Persona Care and Support

16/02/2026

What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than sharing our recent Signalong training with people we support? Good communication is important for every healthy relationship, so we've been teaching people at Bolton Road to sign.

Last week we all signed along to 'Can't help falling in love' and then enjoyed a buffet with table decorations that everyone helped to make.

alt text: two photos of people facing away from camera, watching someone sign on a screen and copying the signing. One photo of a long table set with a red tablecloth and decorated with red roses, petals and cups decorated with hearts. The Bolton Road Community Centre and Persona logos are at the bottom.

14/02/2026

Haggis and fun for Burns Night!

Are you lonely, or know someone who is?
Are you over 50 and living in the Bury borough?

If you like meeting new people and trying new things, Grundy Hub Get Social might be the place for you.
You can refer yourself or someone you love and even arrange a free taster.
Click here for more https://personasupport.org/grundy-hub

alt text: 6 photos of men and women sitting in chairs with some haggis on a plate. 1 photo of a man and a woman in front of a Burns Night wall display with a thistle, bagpipes, St Andrew's flag and highland cows. The man is standing with a walker and the woman is sitting in a wheelchair. Everyone featured is wearing tam o'shanter hats or a tartan scarf and smiling to camera.

12/02/2026

Any time there's a dog at one of our gatherings, you'll find Andrew there!

Dogs are Andrew's favourite beings and they're one of the things that bring him most joy in his Shared Lives support with Sue.
Here he is with Bella and Cody at Burrs Country Park last weekend, where all four of them had a muddy spring walk together.

Did you know we're recruiting short stay (respite) and shared living (long term) carers to support adults in Bury?
Being a Shared Lives carer is a flexible and rewarding role where you and the person you support are carefully matched - and either of you can end the match at any time if it doesn't suit you.

Shared Lives carers are self employed and we pay:
£64.63 for short stay support (3pm - 10am)
£452.40 for shared living (weekly)

Want to find out how you can give people more time doing what they love? Click for more details or to get in touch with our friendly team. https://personasupport.org/bury-shared-lives

alt text: three photos each in a polaroid effect frame, against blue background. The photos show the same man and two spaniels, one brown and one black and white, sitting together on a log in some shallow water. The man has his arm around the brown dog who's closest to him and in one photo has his cheek against the side of the dog's face too. The Bury Shared Lives and Persona logos are at the bottom of the page.

09/02/2026

Thank you to all 70 of you who came to our January Your Voice meeting!

We talked about how people can get to more activities they enjoy and about managing your rubbish.

Anna and Emma came from Bury Council to ask for our thoughts on strengths based practice (this means supporting people to be independent and achieve what they want by using their skills) and the Council's learning disability strategy draft.

Sam came to talk to us about Bury Autism Coproduction Network.

We look forward to seeing you all again in April!

Don't forget, you can keep up to date with what's on at Persona on our events calendar https://personasupport.org/events

alt text: photos of men and women sitting around tables reading documents, listening to presenters and talking. The Persona and Your Voice logos are at the bottom.

08/02/2026

This compliment has been sent to our extra care team at Peachment Place:
"I appreciate all you do! You’re a wonderful team."

We support some people at Peachment Place with care packages - you can find out more about it here https://www.personasupport.org/our-services/extra-care/

06/02/2026

People we support have helped us to interview new staff since 2017 and now we're employing recruitment interviewers with lived experience of a learning disability and/or autism.

Each recruiter is employed by Persona on a casual basis; they are developing their own skills while they give us invaluable feedback in every interview, helping us to choose people who share our values to work with us.

Managers have told us:

“the support being offered by the recruitment interviewers is invaluable, they are asking questions we wouldn’t think to ask and giving some great feedback at the end of interviews”

and our recruiters say:

“I am really enjoying the job, it’s the right job for me and I am really happy.” Ann

“I am loving the job and I like getting paid”. Paul

“I feel fantastic about the job, it gets me out of the house and I am enjoying it”. Nisha

“I am enjoying the job and I already want to work more hours”. Sam

People's names have been changed to protect their privacy.

alt text: series of 5 images with a gradient background of our REACH colours blue, pink, gold, purple, green, with a white paint swatch in the middle and the above quotes. The co production and Persona logos are at the bottom.

