Introducing Our New Service: Cow Parsley
We’re delighted to announce that despite the challenges of Covid-19 restrictions, our teams have successfully set up a brand new Supported Living service in Newport, which is now home to five individuals.
Situated near Caerleon, the service has been named Cow Parsley after the wild flowers that grow on the riverbank opposite the building. It’s part of a new Pobl development and is made up of six apartments – five of which are occupied by the individuals we support and one is set aside for colleagues who stay on-shift through the night.
Cow Parsley is the first service in Newport which has seen the Pobl Care & Support team work with the transition team in social services to support individuals making the move out of children’s services to adult services. It’s through this collaborative approach that we have enabled five individuals to live as independently as possible in an amazing location.
So who is moving in? Let’s meet the individuals…
Chris has lived in his own home with support from Pobl for many years.
Moving into a new place in a shared block of apartments has been a massive change for Chris, but he has been taking it all in his stride and has already been socialising with rest of the individuals at Cow Parsley!
One of the youngest individuals at 18 years old, Anastasiya has settled in well and has made friends with everyone at the service.
She has already got herself a part time job locally too!
For years, it has been Hannah’s dream to have her own apartment and having moved to us from another provider, her dream has now come true!
She is the chatterbox of the group and has settled in incredibly well, forming close bonds with everyone living in the service.
Originally from Newport, Terrina was living in Cardiff and had set herself a goal to move back to her home city.
She saved her money and enhanced her skills, ready for the challenge of a new apartment and now she’s made it! She has been working incredibly hard and is due to start volunteering at a local charity shop soon.
Our 5th individual is a little camera shy. At 18 years old, she has moved to Cow Parsley from her parent’s home, so it’s a big step for her. So far so good though – she is doing an amazing job.
And who are the Pobl colleagues?
Katie – Our Team Manager Katie has been with Pobl for 12 years and is really excited about this new chapter in her Pobl journey.
Val – Val has been part of Pobl Group for 11 years and has lots of sipport experience under her belt. She’s excited about the challenge of a new service.
Cheryl – No stranger to mixing it up a bit, Cheryl has worked in a fair few services in her time with Pobl Group!
Craig – Having worked for Pobl Group for 11 years, Craig has lots of experience within different support areas and has already become the resident handyman at the service!
Samina – As one of the longest standing members of Pobl Group’s Supported Living services, Sam is looking forward to a new challenge.
Carol – An old timer with a very young face, Carol has worked for Pobl for many years and has lots of experience with different support settings.
Ashlea – One of the freshest faces in the pack, Ashlea has experience in counselling so her skills will come in useful in this service as she mixed things up a little in a new setting.
Abigail – Our newest member Abbey has already chalked up plenty of skills to put into action and we’re looking forward to watching her progress.
Cassie – With plenty of experience of working across many different Supported Living services, Cassie brings lots of useful skills to the team.
Nothing worth doing is ever easy...
Whilst it hasn’t been easy setting up a new service in the middle of a global pandemic, the team has been creative, using social media to connect with the individuals and meeting virtually to build relationships and map out support plans ready for move-in.
The individuals also created their own Whatsapp group to develop friendships and learn more about one another, as conventional meet and greets were impossible. They shared photos of the furnishings they had all been buying for their apartments and started to form bonds straight away.
Katie Keohane, Service Manager, was creative too – furnishing the build and sourcing two original (and very apt) pieces of original artwork, which were very kindly donated to the service by the artists themselves.
Opening Cow Parsley safely has been a huge team effort and really does prove that collaborative working can lead to successful outcomes. We look forward to getting to know more about the individuals and seeing them progress.
