We love it when businesses send us their good news and here’s our latest good news round-up, kindly sponsored by PALADIN. Awards, expansion, new contracts or new appointments, if you’ve got some good news you want to share please email the editor, Martin Shaw, on martin@huddersfieldhub.co.uk.
Staff at Aden View Care Home in Primrose Hill are celebrating after being chosen by residents and their families as one of the Top 20 care homes in Yorkshire and the Humber.
There are 1,413 homes in Yorkshire and the Humber, with the top 20 receiving an award from the UK’s leading reviews guide to care homes, carehome.co.uk.
The award is based on reviews of the care home written by their residents, as well as their friends and relatives.
There are nearly 17,000 care homes in the UK caring for around half a million people. Over 12,000 of these care homes support older people aged 65 and over, while the rest care for people with learning disabilities and mental health issues.
People are living longer, and with 19% of the total population in the UK aged 65 years or older, equating to 11 million people, demand for care homes is set to grow.
Aden View home manager Kim McKay said: “Everyone at Aden View Care Home is so thrilled to be recognised as a Top 20 care home.
“Feedback from our clients and their families means the world to us all and we’re so grateful for their votes. It shows that, even through the difficult times everyone has faced in recent years, the hard work of our staff is noticed and appreciated.
“This award is testament to the homely, caring, and safe environment we provided for our residents at Aden View.”
Amanda Hopkins, reviews manager of carehome.co.uk, said: “Reviews of Aden View show they provide an excellent standard of care and we would like to congratulate them on being a Top 20 care home in Yorkshire and the Humber. It is such an achievement to be named as a top rated care home by the residents who actually receive the care as well as their family and friends.”
Following a £25k investment in computer hardware to enhance processes and deliver efficiencies, Walker & Sutcliffe, the chartered accountancy practice based in Huddersfield, has turned its attentions to training, with a further £25k allocation.
Supporting a three-year strategy that is underpinned by expansion, this will mark the second phase of a longer-term plan to ensure the practice has the hardware, software and support in place to meet its ambitious targets.
What’s more, the firm wants to ensure that each team member has the opportunity to be the very best that they can be, with the right infrastructure, guidance and access to training, development and wellbeing interventions required.
Practice partner Nick Ledgard said: “The three-year strategy that we launched last year will set the foundations for Walker & Sutcliffe to become a much larger practice, with plans to open offices in other locations throughout Yorkshire and possibly beyond.
“While expansion is exciting, we have not lost sight of the values that we have as a business; primarily to focus on the wellbeing of our team and supporting each of them to meet with their personal aspirations.
“The £25k allocated to training is in addition to the support that we already have in place at Walker & Sutcliffe. This includes access to a psychotherapist and also wellbeing time every two weeks to allow the team to focus on activities that can alleviate stress.
“We appreciate that work can be stressful, and we want to make sure our team has everything they need so that they come to work and enjoy their jobs. Of course, this also means that they are more productive, so everyone benefits.”
The training will be delivered over a twelve-month period. It will equip the team with the skills they need to get the best outputs from the software and professional systems the company has implemented.
The benefits will then be passed on to clients, allowing the accountancy practice to work alongside each business to deliver a structured plan on how objectives can be met, whether this be growth, expansion, selling the business or working towards retirement.
For further information about the practice, please visit: https://www.walker-sutcliffe.co.uk/
Colleagues at compressed air and fluid power specialists Thorite have chosen Huddersfield-based Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice as their Charity of the Year for 2023.
Forget Me Not – which provides vital support to children, families and parents-to-be who are facing the toughest of life’s challenges – will benefit from fundraising across all 10 Thorite sales and service centres nationwide, including the branch in Barge Street, Huddersfield.
Thorite recently handed a £2,058 cheque to last year’s chosen charity, Heart Research UK (HRUK), at its Bradford headquarters.
Managing director Stephen Wright said: “Thorite colleagues have shown enormous generosity over the past year, putting time and energy into a number of fundraising events to raise money for HRUK.
