We Are Sonderwell

As we approach the Christmas season, we can't help but feel grateful for the incredible team at Sonderwell. Our carers are the heart and soul of our company, and they make Sonderwell truly special. To celebrate the end of the week, we would like to share an employee review that perfectly captures the essence of our team.

At Sonderwell, we prioritize the health and wellbeing of our team members above all else. That's why we are thrilled to introduce our Employee Assistance Program. Our program, provided by Health Assured, offers a wide range of services including life support, online therapy sessions, and bereavement support.

We understand that support should be available at any time, which is why our Employee Assistance Program includes a 24/7 helpline for all employees and their immediate family. Whether it's day or night, we are here to help.

In addition, we have developed the Healthy Advantage app, a comprehensive tool that provides a multitude of services. From personalized 4-week plans to well-being articles, health trackers, and even a weekly mood tracker, the app offers everything you need in one convenient place. Accessible whenever and wherever you are, the Healthy Advantage app is designed to make your health a top priority.

If you are a member of the Sonderwell team and would like more information about our Employee Assistance Program, please don't hesitate to contact us. We are here to support you every step of the way.

This week marks the celebration of World Kindness Week, a time when we are reminded of the tremendous impact that kindness can have on individuals and communities. It serves as a gentle nudge, urging us to spread kindness in every possible way, no matter how small the gesture may seem. Whether it's offering a helping hand to someone in need, sharing a genuine smile, or simply being there to listen, acts of kindness have the power to brighten someone's day and make a lasting difference in their lives. Lets make kindness the norm, not the exception.

I’m John, and I am very grateful to be able to introduce myself as the new Chief Executive Officer of Sonderwell. I want to share a bit more about myself and my hopes and plans for our Sonderwell journey.
By way of background, I originally trained in the NHS graduate scheme, and have spent my career leading healthcare organisations across all parts of the healthcare system both in the UK and globally – driving positive change and ensuring that teams are able to work at their full unlimited potential to care for each other and for the people they support.
I come to Sonderwell with a passion for innovation and dedication to excellence, but it’s also very important to me to foster a really collaborative, inclusive, and empowering work environment.
One thing I am really clear on is that that future will be anchored in our core values –which are a constant in everything we do ’sallaboutyou

We received an uplifting review from one of our dedicated sponsorship carers.

For anyone who doesn’t recognize these faces, they are Kerry, Gemma and Teresa, also known as the ‘Arrow Support Care Managers’. Between them these three ladies have nearly 30 years of experience in care, all three of them have chosen care as their career and are a fantastic example of how the desire to ‘make a difference’ can result in a fantastic career.
Gemma and Teresa both started working for arrow as Support Workers. Teresa will have her 10 year anniversary of working for arrow in October, Gemma will have to wait until next year for hers! Teresa first came to work in care because of personal experiences, but it didn’t take her long to realize that this was the career for her because of the difference she could make to other lives. Gemma particularly enjoys a challenge and will always say ‘yes’ when presented with an ‘opportunity’ most people would say no to, the variety of tasks that come with this role will never get boring for Gemma.
Kerry came to arrow in 2017 as a Senior Support Worker. Anyone who has met Kerry will be blown away by her massive smile and unfaultable ability to talk to anyone about anything.
On a day to day basis these ladies listen, problem solve, organize , plan, reassure, de-escalate, record, learn, teach; the list is endless and while they do all of this they smile and laugh and support each other through thick and thin.

Great work! Our positive employee review is a testament to our amazing team.

Every day, 10 children and young people in the UK will receive a devastating cancer diagnosis 💔

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month aims to generate awareness and support for children suffering with cancer ❤️

There are many charities that you can choose to support this month either through awareness or your kind donations including:

Children with Cancer UK
Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group - CCLG
Neuroblastoma UK

How are you going to today? 🤩

Each year, Youth Mental Health Day encourages young people and those who support them to talk about their mental health and discuss ways to improve it 🥰

Find out more about how you can get involved via stem4

https://buff.ly/2Qtcu3Y

Let's challenge the stigma that persists around Alzheimer's disease and all types of dementia this Alzheimer's Awareness Month 💪

This year's campaign: Never Too Early, Never Too Late focuses on the risk factors and aims to reduce them.

