SCA Fun Day
Joining in with the fun were (L-R) Naomi Pickett, Ros Lucas, Lisa Dillane, Natasha Koerner, Matt Jarratt and Victoria Judge
Managers roll up their sleeves for fun day
Senior SCA managers rolled up their sleeves and took on front line jobs this month to celebrate 20 years of SCA Group’s not-for-profit services.
CEO Maria Mills and directors Matt Jarratt, Natasha Koerner, Lisa Dillane and Marcus Wrycraft swapped jobs with SCA staff for a day to learn about the everyday experiences of working with clients.
Maria Mills helped out at the Rosebrook Court extra care housing scheme in Bitterne, Southampton.
“It was a delight to meet so many of our customers and see our staff in action,” she said. “I felt really proud to be part of SCA. Our staff do complex jobs with great sensitivity and caring. Hearing what great work they do directly from our customers makes it all worthwhile.”
Matt Jarratt, Director of Social Enterprise Development, spent a day with SCA Transport, which runs community buses, Dial A Ride and Plus Bus transport services for vulnerable individuals and community groups.
“I helped the drivers pick up and take older people to the day care centre at Oak Lodge,” said Matt. “It was fun chatting to the clients and helping them on and off the buses. It was a really useful experience and a real eye opener. When you sit behind a desk it is really refreshing to get out there to talk to staff members and the people we care for. I really enjoyed it.”
Director of Organisational Development Lisa Dillane worked on the reception at the SCA Trafalgar dental clinic in Holbury.
“I telephoned the customers who had appointments for the next week and completed some NHS payment slips,” said Lisa. “It was great to see how professional and courteous our staff members were to the customers and to see how well the dental surgery was run. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and was impressed with the operation.”
Meanwhile Natasha Koerner, Director of Service Development, a self-confessed ‘clean freak’, spent part of the day scrubbing!
“I spent part of the morning cleaning the chairs in the Fenwick2 board room, and really enjoyed it,” said Natasha. “It was lovely to know that SCA takes a pride in appearances. I also got to know the staff better and to find out about some of their fantastic transferable skills.
“Then I spent time in the care office, making sure that there were enough staff to cover customers’ home care needs. It highlighted to me how important staff recruitment and retention are in this sector and made me think about things I could prioritise as a director to help with this.
“It was a really good day and I was pleased to see that everyone got into the spirit. It was a great idea and personally I’d like to do more job swaps in other sectors of SCA’s work – there’s always something you can learn.”
The fun day included a staff fancy dress fundraiser and was one of a series of events to celebrate SCA Group’s 20th birthday this autumn. Over £200 was raised for charity as a result of the fun day and a donation will be made to the Westwood Children’s Respite Centre in Southampton.
