The Music Train is made possible through fundraised income but over the past few years, we’ve found that it has become much harder to win grant funding for the initiative, due to Milestones’ size, which could have placed the future of the Music Train at risk.  We know that the Music Train is a fantastic source of pleasure and community engagement for the individuals who enjoy attending, and we want the Music Train to have a bright, safe and thriving future.

We have worked closely with Liz to be able to find another charity to adopt Music Train – and now we have found a charity that that shares our aims, our values, and our ambitions. This charity is Paul’s Place, and we are delighted to announce that have now adopted the Music Train.

Paul’s Place is a charity based in Yate, Bristol that provides social activities that connect people, reduce isolation, improve health and wellbeing, and give people the opportunity to develop new skills, enjoy new experiences, and live life to the full.

We’re confident that that Paul’s Place will ensure the Music Train continues to thrive, meaning all the people we support will still be able to enjoy the same accessible, live music events, held at the same venues, with the same welcoming spirit. Aside from some minor branding changes, the experience will remain unchanged.

Hilary Crowhurst, Milestones Trust CEO said: “We are so grateful to Liz for her outstanding service to the local community and to the Music Train as a volunteer – in fact, for everything she has done. And we’re also grateful to the Executive team and Trustees of Paul’s Place for adopting Music Train as their own, and ensuring its success long into the future.”

Liz Gray said: “I am very excited that the Music Train is to be adopted by Paul’s Place. This will ensure that The Music Train will continue to enrich the lives of the people who Milestones Trust support and the wider community and possibly spread out to even more communities.”

Lynda Williams, Paul’s Place CEO said: “We are honoured to be adopting The Music Train and look forward to working closely with Liz to ensure this much-loved and essential service not only continues but grows. It is an outstanding project that aligns perfectly with Paul’s Place’s mission to enhance the lives of disabled adults.”

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The Move on Project: A beacon of hope

The Move-On Project, situated in Downend, Bristol, exemplifies Milestones Trust’s dedication to community-based mental health rehabilitation. This innovative service empowers individuals with enduring and complex mental health conditions to engage in a two-year programme of community-based rehabilitation that offers a person-centred approach to recovery. The project’s holistic approach promotes an innovative shift from medical to a human rights-based approach that fosters lasting recovery.

Celebrating the achievement

Receiving the award on behalf of Milestones Trust, Helen Aitchison, Senior Operational Manager for Milestones’ mental health services expressed her gratitude:

“We are immensely proud to receive an Innovation Award from the EASPD. The Move on Project demonstrates our unwavering commitment to transforming lives and promoting mental health recovery, and I’m so pleased to see this recognised today.”

Jess, who was supported at the Move-On Project, shared her perspective:

“The support I received from the amazing team at Milestones gave me everything I needed to take back control and rebuild my life. And it’s been great coming along to the conference and speaking to all of the delegates about my experience.”

The Award Ceremony

The award was presented at the EASPD Conference on ‘Guaranteeing Choice & Control: Transforming Mental Health and Psychosocial Disability Support’. The event brought together experts, practitioners, and advocates from across Europe to celebrate ground-breaking initiatives in mental health services. Milestones Trust’s achievement was met with enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Stronger together

The award underscores Milestones Trust’s belief that collaboration and innovation drive progress. Jeff Parry, Milestones’ Director of Operations commented:

“The team at the Move on Project absolutely deserve this award. They’ve shown that working in partnership with not only the people we support, but also their families, advocates, and other health care professionals, achieves the best possible outcomes. We are stronger together. This recognition inspires us to continue pushing boundaries, advocating for mental health, and creating a brighter future for all.”

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Good quality records underpin safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care, communicating the right information clearly, to the right people, when they need it. They are an essential part of achieving good outcomes for people – so we’re pleased to be investing in our ability to continue to deliver the excellent support that we’re known for.

We selected Nourish following a rigorous process, which involved staff, people we support and their families, aimed at ensuring we selected the right system for us. The Nourish solution impressed throughout this process, which included trials at a number of our services.

Adopting this new system will:

• Provide us with ‘real time’ information about the care and support people need and receive.
• Allow information to be shared quickly, accurately and safely.
• Make it easier for people we support to access their own records.
• Help support staff to make records more quickly and efficiently – freeing them up to focus on more ‘value-adding’ tasks.

