Written by Voluntary Action Sheffield (VAS): https://www.vas.org.uk/reflective-supervision-small-grant-programme/
This is an opportunity to apply for grants of up to £4,000 to enable you and your staff to take better care of yourselves so you can continue to take care of others.
"We continue to see an increase in the complexity of cases around mental health and also people in extremely difficult financial and housing circumstances. This brings up emotional difficulties for staff that need to be addressed, as well as how this brings things up for them in connection to their personal lives.
Knowing that our team have a space to take these issues and are supported by…professionals in moving forward means that our workplaces remain supportive, positive and boundaried."
Team leader for social prescribers and health and wellbeing coaches, on how reflective supervision supports staff's practice
THE BACKGROUND
The voluntary and community sector (VCS) has seen dramatic increases in staff workload coupled with increasingly complex cases through the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. These are factors that emotionally impact staff professionally and personally, but there are few appropriate systems in place to support them.
There is a real need for frontline staff to have an emotionally safe space to reflect on their work and explore their personal and professional responses to it. This is what reflective supervision can provide, with long term benefits.
THE OPPORTUNITY
This is a city-wide offer for VCS organisations to apply for a grant up to £4,000 to fund reflective supervision for staff in roles where they deliver a frontline service in a mental health setting. It is funded by NHS Health Education England.
The grants will support at least 20 VCS organisations to provide a 1-hour reflective supervision session for up to 5 staff every month for one year.
Grants will be calculated on how many staff are to be supported using the market rate for one-to-one supervision of £60 per hour, plus an additional amount to cover set up and evaluation costs. For example, for 5 staff members, the grant would be for £4,000, which includes £3,600 for the supervision of 5 staff members once a month for a year, plus £400 to cover administrative costs.
Reflective supervision can take place in person, online, one to one or in groups. This will be for each organisation to discuss with the supervisor they choose to work with.
We can help organisations find supervisors to work with.
Evaluating the programme will help to build a picture of what an appropriate support system looks like for frontline VCS workers.
WHAT IS REFLECTIVE SUPERVISION?
The Care Quality Commission describe the purpose of reflective supervision as providing a safe and confidential environment for staff to reflect on and discuss their work and their personal and professional responses to their work.
The focus is on supporting staff in their personal and professional development through reflecting on their practice.
Reflective supervision can have significant and long-term benefits for staff, organisations, the sector, and the people and communities we work with, by:
- Helping staff to manage the personal and professional demands created by the nature of their work
- Allowing staff to reflect on and challenge their own practice in a safe and confidential environment, receiving feedback on their skills that is separate from managerial considerations
- Providing a continuous improvement opportunity for staff to flourish within their role and acquire leadership skills
- Helping to form a culture of quality & safety
- Reducing staff absence and increasing staff retention
- Demonstrating consistent, good standards for staff and creating longevity in the VCS workforce
- Contributing directly to improved outcomes for service users (Borill et al., 2014)
"Reflective supervision has provided a very valuable space for staff I manage to explore boundaries, develop their coaching practice, and to explore personal wellbeing at work. This has also been invaluable for providing tools to improve and protect my own wellbeing, through what has been a very challenging time (personally and professionally)."
Coordinator of front-line services, on the impact of reflective supervision in their organisation
We have put together a list of people in Sheffield who provide reflective supervision and would like to be involved in this programme which we can share with you. However, you are free to spend the grant with any supervisor of your choice as long as they are qualified to this work.
THE ASK OF YOU
Staff taking part have to commit to a one-hour conversation in their working day, once a month for one year.
Organisations taking part have to commit to working out with us a joint approach for evaluating the programme that is meaningful but also minimises the amount of new work required of you.
THE GRANTS
You can apply for a grant to support between 1 and 5 of your members of staff.
The size of the grant will be calculated on the market rate for one-to-one supervision of £60 per hour, plus a small admin fee to cover your set up and evaluation costs.
If you are successful, and in discussion with the supervisor you work with, you can later decide to spend the grant you have received on regular group-based supervision instead of one-to-one supervision, in which case the group can have more than 5 staff members in it.
WHO CAN TAKE PART?
We will be allocating 70% of the total pot to VCS organisations that are led by and support communities marginalised by race or ethnicity. We are doing this to (try to) address the inequity of resource sharing that historically and currently has impacted the different communities of colour across Sheffield. The remaining 30% will be allocated to the wider VCS.
Our classification of what qualifies an organisation to apply to the larger pot is one that meets at least one of these three criteria, noting that we use the words 'Global Majority' to describe people and communities marginalised by race or ethnicity:
- At least 75% of the people who benefit from the group or organisation have Global Majority backgrounds or heritage
- Your group or organisation's mission or purpose states that the organisation exists to serve a specific Global Majority community, or your existing work explicitly and proactively engages a specific Global Majority community
- At least 75% of your group or organisation's key decision makers (trustees, directors, management committee or steering group) and 50% of senior staff have Global Majority backgrounds or heritage
HOW TO APPLY
Please look at this document for details about how to apply for this grant.
MORE INFORMATION AND QUESTIONS
If you have any questions, please contact Lulu Pinney, VCS Workforce and Development Officer at VAS, by email: l.pinney@vas.org.uk or phone: 07474 710 614
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