March Round-Up – Wellbeing, Community and Big Achievements

March has been another fantastic month across Independence Support, filled with wellbeing activities, creative projects, community days out and some truly inspiring achievements from our clients and colleagues. From spring walks and cultural celebrations to fundraising milestones and personal goals, our services have been making the most of the season.

Here’s a look at what March brought across ISL.

Tranmere – Wellbeing, Creativity & Community Spirit

Tranmere have had an incredibly busy and uplifting month.

Clients have been focusing on physical wellbeing, enjoying several walks including trips to Formby Woods, Eastham Woods and a windy but memorable day out in Llandudno — complete with a seagull fridge magnet to remember it by. AL has also been keeping active with regular gym sessions.

The service has embraced creativity too, with pizza-making nights, Easter and Mother’s Day crafts, and a wonderful International Women’s Day celebration hosted by Support Worker Mihaela. Inspired by Romanian traditions, clients enjoyed tiramisu making, cosy hot chocolates, spring tokens and art focused on inspirational women — a lovely day full of culture, learning and connection.

There were also some fantastic personal moments this month, including OR’s joyful birthday celebration, Vincent raising over £1,000 for Hoylake Community Centre through his handmade crafts, and outreach client Erica going all out for a combined St Patrick’s Day and birthday celebration with incredible handmade accessories and even a shamrock shaved into her hair.

Leeds Morley – Spring Creativity

Leeds Morley proudly produced their first service newsletter, giving clients and visitors the chance to catch up on the latest news and even enjoy a spring roll recipe.

The service has also been getting into the Easter spirit with rice krispie nests, hand-painted Easter egg cards and beautiful handmade bookmarks for World Book Day.

Sandbach & Middlewich – Wellbeing Together

Sandbach and Middlewich have begun joining forces for shared wellbeing days, bringing clients together across services.

This month they enjoyed a lovely walk to Snugbury’s Ice Cream Parlour, where they visited the giant Paddington Bear and treated themselves to some delicious ice cream and cake (known as a Snug Pud) a perfect spring day out.

Middlewich also celebrated client KG’s creative journey, with a trip to Northwich to purchase new art supplies as he continues to focus on his artistic talent and wellbeing.

Leeds Chapel & Halton – Fun, Fitness & New Faces

Leeds Chapel had plenty of laughs with an UNO tournament, with Deputy Sophie bravely facing a run of +4 cards!

The service also welcomed new team member Shalini, who has already brought fantastic positive energy to the service, including joining clients on a fresh spring walk.

Halton are getting ready for Easter too, with plenty of arts and crafts supplies now in service and lots of creative plans ahead.

Meanwhile, Deputy Keeley enjoyed an energetic resistance band workout with an outreach client, and Ruth celebrated her birthday in style with a huge hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and marshmallows.

York – Birthday  Celebrations

York celebrated outreach client Rob’s birthday with a fantastic meal out, where he enjoyed a big juicy steak alongside Deputy Manager Rosie.

Stoke & Macclesfield – Spring in Bloom

Stoke have officially kicked off their exciting vegetable garden project. With support from Nicole, client PH planted the first round of seedlings including corn, basil, runner beans and sunflowers, with more vegetables set to be planted in April.

Meanwhile in Macclesfield, client Jack spent three hours gardening to get the outdoor space ready for spring flowers – a fantastic effort that has already made a huge difference.

Rapid Response – Rehabilitation, Challenge Week & Community Support

March has been a huge month for Rapid Response.

One particularly heartwarming moment came when staff supported Paul, who is recovering from a stroke at Ellesmere Port Hospital, by bringing his laptop in so he could watch Liverpool’s Champions League game. As a huge Liverpool fan, this really lifted his spirits.

The team also took on Peak Challenge Week, pushing themselves physically to raise money for Live! Cheshire. Paul and Jack completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge in under 9 hours despite severe weather conditions including hail, heavy rain and 50mph winds — covering 24 miles and 56,000 steps.

Later in the week, Jay adapted his original Snowdonia challenge due to unsafe weather and instead completed a full 24-mile round trip along the Wirral Way, helping raise £321 including Gift Aid.

Rapid Response have also continued their fantastic rehabilitation work, supporting clients with stretching, coordination and stroke recovery exercises.

Leeds East – Thursday Fake Away

Leeds East enjoyed a delicious “Thursday Fake Away”, creating a homemade Chinese meal including sweet and sour chicken, egg fried rice, spring rolls and prawn crackers, followed by cheesecake.

These shared cooking sessions continue to be a brilliant way to build life skills and bring everyone together.

Crewe & Crewecial – Big Milestones & Great Food

Crewe celebrated a huge achievement this month as clients Niamh and Nin took a train journey to Chester – Nin’s first time on a train in 10 years!

Meanwhile, Crewecial’s cooking group remains as popular as ever, with clients coming together to make delicious stuffed crust pizzas and looking ahead to a fun-filled Easter Sunday of baking, jacket potatoes and films.

Chester Supported Living – A Taste of Nigeria

Chester hosted a wonderful cultural cooking event, bringing clients and staff together for a “Taste of Nigeria” day.

The team prepared a delicious pot of Jollof Rice, filling the service with fantastic aromas, music, laughter and a real sense of togetherness.

It was a brilliant celebration of culture, food and community.

Head Office – Leadership & Fundraising Success

March has also brought exciting updates from Head Office.

We are delighted to welcome Dave Appleton as our new Director of Nursing, bringing over 30 years of NHS experience across crisis, acute and community mental health services. Read more here.

A huge congratulations also goes to Operations Manager Jemma, who has now reached five years of service with ISL.

Finally, our CEO Dave and Coach Sean completed their incredible walk to the Frank Bruno Foundation, taking 75.1 miles and over 337,000 steps, joined for the final mile by Frank Bruno himself. Read more here.

So far, they have raised an amazing £4,274 including Gift Aid, with the JustGiving page still open for a few more days.

Another Fantastic Month at ISL

March has been full of growth, resilience, creativity and community spirit across our services.

From personal milestones and rehabilitation achievements to fundraising challenges and spring wellbeing activities, it has been wonderful to see clients and colleagues continuing to thrive.

We’re excited to see what April brings.