“In a company-wide vote for our 2023 Charity of the Year, Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice was a clear winner. Thorite considers family to be at the heart of their ethos, so Forget Me Not was the obvious choice.
“We’re looking forward to supporting the vital work of the charity in the year ahead.”
A spokesperson for Forget Me Not said: “Only a tiny fraction of our vital work is funded by the Government or NHS, so we rely on the support of businesses like Thorite to help us provide expert clinical care, respite, therapy, days out, memory-making, end of life care and bereavement support to children and families across West Yorkshire.
“All of which helps them make the most of every precious moment. Thank you to everyone who voted for us – and good luck in your fundraising this year!”
Artificial intelligence (AI) experts from the University of Huddersfield are to help reduce traffic congestion and air pollution in Hull.
Hull City Council has awarded a contract to SimplifAI Systems Limited, based in the university’s 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, to develop traffic management systems aimed at improving traffic flow in and around the city.
Simplifai Systems works with Mauro Vallati, Professor of AI at the University of Huddersfield, and his research team on the use of AI in transport systems. Together they make up the Huddersfield AI Transport Research Centre.
Simplifai Systems was created through a collaboration between KAM Futures, a company also based at the 3M BIC, and the university’s Centre for Planning, Autonomy and Representation of Knowledge.
The collaboration has already transformed and improved traffic on roads through a new form of Smart City Traffic Management using AI.
Keith McCabe, CEO of SimplifAI Systems, said: “We are excited about working with Hull City Council to help deliver part of the Smart City technology.
“This builds on our work in the North of England using AI to tap into the data collected by existing systems and turn it into knowledge that can be used by the council to improve the reliability of the transport networks and assist in achieving net zero outcomes.”
In Hull, the AI technology will access the council’s existing information on congestion, traffic lights, bus movements, incidents and air quality to source new insights into traffic movements on the road network and generate new real-time strategies to solve complex traffic control issues.
The SimplifAI solution will adjust traffic light timings to achieve a particular goal, solving one or more of the traffic problems being addressed, thereby improving traffic flow and road occupancy.
It will be trialled in Hull for two years as part of an ongoing Government-funded traffic signals project.
Clr Mark Ieronimo, portfolio holder for roads, highways and transportation, said: “This exciting project is an example of how new AI technology can make better use of our existing traffic signal assets and improve how we manage traffic to make the road network safer, greener and more efficient.”
FLY Mama, an online platform which supports the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of women and birthing people through pregnancy, postnatal and trauma and loss experiences, have teamed up with industry experts.
FLY Mama was launched by Huddersfield mum Kelly Thistlethwaite, a specialist trauma informed yoga and breathwork instructor and matrescence coach, alongside Michelle Norton-Hughes, a specialist women’s pelvic health physiotherapist.
They have enlisted the help of other specialists in the field who have created content on the platform to help with areas of perinatal trauma and loss.
Laura Greenwood is a psychotherapist and maternal mental health coach who has been working within the mental health and wellbeing field for over 14 years.
Sammy Murrell is a life coach, facilitator and podcaster. Mothers’ Hood supports mothers to move from overwhelmed and exhausted to thriving in motherhood. Her support and content is focused on supporting those who have experienced baby loss, and specifically mothers who have had to terminate a pregnancy for medical reasons.
Hannah Poulton, of HLP Therapy, is a women’s health physiotherapist, UK leading scar specialist, C-section expert, acupuncturist, educator and author. In her content, she covers what to expect before a c-section, during and after it in the recovery period.
Kelly Thistlethwaite, co-founder of FLY Mama, said: “One in three women experience birth trauma, one in four pregnancies will end in loss and every year around 2,500 babies are stillborn.
“Too often following trauma and loss, the support provided consists of well wishes and a leaflet.
“Women deserve and need more support and we want to provide this for them. We have teamed up with other experts within our industry to help support these women navigate their experiences or loss and support them in their journey.”
