Helping people reach their potential through being active and developing skills – November & December 2022
Our SSG staff team are extremely important to us, so when we can, we like to support them in their own activities.
HELPFULNESS
Our SSG staff team are extremely important to us, so when we can, we like to support them in their own activities. Here are three of our most recent sponsorships we have been able to support with:
- Emily Wallbank – Bedford Blues Ladies
- Roxy Watson – Bedford Ladies & Girls
- Paul Hale – Arlesey Town FC Bedfordshire Super League Team
We were delighted to help one of our key partners, Amazing Apprenticeships, delivering a fantastic afternoon of Team Building to their owner Anna and her team. Countdown, Blind Build, Spaghetti & Marshmallow Towers and Bin Ball were just some of the activities we delivered- lots of competitive fun!
ACCEPTANCE
Our newly established SSG Celestials Football Club, which is an independent project through the work of our SSG Foundation has achieved much more in just a few months than we could have hoped or expected. The football club for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their families is completely run by volunteers both on the committee and coaching. The official first season started in September 2022 and within the first ten weeks we had recruited over thirty players, a dozen willing volunteers, acquired four kits sponsors, funding for a schools and community outreach project and found a new home venue. This is truly a club for everyone who just wants to have some football fun and be involved.
The SSG Elf on the Shelf resurfaced at SSG this December, causing the usual mischief and providing the staff and participants with a great deal of amusement. We don’t normally like unacceptable behaviour, but we make an exception in this case, as it’s all in the spirit of festive fun!
ASPIRATIONAL
Self-Employment Network Event
The willingness and desire of our Education & Training team members to develop themselves and improve the standards within the services they offer is unquestionable. They all embarked on another two intensive (but enjoyable) days of training in November aimed at reviewing and improving all elements of their own skills and knowledge and the processes used within the service to ensure all students receive the best possible experience while learning with SSG.
Further evidence of SSG commitment to improvement came in the form of a wonderful training workshop for everyone involved with our Swim Schools. We brought in specialists from Swim England to help us improve our understanding of the curriculum criteria, assessing achievement and progression ladder of the swimmers while on their journey with us. The feedback from the team was incredible and we have seen instant improvements in our swim schools as a direct result of this training with more to follow.
SSG recently completed their first Step into Employability course aimed at helping people secure a Clinical Support Worker role with the NHS (specifically East and North Herts Trust: Lister Hospital). The employer was onboard to deliver workshops describing the role and what they expect out of their staff. It was then up to us to get them prepared for the interview through mock, scenario-based questioning, research about the employer and the use of power adjectives and verbs to ensure they come across in the best possible light. We were on hand to support them on the day with a quiet area to make sure they were ready before the big event. Of the 11 put forward 9 secured a role and were told the same day.
Quick snapshot of feedback:
- ‘I got the job!!! OMG!!!
- I’ll be working at Trauma, gynaecology, and plastics – what a result 😊
- Thank you so much for conducting the course and really supporting me through it all.
- This is an amazing start for me and I’m finally able to get my foot in the door.
- Once again. I wish to thank you for all the support you have provided me as I never dreamed it could be this easy.
ENGAGING
During National Careers Week, SSG engaged in a whole range of activities and events with its students to support their aspirational journeys in life. This included us hosting a super successful careers fair event at one of our home venues which matched hundreds of candidates with dozens of keen employers. Over 65 candidates received offers of employment as a direct result of this event, which we are delighted about.
We held another amazing Inflatable Fun Open Day in November for local families to experience our exciting range of inflatable activities and how they offer a great value, action packed, fun filled birthday experience for children and young people. With over 450 families coming along on the day, it was a hugely positive success with lots of little happy faces. We love to engage with our community, and this is a great way to bring everyone together for some good old-fashioned fun.
SSG College were delighted to welcome family members along to this year’s first parent & carers’ evening, for an opportunity to meet the college staff, see the college venue and find out about the progress of their young person/s. This was such a valuable event allowing SSG and parents/carers to come together to show support to the students and celebrate in all the achievements they have made so far.
Because we value our fantastic staffing team and wanted to show them how much we appreciate them this Christmas. We ran the ‘SSG Christmas Gift Give Away’, where we gave ten staff members a special gift on each of the in the ten working days leading up to our Christmas closure. The gifts varied from a home movie system to a pair of ‘fish-flops’ and everything you can imagine in between. The draw was done at random, captured on video and shared with our team via social media each day. Everyone had great fun being involved.
World Cup fever took over the country in November and December and SSG loved getting involved too. We incorporated the World Cup in as many programmes as we could and even had it on the big TV at SSG head office. It was used as a great platform within our SSG college to visit topics in all manner of creative ways. “The World Cup 2022 was embedded in learning (Due to the Denmark vs Tunisia game currently being played in the World Cup, this afternoon we are discussing Christian Eriksen in our fitness testing unit, and his journey from cardiac arrest in Euro 2020 and his road to recovery to make it to Qatar)”
INTEGRITY
Its critically important that we offer the highest level of care and wellbeing for everyone associated with SSG Services and we took another step in the right direction in ensuring this through delivering another first aid training course to our staff in November.
We were delighted that a team of our staff, inspired and driven by senior manager Emily Wallbank, put in the effort to support the Bedford Food Bank in December to help ensure with Christmas stock levels. Donations came in from staff, customers and partners and truck loads of items were delivered to the food bank as a result.
POSITIVITY
As part of our newest project partnership, we had an exceptional day of filming fun during our ‘Woodland Manor Media Day’. SSG operated our popular ‘Adventure and Challenge’ team building experience day for the staff at Woodland Manner, Clapham, Beds to demonstrate the awesome activities we will be delivering as part of our new working relationship with ‘Adventure at the Manor’, providing a first class experience for adult groups.
We made another positive step forward in moving into our new SSG Head Offices, based at Bedford Heights amongst many other top organisations. This professional multi office building now provides us with the size office we need due to our ongoing growth and is a wonderful professional environment for our staff and visitors with formal meetings rooms, a less formal lounge and our favourite part, a fully functioning catering facility serving up excellent food and drink.
The kids and staff had a blast in the half term Active Care, including a ‘Halloween’ theme which involved some creative ideas and dressing up. The growth in the numbers on our school holiday Active Care is evidence of the wonderful work both in the planning and delivery of the clubs, time and time again. We know children vote with their feet and we believe we are the best holiday club available to the children of Bedford and have plans on expanding this project in 2023.
We were delighted to have a visit in December from Santa who popped into see the children and staff on our Fun4All, Gymnastics Academy & Football Academy projects. He made quite an impression and brought a smile to many excitied faces as Christmas was approaching.
The Fish2Water swim schools’ staff, inspired by the amazing Robyn Lewin, brought Christmas into our pools with Christmas Swim Games. It is this initiative and creativity within our team that add such amazing value to the swimmers’ experience and one reason why our swim schools are the best around.
