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Constituency Colleagues Show They Care

Sutton Coldfield Constituency Office BEST team suggested an away day as part of their BEST workshop. Although everybody got on well, no two people were doing the same job and so there was never any opportunity to work together as a team. They felt an away day would give everybody the chance to get to know each other better and make the team more cohesive.

In May 2008, 15 team members met at Sutton Coldfield park, the obvious choice for volunteering, being such a huge landmark in the constituency. The team split into two, with part of the group carrying out a Corporate Assessment Test, surveying different areas of the park to assess the condition of hedges, fences, signage and roads while the other party rolled their sleeves up to take part in some practical fence construction!

The away day was a huge success, with beautiful weather and a lot of fun which proved to be a turning point for the team. Helen Millington, BEST team leader commented; “the team has really gelled as a result of the away day and feels like a family. It has certainly increased trust amongst all of us to the point where we can now talk openly about any difficulties and be able to move on.” The away day was such a success that Helen and Siobhan Brittland, BEST Programme Manager for Housing and Constituencies, met with Sutton Coldfield’s Park Ranger to discuss setting up ready-made away days at the park for other BEST teams to take part in.

Following this successful team building experience, team-member Lesley Bannister made a work visit to Sutton Coldfield’s Leonard Cheshire home for adults with severe disabilities. She returned to her team mates moved to tears after witnessing one of the residents trying to access the small courtyard of grass, but being unable to get further than the patio in his wheelchair. The team decided to act and, moved by their compassion for constituency residents they wouldn’t otherwise have come into contact with, decided to plan and create a sensory garden at Leonard Cheshire which all residents regardless of disability could fully appreciate. They entered the BEST Dragon’s Den in November 2008 and were awarded £1000.

The team are now looking forward to their next away day on 8th May 2009 where they will make their plans a reality and see the garden come together. Most importantly the team will be working with Birmingham Rathbone’s horticultural division for people with learning difficulties who will make sure the garden flourishes beyond the away day with a contract for its long-term maintenance. The team are hoping that this will be just the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership with Leonard Cheshire and are already looking ahead to other projects they can do as a BEST team, including creating a sensory room.