Rush House are currently working alongside colleagues at Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and have recently achieved the ‘Workplace Health and Wellbeing’ charter mark. Feedback from the assessor was extremely positive:
I wanted to email you to give you an update following Rush House participation in our pilot scheme of the South Yorkshire Be well@work award scheme. During the past few months myself and my colleague from public health have been working with Viv on looking at ways to encourage and support the wellbeing of the staff at Rush House. This involved initiatives around awareness raising of good health behaviours and signposting to local services. We trained a number of staff as workplace wellbeing champions and have agreed to look at other support and joint working on a number of things in the future. Also, we are pleased to inform you that Rush House have achieved the bronze level of our award scheme and we will be working together with Viv to move up the levels to silver and then hopefully gold. I wanted to let you know how impressed I have been by all your staff whilst I have been working on this. The staff are quite clearly motivated and love the work they do. They show commitment and genuinely care about the people they support. I wanted to ask that you firstly thank Viv for all her hard work on this and the way she has accepted our advice and is happy to work in partnership with us on this wellbeing agenda. Also, can you please thank all the staff for their participation in the focus groups and for helping us to come to an agreed way forward. They were great to talk to.
Finally can I just say from a personal point of view how impressed I am by the work your organisation does and the way your staff have conducted themselves throughout the whole process. You can be proud of the way things have gone I and look forward to working with Viv and the team moving forward.
Colin Ellis
Workplace Health Advisor
Adult Care, Housing and Public Health
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
We welcome and support volunteers and were recently awarded the Kite Mark Plus award - a quality mark highlighting best practice amongst volunteer involving organisations. We continue to value the accreditations we hold. We recognise that these not only continue to advertise our high performance in each specific area but also drive us forward and assist us in the cycle of continual improvement.
Rush House has achieved the Investors in People standard since 2007. A full assessment is carried every 3 years with review meetings carried out annually.
Rush House was assessed for accreditation of the Investors in People Standard on the 1st and 4th October 2021 and people told us “Rush House is a great place to work”.
The Investors in People standard uses nine indicators based on the features of high performing organisations that are grouped around three enablers: leading; supporting and improving. Following a context and planning meeting with the CEO, interviews with 12 people, general observations including a desk top review of key documents, Rush House was measured and mapped against the Investors in People performance model.
Your response to dealing with the pandemic has been dynamic, agile and resourceful and you have continued to support young people maintaining positive relationships with all key stakeholders. You have gone above and beyond, truly living the Values of Rush House in every area of the organisation whether leadership and management, accommodation, education, support and key work, administration, health and safety and maintenance. Every single person has and does have an immensely valuable part to play in supporting and keeping young people safe. The CEO, Deputy and Senior Managers have provided clear direction and staff confirm they understand key priorities and areas where working arrangements have been revised or altered because of the pandemic. Your Mission, Vision and Values remain at the centre of how you conduct yourself as an organisation and your strategic business plans have continued to provide you with direction providing flexibility to change wherever necessary.
There is most certainly a culture of trust and ownership where people feel empowered to make decisions that are appropriate to their role. You have all kept in touch with each other, listened to concerns and have most definitely “thrived rather than survived”. Your CEO, Deputy and senior managers are highly respected and trusted by the team and have demonstrated resilience keeping the team motivated and safe. There are several examples of your team experiencing difficulties and facing life changing scenarios and you have responded with kindness and humanity remaining flexible and creating roles to support individual circumstances. This again demonstrates how you live and breathe your Values.
Helen Gisbourne
IIP Assessor
We are confident that this accreditation drives forward in a positive way the services we deliver via the investment in staff and as such intend to maintain it.
Rachael Wilson CEO Rush House Ltd
Matrix Standard: The Matrix Standard is a nationally recognised Quality Standard Mark that assesses and measures the quality of information, advice, guidance and support services, which support individuals into learning and work and in making progress with their chosen career. Following our most recent accreditation visit in 2020 the assessor made the following comment:
Rush House were assessed again in October 2020 against the MATRIX standard which measures the quality of the information, advice and guidance given to people using the services. The assessment consists of interviews with Trustees, Service users , staff and managers all selected by the assessor. As in previous assessments, the culture and ethos of Rush House is extremely positive, with all
parties demonstrating mutual respect and a sense of individual support. Impartiality is at the heart of
the IAG service and all young people are encouraged to follow their aspirations and goals, supported
by Rush House or other carefully sourced organisations. Partners held Rush House in high regard
as a service which understands the needs of its clients and provides bespoke services which make
a difference.Alyson Jackson – Assessor
Strengths
A number of strengths were identified during the assessment, which are detailed below.
- Rush House has a holistic approach to its work with young people, ensuring that their basic needs are met as well as supporting their goals and outcomes. The care and support offered by the team is recognised by young people as life-changing.
- The staff team is constructed of individuals with different approaches and offers a diverse range of meaningful support for each young person seeking a service. Recognising the unique skills and attributes brought by each team member supports the bespoke needs of young people for a variety of personalities, genders, experiences and methods of communication.
- Partnerships and networks are very well developed and are used to enhance the future possibilities for young people. The breadth of referral points is wide and all staff are constantly looking for new and effective partners to ensure young people have access to a holistic service which takes account of their ongoing needs.
- Rush House continues to be clear about its aim and purpose. This adherence to the overarching mission of the service ensures that funding opportunities are only sought for relevant contracts. There is no mission drift and all parties, including trustees can build the service effectively based on the expertise and experience of the team, the anticipation of client needs and a detailed knowledge of the current economic/legislative/funding climate.
- Linked to the above, leadership and management of the Service is effective resulting in ongoing funding and the provision of innovative contracts which meet client needs. Levels of support across the staff team are excellent and managers are trusted as supports and guides for the future of Rush House.
- Rush House celebrates the distance travelled by each young person, as well as formal outcomes such as work and learning. This emphasis on steps towards final goals and the encouragement to set short term, manageable targets has supported young people to believe in themselves and their potential. Success stories are celebrated and young people are proud of their achievements.