Intro from Jo
Hello and welcome to the second edition of our workforce newsletter!
“Thank you so much to all of you for sending your contributions, from wellbeing tips to updates and information about your specific roles. It’s great to hear from you all!
I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have engaged with us over the last few months, whether that’s attending a recovery space, coming along on a walk or participating in our workshops, training and wellbeing sessions. We hope those of you who joined our activities have enjoyed coming together for shared experiences, whether it was for relaxation, reflection, deep discussions or climbing trees! I certainly value spending time with you all and always learn something new, which I love.
The last Workforce Development Group was a particularly brilliant session, with 19 people in attendance and representation from every service - hooray! The input into discussions around tier four processes and support for bereavement at work, really highlighted how vital it is that we offer a safe space for you to speak out about your experiences. The session felt purposeful and productive and as a result we have clear outcomes and suggestions to take forward to relevant steering groups, forums and meetings. Thankyou to all of you who shared your insights and wisdom. Our commitment to you is that you will be heard.
In the next Workforce Development Group we have invited in two speakers to explore the option of a bereavement support group for staff in more depth and expand on a proposal around the ‘Developing our Reflective Practice’ workshops. We would welcome any one of you to come along and join us for the next session on September 12th, so please do book onto it here.
We also want to encourage you to let us know what the key challenges are for you at work and any ideas you might like to discuss. This is your group and your opportunity to put forward your views - so don’t hesitate to speak up!
Through everything we offer, we will make sure we take time to listen and truly understand the challenges you face, as this is what will activate a collaborative recovery culture across our services. By this, I mean a culture that is open, honest and courageous in its approach to development and making Essex the best place to work and be in recovery.
Upcoming dates for the Workforce Development Group
September 12th - 10am-2pm
November 7th - 10am-2pm
January 9th - 10am-2pm
Developing our practice
In response to a call for more reflective space for the workforce, Essex Recovery Foundation have run a series of pilot workshops around ‘developing our practice’, facilitated by an experienced community development worker, Elizabeth Bayliss.
This series of three workshops were attended by Essex Recovery Foundation staff and 10 members of the drug and alcohol workforce. They explored the way we work, how we go about it, our intentions in doing it and how we interpret what we have done. There was a focus on building skills in self-reflection and awareness, developing shared understanding and vocabulary around what works (and what doesn’t), tensions and contradictions, as well as the joy of our work.
There were some highly insightful and productive conversations which brought ideas of how we can embed reflective practice into our everyday.
The group consensus was that these workshops were highly beneficial for the workforce, who appreciated having time and space to ‘think’ and reflect on themselves and their work. The hope is to offer these workshops regularly and build reflective practice into an accredited training programme.
Wellbeing sessions
The pilot workforce wellbeing sessions have been led by our very own yogi Lisa Horwell, who has brought her meditation and yoga practice to teams across the whole of Essex. Lisa is passionate about supporting the workforce and has created a beautiful programme which helps alleviate stress, symptoms of burnout and offers time for staff to relax and breathe. Staff have already fed back how important these sessions are:
“The ERF workforce wellbeing session was such a fun and positive experience, the opportunity to take some time out and focus on my wellbeing for a few hours was invaluable.”
““It felt like a little reminder of the importance of looking after my own wellbeing which was much appreciated Thank you ERF”
Again, we want to make this a consistent offer to all the workforce, so we are looking to build a programme of wellbeing activities that can be offered county-wide. Please do get in touch if you have any other ideas around what would support you and your teams wellbeing at work - we are all ears!”