News

I joined NORCAS back in January 1999 and in my 12 years of working with the charity you could say I’ve come full circle! I began as a volunteer myself all those years ago and now one of the key elements in my job is meeting with local volunteers, who are keen to work with NORCAS and seeing what skills they can bring to the Ipswich team. 

With the recent changes in funding, NORCAS is in the process of changing the way it structures its treatment programmes, therefore of late a large proportion of my time has been taken up in overseeing the move from one-to-one counselling into the new structured day programmes (SDP). These programmes take place three times a week over the course of two months and begin in the morning with themed group sessions, which can focus on anything from self-awareness and behaviour through to personal issues and therapeutic ideas. We then organise volunteers to visit the NORCAS centre for the latter part of the day and service-users will take part in workshops on subjects such as cooking, healthy eating and exercise. It is hoped that these activities will stimulate them and awaken long-forgotten dormant talents! Our latest method of tapping into the service user’s creative talents is through the design and production of the NORCAS Chronicle; our very first client produced newsletter, which is the brainchild of our administrator in the Ipswich office Andrew Hovell.

One of my favourite and most rewarding aspects of my job is the Community Care Assessments. I assess service users of their suitability for residential treatment and based on my decision to progress with an application I will then put together a multiple page document which is submitted to Suffolk DAAT for consideration. If an application is successful and is accepted for funding and residential treatment, I will then go on to organise travel arrangements and treatment for the individual in question.

Normally around once a month I will attend a Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC). These meetings are chaired by the police with an aim to prevent serious harm to any individual and during the course of the meeting, which normally lasts about three hours, we will discuss referrals that are potentially at risk or harm from their partners and put together a strategy to ensure their safety. We work closely with a number of representatives from local agencies including: safeguarding children, border control, probation, victim care, domestic violence and also health representatives such as nurses and health visitors. 

To top off my workload I also manage and support our schools representative and our 18-25 project workers and I hold the role of dedicated health and safety representative!