04/02/2026

Thinking about this year's holiday?

Why not book a wheelchair accessible, family and dog friendly stay at our REACH Retreat Holiday Lodge near Carnforth?

The lodge:
-is close to the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks, as well as Lancaster, Morecambe and Blackpool.
-sleeps up to 7 people
-is dog friendly at no extra cost
-has 3 bedroooms, 2 wet rooms, 1 ensuite
-has a secure, wraparound decking area
-is wheelchair accessible with other features like a profiling bed, mobile hoist and waterproof wheelchair
-includes a free leisure pass with access to swimming pool, gym and steam room

Book your next break today! http://tinyurl.com/BookREACHRetreat

Our holiday lodge was suggested by people we support, who said they find it hard to book holidays that have everything they need plus space for family, friends and carers. People we support helped us design and decorate the lodge too.

02/02/2026

Our Supported Living service is rated GOOD by CQC!

What does the report mean?
Inspectors talked to staff, people we support and their families. They said:
- People we support, their families and our staff feel listened to, well looked after, happy and safe to speak up.
- People’s own strengths, choices and dreams come first in the support they get.
- People we support and their families make decisions about writing and changing care plans.
- Our team works well with health professionals, social workers, people’s families and our community partners.
- People who work here are part of an inclusive team with a supportive manager. They feel proud to be part of Supported Living.

Well done to everyone in the team for getting this result.

You can read more about the report and an easy read report here https://personasupport.org/news

alt text: the text above is split into seven different images, each showing a photo of someone we support in Supported Living at a party. Everyone is smiling to camera and some people have their thumbs up.

29/01/2026

We love this clip of Kenny and his new best mate, Peanut!
Peanut visited last month, while Kenny was staying with us for intermediate care at Elmhurst (and Kenny's been hoping for a reunion ever since!).

What is intermediate care?
IMC (intermediate care) is a space for recovery, rehabilitation or convalescence after a hospital stay. We work with health professionals like occupational therapists and physiotherapists to help people build up their confidence and arrange any care, equipment or home alterations needed so they can get home as soon as possible.

Find out more and get in touch if you think someone you know would benefit from intermediate care at Elmhurst. http://tinyurl.com/ElmhurstIMC

alt text: short video of a man walking with a frame alongside a brown Shetland pony wearing an elf costume. They are in the dining room of Elmhurst and a lady is walking behind them and smiling.

29/01/2026

Thanks to Healthwatch Bury for visiting Grundy Hub recently and congratulations to Aaliyah on creating such an informative graphic that explains the report so clearly!

One of our young volunteers, Aaliyah, has created a fantastic infographic for our recent Enter and View visit to Grundy Day Care Centre. A huge thank you to her for all her hard work and creativity - it’s wonderful to see young people contributing so meaningfully to our projects.

If you haven’t had chance to read the full report yet, you can take a look here:
https://healthwatchbury.co.uk/report/2025-12-15/healthwatch-bury-enter-and-view-report-grundy-day-care-centre
Persona Care and Support

27/01/2026

Congratulations to:

- Bernadette Walsh
- Bushra Ali, Anton O'Flaherty and Paul Garrity
- Lorraine Watson
- David Pope

this month's winners of our Living the Values Recognition award!

Well done to everyone else who was given a High Five this month!

Our winners have been chosen by a panel of people we support and managers, from everyone who was given a High Five over the past month. They will each get a gift they can choose.

Seen something amazing at Persona this month? Anyone can give a High Five here https://tinyurl.com/TellUsP

25/01/2026

Meet Isaac, who's on a skills placement at the Green Café!

When he started working at the café, he found loud noises and late public transport hard to deal with.

Now he's learning to adapt and manage his emotions when things don't go so well - and he's great at customer service!

Isaac is growing more confident all the time and has started hosting the cafe's Wednesday bingo sessions.

Why not drop in for a brew or a bite and meet Isaac and our other volunteers and staff?

We're family and dog friendly, wheelchair accessible and we've got a great reputation for our homemade cakes as well as our bacon butties!

Find out more and join our café community here https://www.facebook.com/groups/thegreencafe