This year, our Learning Disability and Autism Team West proudly received the Team of the Year award at the 2024/25 You Make the Difference Awards. Their dedication to supporting residents with learning disabilities and autism was recognised and celebrated. This blog offers a glimpse into how they felt about receiving the well-deserved recognition.
How does the team feel about winning this award and attending the event?
The team were very excited to hear that they were nominated for this award. Luckily when the news came through, we were all together celebrating Christmas in the office, the positive feeling carried through to the awards event.
I think for a few of us we started to think we wouldn’t really win on the day, but there were definitely a few colleagues who didn’t lose the hope. It was a wonderful feeling when they called out our team’s name. We are very happy that the hard work, commitment and passion of the team has been recognised. The team is now setting their sights on national success.
Can you share a key accomplishment for your team this year?
The team pulled together to host a Learning Disability Festival in Harlow Town Park to mark Learning Disability Awareness Week (June 2024). This was a celebration of the achievements of people with a learning disability, showcasing their talents and local organisations that support in the West of Essex. The theme for the awareness week, promoted by Mencap, was ‘Do you see me?’ The people of Harlow did. It was such a joyous day with many performances from adults with a learning disability on the bandstand.
Following such positive feedback, we are ready to go again on the 20 June 2025 – come and join us!
What innovative strategies or approaches has your team implemented?
The team is very inclusive and if someone has an idea, we will run with it. This has led to us implementing weekly Makaton sessions as a team. The team has embraced picking different topics for signs they want to learn each week, learning together to improve our signing skills. We are now broadening this and launching Monthly Makaton Sessions, which are open to those working in the West quadrant.
Can you highlight any standout moments or milestones for your team?
This year we have utilised Essex County Council’s volunteer days. We decided as a team to volunteer at the Harlow Foodbank. With the whole team attending, we were very productive in creating the food parcels at the warehouse. In fact, we put so many together that they weren’t going to need any new parcels for quite some time.
Giving back to the community was a great experience, but equally, bonding as a team is what strengthens us and helps build our team spirit.
What role did ASC leadership play in your team’s success?
Leadership is key to a team’s success. Feeling supported by ASC leadership has allowed the team to embrace creativity and pursue new ideas. We have autonomy as a team to explore ways to best assist adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism, developing our Local Offer. If we have an idea, we know our leadership are 100% behind us, encouraging us to deliver positive outcomes.
Our latest idea is to display a young adult’s artwork in Goodman House. He’s in art college and a brilliant talent. We know that we will be supported in facilitating the arrangements for this, and at the grand unveiling, our leadership team will be there to celebrate and acknowledge this achievement.
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