Although age increases risk, dementia is not a normal part of ageing. Research has begun to suggest there might be risk factors that you can affect:

🏃 Physical inactivity
🚭 Smoking
🍺 Excessive alcohol consumption
🏭 Air pollution
🫂 Infrequent social contact
📝 Less education

You can find out more about reducing the risk via Alzheimer's Disease International

https://buff.ly/3cTl2Qo

Today is Emergency Services Day or 999 Day 🚨

Today is an opportunity to honour our amazing emergency services team across the country with our gratitude and celebrate their hard work ❤️

From everyone at Sonderwell, THANK YOU 👏

Emergency Services Day

Find out more: https://buff.ly/3jW2xZu

Do you 'Know Your Numbers'? 🤔

Make the time, ease your pressure and monitor your blood pressure at home. Blood pressure is important no matter how old you are and understanding your own numbers could save your life from heart disease or a stroke ❤️

Find out more about Blood Awareness Week from Blood Pressure UK 👇

https://buff.ly/3RgSZcN

Today is Makaton International Awareness Day 👋

Makaton supports the development of essential communication skills by using symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate 👏

Signs are used with speech in spoken word order providing additional clues about what someone is saying 👌

You can learn more about Makaton via The Makaton Charity or from this video from CBeebies 👇

CBeebies Grown-ups: The Benefits of Makaton for your child Justin from Something Special explains how Makaton is beneficial for children of all ages and abilities. We talked to some parents of children who use Makato...

We'd like to wish everyone a wonderful and sunny 🤞 bank holiday weekend 🌞

We hope you can take some time to enjoy it with the people that you love the most ❤️

Left handers are thought to be great problem solvers, possess a high level of patience and strong leadership skills 😏

We can think of a few famous lefties like:

🎨 Leonardo Da Vinci
🎭 Jim Carrey
✍️ Lewis Carroll
👔 Jean-Paul Gaultier
🎼 Jimi Hendrix

So are you right-handed or left-handed?

This month we remember those that have been killed or injured on our roads in Britain ❤️

Following the death of Princess Diana in 1997 and to commemorate the first death by a motor vehicle, Bridget Driscoll in 1896, National Road Victim Month was designated ❤️

If you're remembering someone who has been lost to the road or finding this month particularly difficult, there are a number of charities who are here to support you including: ❤️

Road Victims Trust
RoadPeace

We're really proud to share some first look photos of our recently renovated Sonderwell Staffing Solutions hub in Norwich!

How do you like our beautifully branded new space? 😍

July is Good Care Month 🫂

Here at Sonderwell, it's been a good opportunity for us to take some time to recognise the continued hard work of our teams, providing the very best of complex care to both adults and children across the UK ❤️

One of the many benefits of working with us at Sonderwell is Sonderflex. Designed to support you with a more flexible working pattern to do the job that you love but on your terms. You set your own availability so that you can work when you can take time out when you can't 🙌

Visit our website for more details: https://buff.ly/44b1r3B

Today is World Youth Skills Day 🎉

Darrell Mitchell is our Head of Employee Relations and this is what it means to him:

"World Youth Skills Day is about breaking down some of the barriers preventing some young people from entering the world of work. The care sector needs young workers to grow the skills needed to deliver excellent care, and to build rewarding and successful careers. Here at Sonderwell, we encourage young people to consider care work as an option and to come to us if they want to make a real difference to people’s lives."

Sonderwell offers an apprenticeship programme, if you'd like to learn more, you can check out the details here: https://buff.ly/44kNK1C

🌍 Plastic Free July 🌍

Sonderwell has a strict ESG strategy in place which demonstrates our commitment to improved environmental, social and governance factors within our organisation.

Our environmental strategy includes the reduction of plastic use, improved waste management as well as management of hazardous and toxic materials that might be used medically.

How will you be supporting the environment this July? What will you pledge?

July is Sarcoma Awareness Month where Sarcoma UK are campaigning for action for early diagnosis so that more lives can be improved.

In their own words: "Enough is enough; it’s time for action, and this Sarcoma Awareness Month, we’re setting out what we intend to do to get people diagnosed earlier and have better treatment options for life with and beyond bone and soft tissue cancers."

Find out how you can get involved, raise awareness or donate via their website: https://buff.ly/43T7REo

This week, we help to raise awareness of those with multi-sensory impairment, or deafblindness ❤️

Helen Keller was a deafblind activist and writer who spent most of her life advocating for disability rights after developing sight and hearing loss at 19 months old. Without her work, the advancement in support for deafblindness would be very different today.

There are over 450k people who are deafblind in the UK and we are proud to be able to support a fraction of this number to live as independently as possible.

Learn more about deafblindness via Deafblind UK

https://buff.ly/3p2DZX1

World WellBeing Week provides the opportunity for participants worldwide to celebrate the many aspects of wellbeing:

❤️ meaningful, purposeful work
❤️ financial security
❤️ physical, mental and emotional health
❤️ social resilience
❤️ empathic corporate and civic leadership
❤️ community relations
❤️ care for the environment

Wellbeing has never been so important to our lives and livelihoods.

On Armed Forces Day 2023, we're taking a moment to

Join us! https://buff.ly/2lFAfWZ

On World Whistleblowing Day, Sonderwell promotes a transparent and open culture - we welcome any feedback from our care and support team, our clients or their families.

If something concerns you, you can always report this online or by talking to one of our trusted team members.

If you are ever unsure of the concerns that fall under 'whistleblowing':

➡️ A criminal offence
➡️ Someone's health and safety is in danger
➡️ Risk or damage to the environment
➡️ A miscarriage of justice
➡️ The cover up of wrongdoing