Last week saw the launch of the new Hall Green District Values.
The four core values, developed by staff from The Springfield Children’s Centre and St Paul’s Trust Children’s Centre, represent the way parents, staff and volunteers come together to provide children with the best start in life.
The core principles and values include:
Childs Voice: We listen to children and ensure they have the best start in life.
Respect: We provide a safe space where all are welcome. We celebrate difference and treat all with respect, warmth and dignity.
Honest: We are open and honest in all that we do.
Empowerment: We look for the best in people and empower them to use their strengths.
In the gathering of Children Centre staff, parents and health professionals, we had the opportunity to discuss how these values had already shaped the service given to many families within the area.
Parent, Lailah Matin, had accessed the centre’s facilities during the early stages of parenthood. She explained that a move from Bradford to Birmingham had left her feeling isolated and lonely, that was until she joined St Paul’s Trust Children’s Centre.
She said: “I was welcomed here at the children’s centre and I felt respected, and acknowledged. When you’re new in a city, it’s so wonderful to come to a place where people know and remember your name.”
Volunteer, Noreen Javed also shared her experience of her local children’s centre. She mentioned how she had felt unemployable after devoting years of her life to raising her children. However, career opportunities at The Springfield Centre meant she could progress in learning new skills, which eventually lead to employment within the centre.
She added: “Volunteering at Springfield Centre has helped me to improve my confidence. I felt my worth increase as I gained new skills and interacted with so many different people.”
After the merging of the two centres in January last year, staff and parents took this opportunity to renew their principles and beliefs, by coming together to generate the mutual values. These represent the shared responsibility and accountability of both organisations to the community.
Rosalyn Clare, who helped develop the values, said: “There was a desire to go back to basics, to remind ourselves what we considered to be important. The exercise showed that St Paul’s and Springfield staff can have very similar ideas on what is important, and these were expressed in the four values which we came up with.”
Also, in attendance, was the newly appointed District Children’s Centre Manager Carol Ferron – Smith, she added: “I’ve always lived by the saying ‘Onwards Ever, Backwards Never’ because I believe in empowering my staff, the community and the people around me to help them set goals for themselves and to achieve them. I believe these new set of values will help us to come together to do just that.”
For more information on how these values will impact the way we run our children’s Centres across the Hall Green District, keep an eye on our social media over the next few weeks!