While our vocational centre at Workbridge is closed onsite for service users, we have a comprehensive remote service that is helping service users to continue to prosper and develop life, work and social skills during lockdown....

Our colleagues at Workbridge have been supporting healthcare colleagues across our St Andrew’s Healthcare charity during the pandemic. We are also really pleased to announce that colleagues at Workbridge are now receiving the Covid-19 vaccination. Read on to find out more!

For our patients at St Andrew's Healthcare:

Workbridge welcomes community service users in Northamptonshire and hospital patients from St Andrew’s Healthcare, and have been supporting them remotely during the national lockdown:

• ~ Vocational Skills Instructors from our Office Skills department have been visiting Tompkins Ward to deliver treats and sundries to patients on the ward who cannot visit their local supermarkets.
• ~ In reach sessions on wards are underway, where they are safe to do with individual patients, so we can keep in touch and support their wellbeing.
• ~ Workbridge are producing activity videos for patients to watch and have a go, from their ward. Activities include tutorials for woodturning at Workbridge, and crafts that can be made with materials at hand on their ward.
• ~ Vocational Skills Instructors from WWASP Workbridge are creating activity packs to share with patients on their wards with positive messages of support inside.
• ~ The Workbridge Team are helping with serving ward lunches as and when required.
• ~ Technical Instructors at Workbridge have been working with Occupational Therapists on ASD and Learning Disability wards to provide therapeutic activities for patients.

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For our community service users across Northamptonshire:

• ~ Workbridge are continuing to provide our life and work skills service remotely online, supporting service users to take part in a comprehensive timetable of activities on Zoom weekdays. Activities are designed to promote social inclusion and contact between friends, carers and Workbridge.
• ~ Workbridge are sending activity packs through the post to all service users and patients with clear and easy to understand information regarding public health, and activities to complete at home.
• ~ Vocational Skills Instructors are phoning all service users regularly to stay in touch and chat to a familiar voice in the week.
• ~ Our woodwork team are supporting service users by arranging for collection of nature kits (bird boxes and animal shelters) that they can then complete at home.

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Our business customers:

• ~ Our busy Contracting and Office Skills departments are continuing their business support fulfilment service safely working with our list of contacts in local, regional and national businesses. As we have no service users on site helping with this valuable work, we are moving the teams around from different departments to support colleagues in order to meet our customer deadlines.
• ~ Our WWASP team are supporting these departments with further contracting work. 

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Supporting St. Andrew’s colleagues:

• ~ The Workbridge Team have volunteered to support and help administer the mass vaccination effort at St Andrew’s Healthcare, including training for Fit Testing FFP3 masks used in CPR.
• ~ Specialist colleagues are supporting patients on their wards across St Andrew’s in Northampton.
• ~ Workbridge colleagues are supporting with serving ward lunches.

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Supporting our community:

Garden Centre...

• ~ In the garden centre, we have been focusing on changing and improving our facilities for service users and customers ready for this year’s gardening season.
• ~ We are creating a vegetable propagation polytunnel, where service users will learn how to grow vegetables - from sowing seeds to either having plants ready for the shop or growing on in our indoor allotment.
• ~ The garden centre shop is open and now stocking winter ready bare root fruit trees, fruit canes, houseplants and annual vegetable plants.

 Coffee Shop...

• ~ Our coffee shop is open and we have a delicious take-away ready menu, and a safe pay and collection option for local customers.
• ~ We are catering for events in February including Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day in March and have a delightful selection of afternoon teas and cupcakes to take-away for loved ones. You can also order a celebration cake made to order for your upcoming birthdays and anniversaries!

 Charity Shop & Gift Shop...

• ~ While the Charity Shop is closed currently, we are working on a refit that will be very exciting to announce to you later in the year. The refit is being funded by the Michael Jones community fund. Founder Michael Jones is also one of the founders of Workbridge. You can read more about this here.