Mary’s Blog: April 2017 - MACS Supporting Children & Young People

At the time of writing this, the temperatures were chilly for April – not so in MACS as we continue to forge ahead in developing our services.

I had the real pleasure of spending the day with Led by You when they went on their team building event at Todds Leap. Luckily, the weather was unexpectedly sunny and this reflected exactly the mood of the group as we boldly took to the air in some of the activities. We all got on great and I am always struck by how friendly and welcoming this group is to outsiders (me). So other young people if you have some spare time to give, you couldn’t find a more open and affable group to join!

Wellbeing launched their Big Lotto Project at the beginning of April. A lot of effort was put in by the team to pull off a very professional event. From Sarah who spoke like a seasoned raconteur, to the team who facilitated the round table discussions expertly. Even though this was the launch of the project, the round table discussions gave the team some really good ideas that can be put into action for future development.

Our Social Innovation Programme came to an end this month – but of course this does not mean the end of the project! The group are continuing to meet to shape, mould and breathe life into ideas around how MACS might provide a different intervention for kids in care.

We will be applying for seed funding to the Building Change Trust to allow us to do an economic appraisal, a virtual representation of our ideas, and a small scale architectural model of our idea. Of course nothing is won easy and we have to present our vision to a panel from Building Change Trust. Note to self: must dig out that power suit!

Again, Claire in Admin was our bright representative at a Legal Island HR event. Emma informs me she did another superlative presentation on why MACS is a great place to work – hopefully some other organisations will follow suit!

Stacy in Lisburn Housing sent me an email asking me to specially recognise the hard work of Christina (Support Worker) and Sean (Sessional) – they have helped out heaps doing extra shifts to overcome gaps in the staffing rota. Without your willingness to muck in and really help out in times of stress, MACS would be a far poorer place to work in. Well done guys!

At long last Newry Housing got their gas heating in and have done loads of work in upgrading the building. This has made a huge difference to our young people in terms of cost and comfort.

Can I welcome Roisin to the Finance Team and Drew to Newry Housing! Both of them come with a huge amount of experience and skills and will be a real asset to MACS.

And very remiss of me, well done to Linda who is now the team leader in Lisburn Housing (several months later!) and special thanks to Charlene who moved without a grumble to provide management cover for Belfast Floating Support and now is back again as Team Leader in Downpatrick. A really big welcome back to Eva, looking I must say very refreshed despite the sleepless nights, and to Mary Catherine who also returns from maternity leave.

I am afraid the last couple of months I have been a bit dry in relation to points to ponder upon – If you have some burning insights on life or philosophical musings I would love to hear them as these are the nuggets of inspiration that raise us all up from the mundane.