A letter to volunteers from Paul Sanguinazzi, Head of Involvement, Experience and Volunteering about the decision made by the Trust’s Executive Leadership Team to move a new Staff Health and Wellbeing Team into the Involvement & Volunteering Centre at Duncan Macmillan House (DMH), and to relocate us to another area.
Hi,
We’re contacting you to let you know that a decision was recently made by the Trust’s Executive Leadership Team to move a new Staff Health and Wellbeing Team into the Involvement Centre at Duncan Macmillan House (DMH), and to relocate us to another area within the building. We realise that this may come as a surprise to you and we’re sorry to be sharing the news with you in this way but wanted to let you know as soon as we could.
We don’t have an exact timeline yet but we expect to be moving out of the Involvement Centre by Christmas, and hopefully be in a position to welcome you into our new space (albeit perhaps with building/decoration work still ongoing) in January. During December, it’s likely that we will support people who need to see us in person at our Involvement Centre in Ollerton (if you are able to travel) or in alternative spaces that we can book at DMH.
Involving you in what happens next
Unfortunately as this wasn’t our decision as it was made in the context of use of space at Duncan Macmillan House we have not been able to talk to you and listen to your views about the change. However, we want now to involve you in designing how the new space looks and feels and plan how we use it in future. We hope you’ll get involved in the conversations we will schedule through November, December and the New Year to begin planning. We will send dates out to you, and you will be welcome to attend in person or via MS Teams.
Your chance to talk about the move, and ask questions
We have asked Anne-Maria Newham, Executive Director of Nursing and our sponsor on the Trust Board, to arrange a time to speak to you about the decision and to listen to your views. This meeting will be on 9th November, 9-10.30am, and we will do whatever we can to enable you to join this conversation (in person at DMH, or via MS Teams). We would strongly encourage you to attend this conversation with Anne-Maria – it is your opportunity to ask questions and hear her views on the importance of involvement and volunteering. The conversation will be recorded on MS Teams and can be shared with you afterwards. If you would like to attend in person then please let us know by Friday 22nd October.
Prior to this date, we want to give you the opportunity to talk to us. We know the news might be unsettling and upsetting to some, and we are here to support you. You can of course contact us in the usual ways, but we are also making ourselves available on the below days/times:
- Tuesday 19th October, 10am-4pm, (at DMH, or by phone/the hub)
- Friday 22nd October, 10am-4pm (at Rosewood, by phone or via the Volunteer Hub on MS Teams)
You can contact us, or book in to see us, on these days and we will have the time to talk to you about the move and give you as much information as we have. This is also a good time to share experiences and views about the Centre or pose questions if you are not able to attend the conversation with Anne-Maria – we will be happy to share them and ask questions on your behalf. If you would like to attend in person on either Tuesday or Friday then, in light of current restrictions, you will need to book a place and undertake a Lateral Flow Test. Please either email to let us know or contact us on 0800 052 1415.
The Involvement Centre was designed over 14 years ago to provide a welcoming and safe place to facilitate the involvement of service users, carers and families in the work of the Trust, and you have all helped to make it what it is. We will miss the centre, but we hope you will work with us to create a new space and plan how we can best use it in the future.
Please feel free to reply to this or contact us via the usual means, and we hope you will join us in conversations about the future of the centre and our involvement work.
Regards
Paul Sanguinazzi
Head of Involvement, Experience and Volunteering