Christies have been fund-raising for a variety of charities this last month

Christies care have been very proactively fundraising recently. Here’s a quick summary of some of the amazing things that they’ve been doing to benefit their community.

Kristan Sutton ran a half marathon

A few weeks ago, Kristan Sutton, one of Christies Care’s carers ran a half marathon to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.

Dementia is a condition that many of their clients are living with. Which is why everyone at Christies is a Dementia Friend, and why they love it when their office staff and carers go the extra mile – or 13 miles in Kristan’s case – to fundraise!

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon happened in Liverpool on May 26th 2019. Kristan Sutton said “Working alongside clients with dementia has truly opened my eyes to the devastating effects it can have. So when the opportunity arose to do something for dementia I decided to try it and show my support.”

Alzheimer’s Society Cupcake Day

This took place on the 13th of June in the Runnell House building at Christies Care.

Staff at Christies Care rose to the challenge in support of the annual Alzheimer’s Society’s Cupcake Day. The aim of it was to help raise awareness by inviting the community to join in. People were invited to come along and have a chat (at Christies everyone’s a Dementia Friend), regardless of whether dementia featured in their lives.

As many of Christie’s clients are living with dementia, the staff will be sold cupcake creations along with teas and coffees, to help fund-raise pioneering research, which is crucial to help support local services with the pioneering care that the Alzheimer’s Society provides.

Christies Care will be “re-wound to the 80s” for this year’s Midnight Walk

The Midnight Walk is a yearly event raising funds for St Elizabeth Hospice. This year’s theme was “the 80s”, so the 7-strong Christies Care team donned their leg-warmers, neon spandex and big shoulder pads – there might have even been a cheeky perm or mullet on display!

The walk started at 10pm on May 11th. And it saw the walkers leave Trinity Park to travel 10 miles through the outskirts of Ipswich. They ended up passing the hospice and the waterfront, before returning to Trinity Park. At the hospice there was a memory tree for the walkers to hang up a message for a loved one.

St Elizabeth Hospice helps those living with progressive and terminal illnesses, providing support in the hospice, community and home. The walk is St Elizabeths Hospices biggest fundraising event of the year and once again the Christies team raised a lot of money for this deserving charity.

Mental Health Awareness Week 2019

Mental Health Awareness Week took place from the 13th -19th May 2019 . One in six people in the UK  will have experienced a common mental health problem in the past week.

While the stigma attached to mental health problems has lessened and the support available has increased over the last few years, there’s still a long way to go.

Hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, this year’s theme was Body Image – and how we think and feel about our bodies. The Mental Health Foundation is the UK’s all encompassing mental health charity. With prevention at the heart of what they do, they aim to find and address the sources of mental health problems.

Experiencing poor mental health at work is really common regardless of the kind of role you do, and working in the care sector means that there are particular factors that could put you at greater risk of developing a mental health problem. Factors such as long working hours, excessive workload and challenging relationships with colleagues and clients come up time and time again as sources of stress that could be reduced.

The Charter acknowledges that changing working cultures won’t happen overnight but it’s a step in the right direction – recognising some of the factors that can impact on staff mental health and committing to tackling them. They are striving to create mentally healthy workplaces for all our staff.

Chrisities Care offers regular support to all of their staff and encourages them to be open about how they are feeling. They also signpost to MIND, the mental health charity, who offer support and guidance in regards to self-help, support groups and counselling.