We’re confident that this system has the functionality that we need to fully future-proof our support planning, while being customisable enough that we can adapt it to suit all of our services. It was the solution that most impressed us, as it will allow us to replicate what we already do well on paper, but in a user-friendly electronic format.

Paul Barnes, Nourish’s Chief Customer Officer, said:

“Nourish Care is proud of the impact it makes on the people we help support. Being part of the digital transformation journey with Milestones has shown how truly professional and dedicated their team is, and like everyone at Nourish, they are focused on delivering better care focused on the person. The true benefit of digital shows in the impact and improved outcomes for the person receiving care. The Nourish team looks forward to celebrating those ongoing benefits with Milestones in the coming months.”

Jeff Parry, Milestones Trust’s Director of Operations, said:

“We’re over the moon that Nourish will be providing our new Digital Support Planning system. We considered several different providers during a comprehensive process and Nourish really stood out. Ultimately, we’re making this change so that our staff can record and access information more quickly and easily. It will mean they have more time to focus on the thing that they’re really brilliant at, which is working directly with people we support.”

As we begin to implement Nourish across our services, we’ll continue to work with Guided Innovation, who help social care organisations with finding technological solutions to suit their needs. Guided Innovation provided us with invaluable support during our search for a Digital Support Planning solution, so we’re pleased to continue to work in partnership with their team as we implement our new Digital Support Planning system.

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With the Kingswood by-election fast approaching, Milestones Trust – a charity that supports people with learning disabilities and mental health needs across South Gloucestershire, Bristol and North Somerset, including in the Kingswood constituency – has opened its doors to the political parties, inviting candidates to come and speak with people living in the area about their plans and answer questions.

By inviting the candidates standing in the by-election to speak directly with people supported by Milestones, the charity aimed to ensure that they had every opportunity to be involved in the democratic process and make an informed decision on who they might like to vote for.

Jeff Parry, Director of Operations at Milestones Trust, said:

“Involvement is a hugely important part of what we do at Milestones. Research published by the government after the last general election confirmed that disabled people, including those with learning disabilities and those affected by mental illness still face many barriers to political participation.

“As well as sharing accessible information such as how to register to vote and the need to take voter ID on the day of the by-election, we also wanted to give the people we support the chance to engage directly with the people that want to represent them in parliament, so that their voices could be heard, and so that the candidates understand the issues that are facing their constituents.”

Candidates from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, The Green Party and Reform UK all attended the event on 31^st January; candidates from the Conservative party and UKIP were invited, but were unable to attend on the day.

Damien Egan, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Kingswood said:

“I really enjoyed the event. There were some great questions from the participants. I delivered my message on the need for change, but it was particularly useful for me to hear the concerns of the people that Milestones Trust supports.”

Councillor Andrew Brown, the Liberal Democrat’s candidate said

“It was fantastic to have the opportunity to hear from people supported by Milestone about their concerns and priorities ahead of the by-election. We covered significant areas of policy from the cost-of-living crisis to the state of our roads, from how we make life easier for those with additional needs to the importance of valuing those who are carers whether paid or unpaid. It was clear to me that there was a real feeling that things aren’t working at the moment, and that change is needed, and I believe that the Liberal Democrats offer the change that Kingswood needs.”

Councillor Lorraine Francis, from The Green Party said:

“Unfortunately, in the UK for too long the two parties who hold the power and are now jostling for first place are the same parties who are responsible for challenges we are facing. They take it in turn to blame each other, when they are responsible. We need parliament to be more representative – it’s time that we have a more diverse range of politicians that understand and speak up for the communities they serve.”

Rupert Lowe, Reform UK’s candidate for Kingswood said:

“Kingswood is having a by-election that it should not be having. I am standing to provide the constituency a national voice and a voice that will fight for lower taxes and less restrictions.”

Richard, who is supported by Milestones Trust in Hanham, said:

“It was interesting to hear what the different candidates had to say. I will vote in the by-election later this month, and though I already had an idea of who I would be voting for, the event helped me know for sure.”

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Karin Smyth, Labour MP for Bristol South and Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care visited one of social care charity Milestones Trust’s services in Southville, Bristol last Friday, to meet people living there and provide an opportunity for them to talk with her about their experiences.

