Guild Care chief executive talks about its ‘Excellent’ Bradbury Wellbeing Centre

The mission of our charity is to deliver innovative and life-changing care services that help older people, children and adults with learning disabilities, and those living with dementia and their carers to share and enjoy a richer family and community life.

At the core of this is putting the people being cared for first. We pride ourselves on taking the time to really get to know each resident and person that uses a Guild Care service.

I am therefore thrilled to say that our Bradbury Wellbeing Centre, which provides services supporting people living with dementia and their carers, is the first centre of its kind to be accredited with Meaningful Care Matter’s Butterfly Approach.

The Butterfly Approach has a meticulous focus on creating a person‐centred care culture where people are ‘free to be me’. The model values emotional intelligence, relationship-based care culture and the core belief that everyone has a unique story that has meaning and matters.

It is about putting the focus back on people and their emotions by engaging in the reality of people’s lived experience in the ‘here and now’.

Specifically, Meaningful Care Matters gave an ‘Excellent’ rating to Bradbury. They described the team as having a ‘meaningful rapport with the people in attendance’ and reported how the centre had shown ‘such resilience and truly continued to Be a Butterfly, creating moments of meaningful engagement for all’.

The Bradbury Centre currently offers two services for people living with dementia and their carers. First is the Butterflies Club, which provides weekly sessions for up to 15 people living with the condition. It offers a homely environment in which to enjoy meaningful person‐centred activities. The second is the Time Out for Carers scheme, which offers carers a break by providing outings and activities for their loved ones.

Maria Twine, whose mother attends, said: “It’s amazing, really. Unfortunately, with it being in lockdown we haven’t been able to go. It’s been an awful time, because mum just loves going there. She looks forward to seeing all the girls there and the other people. And it gives me a massive break, a massive breather, for those few hours.”

Another carer said: “My husband has been going there for about four and a half years. It’s the sort of place where I can leave him, and it’s a safe happy place, so I can off and do stuff and be myself. I can recharge my batteries so that I can carry on doing what I do: looking after him at home.

“When my husband was first invited to go there, they said, ‘We treat it like a social club’. So, he’s also referred to it as ’going to his club’.

“The staff have always been so brilliant, they’re so kind and understanding. They don’t just care for the people that go the centre as such, they care about us as well. I’ve always said the staff is the biggest asset there, because they care about how we are as well as our loved ones. They’re the sort of people that you feel you could, if you had a real problem, talk to them.”

If you would like to find out more about Guild Care, you can visit our website www.guildcare.org or call our friendly customer service team on 01903 327327.