My return to work – looking to 2022 and beyond

Returning to work after a break is always interesting. The timescales seem off kilter somehow - in one sense it is all so familiar, as if you have never been away, but in another, your life away was so full it feels like a massive shift to be back. Being back from maternity leave feels no different to coming back after any break, except, somehow more time has elapsed. The team have achieved, worked on and spoken to so many more people that I feel much more out of the loop in some ways.

I am really looking forward to catching up on everything over the coming weeks. It is a relief to have time without two demanding children. To use my mind for something more than calculating the next nap time and to not have to repeat phrases which should never be said in the first place, let alone ten times, such as: ‘you don’t need your feet on the table to eat dinner.’

I would like to say the biggest THANK YOU to my maternity cover Charlotte who has just been incredible. It’s been amazing to be able to spend some time working with her before she leaves - to really get an insight into how she has successfully led Community Chesterfield over the last year and what her own vision is for the future of the project. I am in no doubt that the team has been very lucky to have her!

Now I am catching up with what has been happening over the last year and I am focusing on planning the next phase of the project. Our current round of funding will run out in June 2022 and we are now bid writing for the next phase. It has been an incredible journey working with all of our groups - understanding their challenges and how we might support them better to help further strengthen the health and social care sector in Chesterfield.

Looking to the future we would love to continue to offer our successful training sessions and shared learning workshops (perhaps even in person!) and build on our partnership with the University of Derby to maximise the opportunities available. The feedback we have had from students and organisations when we bring them together through placements or our ‘meaningful connections’ work has been incredible. The work we do, building bridges between sectors and creating successful cross-sector conversations is something we are keen to continue. We would also like to continue to ‘raise aspirations’ with our Careers that Care work.

We are a community led project and these areas are ones which our groups tell us have a biggest impact on them and their members, enabling their work to be shared more widely and equipping them to provide the best possible support for the people of Chesterfield that they can.