Karin met a number of people during her visit, including Nicholas who receives support with his mental health needs, and Shirley whose son is supported at the service. She also met Hilary Crowhurst, Milestones’ Chief Executive who spoke with Karin about both the positive outcomes made possible through the service, and the challenges facing the social care sector.

Hilary said: “It was lovely to meet Karin and talk with her about the work that our committed support teams do, as well as discuss the challenges that our sector faces. There is little focus by government on the social care needs of working age adults, such as those with mental health needs or learning disabilities, and recruitment of staff remains a huge challenge. We need to see awareness of the importance of social care drastically increased, alongside greater recognition of the high degree of skill and responsibility that roles in social care require.”

Commenting on her visit, Karin said: “I was very pleased to join Nicholas, Shirley and the Milestones team, and I thank the people who live there for allowing me to join them in their home. It was especially good to hear from people with first-hand experience of social care, both during and following the Covid-19 pandemic. I’m taking away some incredibly helpful insights into the challenges that are facing the sector, and have some questions of my own that I’m now keen to gain answers for.

“For example, data on the number of people with a learning disability people being held in long-stay inpatient hospitals is published monthly, but we don’t see the same data published for people with mental health needs who are in the same position.”

“It’s also clear there needs to be greater parity between health and social care if we want to smooth the transition between the two. People working in care do a fantastic job that does not receive the recognition it deserves, and that needs to change.”

Mark Melhuish, Service Manager at the service said “It was good to meet Karin and for the people we support here to have the opportunity to meet their local MP and a chance to discuss the issues that are local and specific to them.”

Helen Aitchison, a Senior Operations Manager at Milestones added “We’re really grateful to Karin for joining us and hearing first-hand about people’s experience of receiving support with their mental health needs. It’s important for people who use our services to have their voices heard by their local representatives.”

We look forward to building stronger relationships with Karin and her parliamentarian colleagues in order to raise awareness of our sector and the challenges it currently faces.

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This follows the CQC upgrading its rating of our residential care home in Northumberland Road, Redland, to Good, after a recent inspection.

This sees 29 of our 33 registered care services rated as ‘Good’, with four others classed as ‘Outstanding’ by the regulator.

Our Chief Executive Hilary Crowhurst welcomed the decision, and said:

“Our teams strive to do their very best to ensure that the hundreds of people they support have what they need to live independent, fulfilling lives.

“I am proud to see the work at Northumberland Road recognised by the Care Quality Commission.

“This latest rating reflects the quality of the care we deliver and our efforts to ensure that residents have choice and control of their lives, whilst feeling safe and well supported by our team.

“We are fully committed to delivering high-quality and innovative care services, which raise the bar for specialist accommodation in Bristol and the surrounding areas. This latest inspection is testament to the team’s work towards delivering this commitment.”

The Northumberland Road service is a five-bed residential care home supporting people with mental health needs.

The CQC’s report said the home’s residents felt safe and well cared for. It stated that people were protected from infection, and staff were on hand to ensure residents received medicines and treatments as directed.

The report also noted that there were enough staff in place to support people and that there was a strong focus on involving people we support and their families in the service.

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A festival of contemporary art and music returns this July after a two year pause, promising to make a splash while celebrating ten years of ambitious exhibitions.

Imagined Landscapes, showcases artwork created by artists supported by Milestones Trust through its Expressions programme.

Expressions encourages participants living with mental health needs and learning disabilities to develop new creative skills.  This progressive programme has a positive impact on mental health and well-being as well as making the arts more accessible.

The contemporary exhibition will be the culmination of the year-long programme of creative arts workshops run by artists.

The theme this year is the ‘Imagined Landscape’ and the captivating and thought-provoking exhibits on show explore the ways that landscape is understood and imagined, both individually and on a collective level. Through the work audiences are invited to consider the landscapes they experience, to explore shared and individual imaginings and to respond to these as witnesses and collaborators.

The exhibition includes work made in collaboration with international photographer Barry Cawston, sculptor Tina Brown, painter Ben Bishop, video artist Giles Webberley and portrait painter William Oxer.

Louise Copping, Expressions Artist and Curator, said:

“As an artist collective we are thrilled to be able to present exciting new work this year. We have been collaborating with other artists to develop works that considers changed and changing landscape, both internally and externally. The works this year explore nature, geology and the climate emergency as well as human connection and our inner experiences of the land and landscape through time.”

