIA+ community and the right to live as an individual. Although still a form of protest against lack of freedom, visibility and the right to live an authentic life, Pride is also a celebration of diversity and acceptance.
Flying the flag all year round
We will certainly be flying the rainbow flag high this month, but we know how important it is to young people’s, and all our, healthy futures, that tolerance and acceptance are the norm all year round.
While we work to the principals of Social Graces, ‘a practical tool to address inequality’, it isn’t exhaustive, and the more we can do to combat lack of equity and marginalisation in our work with young people, the better for all of us.
We look forward to celebrating all our amazing young people and team again this Pride month and supporting them and each other to be the individuals they want to be.
Keep an eye on our social media for more updates from our homes.