Read to learn how we managed to grow our business so fast.
Howards Support was born from a desire to recognise that at the heart of everything we do is support. Support for our colleagues, Support for our customers and also Support for our friends, families and communities. Working together to support and encourage our people and customers to reach their goals, however large or small they may be, is what we’re about.
We all need to believe that we are capable of making a positive difference to people’s lives every day. In order for us to deliver our vision and mission we know we need to involve our people. Everyone says it, but in our case it’s true: our team is the secret to our success. Each of our employees is amazing in their own right, but together they are what makes Howards Support such a fun and rewarding place to work.
Whether or not we are aware of it, we all live our everyday lives by a set of values that shape how we think and react. Values are beliefs and ideas about how people should behave which have been formed by our childhoods, families, backgrounds, cultures, religions, educations and relationships. Whilst we each have our own values there are values which are important for working in home support
Our flexible domiciliary support services can cover anything from 30 mins to 12 hrs per day. Our home support service can be used for short term help following an illness or because your usual carer is having a break, or as the start of your support journey where it may develop to long-term home support. Our dedicated team of home support assistants are fully trained to:
Helping you start the day having a good breakfast
from helping you start the day having a good breakfast
Remind you in taking medicines, as well as collect or return medication from your pharmacy or dispensing GP surgery
Mealtime; prepare meals with or for you and assist you at mealtimes
Outings; collect your pension for you or with you, shop with you or help you to make a shopping list, go to the shops, plus come back and put it all away
Household; help with your laundry and keep your home clean and tidy
Social outings; support you with social activities like going out for a walk, attending a day centre, visiting friends or family or going to your church or club
Personal support; a little pampering when you need it – To organise clean clothes, fresh bedding and a thoughtfully prepared meal before bedtime support
To improve the wellbeing of people suffering from mental health problems, learning disabilities and other support needs.
To promote independence, rights and choice of individuals to enable them, to live independently in the community,
reduce readmission to hospitals and institutional support.
To enable those with particular needs to live ordinary lives within the community by ‘Providing quality services that meet individual’s needs,
goals and aspirations to promote social inclusion and empower service users to take control of their own lives
We are all aware of the current public health crisis; coronavirus has changed the way we all live our lives in the past six months.
We are less aware perhaps, of the other growing health concerns which have been spreading at the same time of the virus.
Male suicide rates have hit a two decade high.
Female suicide rates are the highest since 2014.
There is a worrying and continuing rise in suicide in young people; especially young women.
The statistics are undoubtedly bleak; another concern to add to the multitude we are balancing in these strange times. But we must not allow our compassion to wane, to feel we can’t confront the suicide rates as we fight covid. It is more vital that we keep speaking about suicide in our churches and our communities.
We have to keep talking about suicide – however uncomfortable it may make us feel – but in order for us to bring hope with our words, we need to get our terminology correct.
Suicide was decriminalised in 1962 – you can’t commit suicide – but thousands every year are still dying by suicide. Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy – but it’s not a crime and our language has to reflect that.
Earlier in 2020, TV presenter Caroline Flack took her own life, and despite countless campaigns around the language of suicide and the way it is reported, many news outlets still used stigmatising phrases like ‘killed herself’ whilst reporting how she died citing the method. Speaking about suicide not only needs to use the right language – but it must adhere to the Samaritans guidelines so that the reporting of a suicide does not spark further suicides.
Among the worst phrases in the english language is ‘failed suicide attempt’ – it renders survival a failure – so using the phrase ‘survived suicide attempt’ is more compassionate and offers hope instead of stigma.
We need to speak of suicide – and then we need to respond with compassion by listening to the suffering, signposting them to mental health or support services and walking the long and winding road to healing, holding out hope until they can hope for themselves