Emma Grant, long term Artist collaborator said:

“In our work we have been striving to find the uncanny in the everyday, to challenge the status quo and to imagine a new world through art making. With the group show we are advocating for collective, cross-disciplinary collaboration in pursuit of togetherness and equality as a way of life.”

Artist Ben Bishop added: “I feel excited to have my work exhibited at such and illustrious show. And more than that, I feel proud to be associated with such meaningful impacts as those made by Expressions Art studios.

Artist William Oxer said: “Producing portraits offers a connection to self, perception and image. The portraits produced in these workshops will present positive experiences aimed at reducing stigma about mental health within communities and normalising mental health through the expression of self in art.”

Sculptor Tina Brown said: “It has been a pleasure and a fulfilling experience working with the artists at Milestones, in the run up to Expressions 2022. I have been running some collaborative workshops, where the artists shared ideas and experiences, based on the last two years, and a vision of freedom for the future – expressed through abstract sculptural forms, dyed fabric, wire and wood veneer that will be displayed at the Imagined Landscapes Exhibition.”

As part of the celebration there will also be a fantastic line up of Bristol bands running day and night over the weekend, as well as spoken word and performance, creative workshops, stalls and refreshments.

The free event is produced and curated with Milestones Trust, a Bristol charity supporting adults living with mental health needs and learning disabilities. The focus for Expressions has always been to make the arts accessible, interactive and a source of wellbeing.  The people supported by the charity are involved in every aspect of Expressions, from creating the art to organising the show, giving participants invaluable access to the art world and help to get their art work exhibition-ready

The exhibition is free to enter, though donations are welcome.

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On Tuesday 14th June, we interviewed candidates from the Prince’s Trust. This went really well and resulted in us shortlisting 5 of them, who will soon be interviewed for roles in our mental health services.

Then, on Wednesday 15th June, we visited the Merchants’ Academy secondary school in Withywood to meet students who are undertaking a course on Health and Social Care. We talked to them about how it is to work in the care sector and what we do at the Trust, focusing on our apprenticeship opportunities.

This session also went really well, and we’re looking forward to visiting Winterbourne Academy in July to talk to their students!

If you would like our recruitment team to visit your school, please contact them on 0117 970 9333.

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Last year, the challenges people took on included cycling 1,000 miles in a month, learning to ride a unicycle, and cycling 40 miles using a hand bike. Your challenge can be anything you want. You can take part in a group, on your own or with support from a parent or carer. You could use your own bike, an exercise bike at the gym or hire one from Warmley Wheelers. It really is up to you! The only rule is that you must complete your challenge within the month of July.

Everyone who takes part will receive a certificate to celebrate their success and as a token of our gratitude. If you raise £100 or more, we’ll give you a medal. If you take part as a team and raise £250 or more, we’ll give you a trophy. Last year, we held a small presentation event for all our participants, and we would love to hold a similar event this year.

We really enjoy hearing from participants. It’s wonderful to find out why they decided to get involved and how they are getting on with their challenge. If you would like to share your story and pictures of you completing your challenge, email marketing@milestonestrust.org.uk. If you’re happy for us to tell the world about your amazing achievements, we’ll talk about them on our website and social media channels.

It’s free to enter the Warmley Wheelers 2022 Cycle Challenge and you can sign up here: https://bit.ly/ww-challenge-22

Warmley Wheelers offers specialist equipment and a safe, friendly environment to support people who would normally find it difficult to ride a bike. All money raised from the Cycle Challenge will go towards Warmley Wheelers’ running costs.

Judith, who took part in last year’s Cycle Challenge, said this about why she decided to get involved:

 “For people with disabilities who live locally, Warmley Wheelers is really important. It can help to make them feel independent and to give them that same level of joy that I get on a bicycle.”

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We are following the advice provided by the NHS on symptoms and advice.

Public Health England has also provided guidance to care home and domiciliary care settings, which we will continue to monitor closely.

As a Trust our main priority remains the safety of the people we support and our staff, and we continue to make organisational plans to mitigate the potential impact of the virus.

We are actively working with stakeholders and commissioners to ensure that services can reopen safely and effectively. If you have any questions or concerns on this please contact the manager at the related service.

We have provided the following Easy Read information to the people we support:

Coronavirus Poster Easy Read Photosymbols

Coronavirus and Health Issues Photosymbols

We will keep this news page updated with any other information we provide.

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