As we prepare to wrap up the year here are just a few highlights from 2022 - an exciting and challenging year and one packed with generosity, support, new recruits, award nominations, adventures and success …

A new CEO and trustees

It was a busy start to the year, with our service users helping us to recruit a new Chair and group of trustees. It was at our AGM that we officially said farewell to our former chair Jimmy Noble (thank you for all your commitment and dedication Jimmy) and welcomed Ceri Davies to the post. Ceri, until recently Chief Executive of Nottingham Trent Students' Union, along with our service users then interviewed for the new CEO post, recruiting Helen Burdett-Wright, who joined Teamwork in March.

“The most nerve-wracking part of my recruitment was the final stage, being interviewed by the service users,” said Helen. “Donald showed me around, then Michael formally interviewed me. He really put me through my paces.”

We are 40: celebrations and fundraising

We started our 40th birthday celebrations in the summer, with staff and service users organising a fabulous party for us all, packed with music, dancing, food, fun and speeches.

To ensure we are sustainable and here for another 40 years and beyond we launched a fundraising campaign at the party – pledging to raise £40,000 in our 40th year. We have already raised more than £5,000 and have masses of plans for the New Year, so watch this space. 

Generosity and support

Thank you - we’ve had so much help, generous donations and masses of support this year.

A fabulous team from Corby based RS Components spent two days away from their desks - painting, planting, pruning and sprucing up the gardens and outdoor area at our Kettering site. 

Cllr Lora Lawman, Mayor of Wellingborough 2021/22, chose us as her mayoral charity, raising more than £1,670.

We had a surprise donation of £300 from the Barton Seagrave Ladies Club, for inviting us to their recent meeting (pictured top left) and presenting us with a generous cheque for £300. 

Our wonderful Apprentice Sam Mears shaved his hair off to raise more than £500.

And there were many, many more donations and pledges of support. 

This included a generous legacy donation from the wife of a former service user. She and her husband originally met at Teamwork Trust 25 years ago and when he passed away earlier this year, she chose to donate money in his memory to our charity.

Broadening horizons

Thank you to everyone who popped in to share their stories, experiences and adventures with our service users – all part of our Broadening Horizons programme. Speakers included representatives from the RSPCA, Corby Pole Fair and Made With Many. Another highlight was a visit from Northants Fire and Rescue Service, who visited the charity’s Corby and Kettering sites.

Arts, culture and sport

Our service users enjoyed a packed programme of events and activities, including a day out to watch Spain vs Finland in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 (a big thanks to Mencap for the tickets) and a trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park where we attended the official opening of #ArgonaltsInLove, an exhibition all about disability from our friend, the artist Jason Wilsher-Mills. We have been working with Jason, who uses iPads to create bright, celebratory works that explore the themes of disability, for several years. 

We were also treated to a front row show from one of the country’s top professional scooter riders, Jayden Sharman, who took to the slopes at Corby’s Adrenaline Alley and invited us along to watch. Read all about this HERE.

Four days of rehearsals and dance, led by professional dancer Maiya and culminating with performances on the Corby Cube’s stage, was another highlight of the year. Maiya, commonly found flipping her wheelchair upside down, said about Teamwork: “Bringing dance and disability together is a huge privilege and I’ve just loved dancing with and getting to know such wonderful Teamwork Trust members.” 

Wellbeing

We’re really proud of our wellbeing programme, covering topics including anxiety management, depression management, anger management and food & mood. We have recruited two new wellbeing coaches, Liz and Wayne, and we ran three six-week courses, working alongside Northamptonshire Carers, aimed at carers – dedicated to supporting people who so often put themselves second.

Our peer support programme has really taken off this year. Five service users have now started volunteering as peer support volunteers for Teamwork, having been trained in peer support. They have each received a care certificate and gone through first aid training. This committed group are now leading some of our peer sessions, including our monthly walk and talk opportunities around the county.

Counselling

Our team of dedicated counsellors continued to support adults with complex mental health needs through face to face sessions and telephone calls. Our counselling team can be reached by email [email protected].

Teamwork on film

As well as commissioning our own film – see us in action HERE - we were also filmed by a crew from BBC Look East. The cameras followed us as a group of our service users learned the ancient art of coppicing in the award-winning Hazel and Thoroughsale Woods in Corby - the largest town centre woodland in Britain.

Awards

Our talented team member Macy was a finalist in this year’s Northamptonshire Business Excellence Awards, compered by the fabulous TV presenter and host of Top Gear Paddy McGuinness. Macy is up for another award in January – good luck at the Northants Logistics Awards Macy.

Stepping into the future
We took a step forward in time this year, helping to bury a time capsule for future generations to discover and open.

At an event organised by Miller Home our service users added items to a capsule along with information about our charity. These included a notebook full of messages from our service users, a face mask and money, receipts for bread, milk, eggs and stamps and one of our newsletters.

Supporting and working with businesses
We continue to provide a popular outsourcing service to local businesses, all part of our commitment to supporting our service users to gain education and employment experience and to work with and play a key role in the wider community. Companies we support include Winkhaus, Cab Seating and Multy UK, with all income invested back into Teamwork Trust to support our service users.

And more …
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to co-production. Co-production, put simply, is a way of working in which those who benefit from and use a service are empowered to shape and drive it. For Teamwork Trust this means our service users take an active role in everything from recruitment and planning to the education programme and employment and volunteering opportunities. This is something we are hugely proud of and committed to.

We hope you have enjoyed reading about a few of our 2022 highlights and we can’t wait to unveil our plans for 2023.

We’d love your support and involvement so if you would like to find out more about Teamwork Trust – whether you want to visit, donate, volunteer or simply see us in action – please do get in touch.

Simply email [email protected]

You can also reach our CEO, Helen directly: [email protected]

Happy Christmas