Sheffield Day Centre Opens Doors in New Building
Thursday 27 July, 2023
Monday 3rd July was a memorable day as our Sheffield Day Centre opened its doors for the first time in its new building.
In May 2022, Real Life Options responded to a tender from Sheffield City Council to take over a struggling day service. Out of 26 providers who showed interest, Real Life Options were one of three providers who were taken forward and asked to interview. Dave Allan, Head of Operations and Amanda Maquade, Service Manager in Sheffield and North Derbyshire interviewed with commissioners, the families of people we support, and staff which ultimately lead to Real Life Options securing the service, officially taking over in September 2022.
The experienced staff at the service, coupled with our outreach expertise means the day centre is much more flexible than a traditional day service, offering a variety of outreach activities with the focus of achieving positive outcomes for the people we support. In the short time since Real Life Options took over the service, Amanda and her team have implemented a person centred approach which has led to several positive changes. Amanda says “It became apparent that people we support needed support reviews. Nobody had travel as part of their package, and people we support didn’t have timetables so they didn’t know what they were doing.” Taking a person centred approach enabled the team to identify areas for improvement, and put the steps in place to put the people we support at the forefront. Amanda says, “all 18 of the people we support had their packages changed to suit their individual needs”. The service now has two mini buses which provide transport for the people we support, as well as timetables tailored to each individual and their interests, ensuring everyone has a real voice, and a schedule that suits them.
Since taking over in September, the development of the service in such a short time has been outstanding. The new building is a new beginning for staff, and people we support in Sheffield who attend the day centre. We are excited to watch the service continue to grow!
