The Together Trust is celebrating, following the announcement of being successfully accredited the highly prestigious Investors in People Gold Award for the first time since 2001.

The ‘Gold’ status was awarded following the results of an independent staff survey and series of staff interviews which highlighted that our charity demonstrated excellence in leading, inspiring and empowering the workforce and recognising and rewarding high performance.

We are proud to be a member of Family for every Child, an international alliance of organisations that unite their skills and knowledge to achieve change for children and families worldwide.

At the end of June, Jill Sheldrake (Service Director), Amanda Hampson (Head of Community and Personalisation),  Rick Vogan (Head of Clinical Services) and Ali Gunn (Communications and Campaigns Manager) met with Cheadle MP Mary Robinson in June to discuss the integration of health and social care. 

Virtual Boccia

The virtual Boccia tournament was organised by Boccia England and AOC Sport. If you’re unaware, Boccia (pronounced bot-cha) is a Paralympic sport with no Olympic equivalent and is similar to bowls. Read more about Boccia England here: https://www.bocciaengland.org.uk/what-is-boccia This year more than 5,400 students from over 140 schools and colleges took part.

As we come to the end of pride month Jakeb shares his reflections on LGBTQ+ young people in the care system.

I'm going to talk about being LGBTQ+ and being a care experienced person and growing up in the care system. 

Bridge College students participated in nutrition and hydration week to promote wellbeing. Students helped to design activities for the week and led on how to involve their fellow students. They also decided that there would be a theme for each day.

Thanks to funding as part of our Heritage Lottery Funded project ‘The Ever Open Door – 150 years of the Together Trust’, we are looking to produce a film that will document the main outcomes of the project and sit alongside our evaluation report. 

Our specialist mediation and disagreement resolution service brings different parties together to work towards a positive outcome. We run an impartial service offering factual and unbiased information. We create neutral spaces where everyone feels heard and supported. We champion every young person’s voice, making sure their needs and ambitions are at the heart of the conversation.

Our identity and sense of belonging are tied up in the memories of our childhood but for children in care, their records are often the only thing they have to piece together their life story. 

At the Together Trust, we have a substantial archive of records dating right back to 1870 because our founders recognised the significance of keeping records for the young people they cared for. It is part of our DNA to ensure that our care records help people understand their childhood.