Blog
As of the 1st of March 2022, we will no longer be available after working hours. BEST CANDIDATE Make sure to call us on time in order to find you the best candidates. To book your staff call in advance to get our premium services. MAKE THE CALL Our working hours are 8.30 am - 17.30 pm, Monday to Friday. Call at 01322474655: EXT 1 for industrial EXT 2 for driving EXT 3 for healthcare
Swan Family Centres awarded the South West and East of England of the Cafcass ICFA Swan Family Centres have officially been awarded the South West and the South East of England to operate with the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass). Swan Family already works alongside Cafcass in our Lambeth centre and are delighted to be able to expand our services within our Croydon, Hackney, Bedford and Coventry centres too. The supported and supervised contact we can deliver aims to provide a safe, neutral and comfortable place for children to see their parents or family. Cafcass represents children in family court cases in England. They independently advise the family courts about what is safe for children and in their best interests. Cafcass put the child's needs, wishes and feelings first, making sure that children's voices are heard at the heart of the family court setting. Lucy Glass - Director of Contact Centres for Swan Family says: “We are excited and rearing to go with our new contracts. The work that both Swan Family and Cafcass can achieve when working together is unmatched and having the child at the very heart of our service will forever remain”. What is Improving Child and Family Arrangements (ICFA)? Improving Child and Family Arrangements (ICFA) is the service designed by Cafcass to help families agree safe, beneficial, and sustainable spending time with arrangements when they are finding it difficult to do so on their own. ICFA work is short term, court-ordered in private law cases only and has four expected key outcomes for families: 1. Reducing barriers and resistance to agreeing on arrangements and managing any risks so that these are safe 2. Promoting positive communication within families 3. Ensuring children’s wishes and feelings are heard and considered 4. Helping families agree on a Parenting Plan to avoid future issues arising The work will be tailored to meet the needs and outcomes of each individual family and should include application of learning from the Separated Parents Information Programme. ICFA work takes place over a few weeks and may include, but is not limited to: • Meeting the parents together and/or individually to help resolve issues and prepare them for spending time with the child/ren • Direct work with the child/ren to prepare them for spending time with the adult • Observation of the adult spending time with the child/ren in a contact centre, the home, the community, or any other suitable settings ICFA referrals are funded by Cafcass and are delivered by our contracted service providers. CANW is a lead provider of ICFA works in partnership with other organisations. Find out more about what Cafcass do and how they support families here.
Swan Family Centres re-awarded Coventry Contact Service Contract Swan Family Centres, who have 6 other contracts in the Bedford, Cardiff, Croydon, Hackney, Lambeth and Liverpool areas, have been re-awarded the Coventry Contact Service Contract for another 5 years. We are currently working with 217 families and on average are facilitating around 265 contact sessions within the centre, community and family homes. In our Coventry centre – we have 13 rooms designed to cater to family contact sessions and two spacious kitchens available to the families who use our service. We have completely refurbished and modernised the centre and we are working closely with Coventry City Council to provide the best experience we possibly can for our service users. Natasha Skeltcher – Swan Family Coventry Centre Manager says: “As the centre manager, I am delighted that we have been awarded the contract with Coventry City Council for another 5 years. During the difficult times that we have experienced over the last year, our team at Coventry Family Centre have worked exceptionally hard to strengthen our relationships within the Local Authority to allow us to succeed for another 5 years”.
Swan Family Centres awarded the Highly Commended for Best Contract Delivery. In April 2021, Swan Family Centres was announced as a finalist in the Go Awards Wales under the Best Contract Delivery category. Though the competition was high, on the 29th of April 2021 the judging panel awarded Swan Family Centres with the Highly Commended certificate. Lucy Glass - Director of Contact Centres for Swan Family says: "We are incredibly honoured to be recognised by the Government Opportunity Awards. It means so much to us that we are able to create opportunities for families to keep in contact with each other within a safe environment. The welfare and interests of children are our paramount concern and will remain at the heart of our service each and every day".
Meet our New Swan Family Centres! Swanstaff Recruitment has launched 3 new Swan Family Centres in the last 3 years. Both of our Croydon centres were launched in October 2019 and our Hackney centre in April 2020. Swanstaff Recruitment who already runs the Swan Family Centres in Bedfordshire, Lambeth, Cardiff, Coventry and Liverpool, ensure that the child is at the heart of the service and the centre of everything we do. Our innovative practices such as Life Story booklets support a child’s journey through their contact. These booklets also include feedback sections because we value the opinion and feedback from our service users. Lucy Glass, Director of Contact Centres at Swanstaff says: “We are proud of what we have achieved as a team over the past 3 years, we couldn’t be happier. Our mission has stayed the same throughout the years and we are delighted to be able to extend that even further as the years go on. We ensure both Croydon and Hackney that we will provide outstanding service and a safe environment for contact.” The Swan Family services in Croydon and Hackney are available to both local authorities and private referrals and services include Supervised and Supported Contact, Community Contact, Handover and Transport. For more information about Swanstaff Recruitment and their Swan Family services, or to make a referral please visit www.swanfamily.org.uk
Swanstaff Recruitment was proud to be represented by our 2 shortlisted employees at the Recruiter Investing in Talent Awards 2019 which took place on the 31st of October at The Brewery, London. The Recruiter Investing in Talent Awards recognises professionals across the recruitment industry for their contributions to making a difference within their sectors. The employees were nominated by Swanstaff for their individual success stories. Our first shortlisted employee was Dan Crocombe, who has over 13 years of service with Swanstaff and currently runs our Swanley branch. Dan was shortlisted in the Most Inspiring Team Leader/Manager category for his tenacious attitude and dedication to leading one of the most successful branches at Swanstaff Recruitment. Dan was unfortunately not successful in winning his category but with his loyalty and leadership skills he will always be a winner in our eyes. Our second shortlisted employee was Lucy Sutton, Support Services Manager, who has been with Swanstaff for over 4 years. Lucy was shortlisted in the Most Inspiring Support Professional category for her approach to a challenging year within her role and building on internal processes to achieve business success. Lucy was recognised for her achievements and won her category. Lucy attended the awards evening to celebrate amongst colleagues and peers. To see the moment Lucy won her award please click here. Swanstaff are very proud of both Lucy and Dan for their continued commitment and dedication to our company. To be shortlisted amongst such top talent in the recruitment industry is a testament to them both. To find out more about the Recruiter awards and to view the full list of shortlisted candidates and winners please click here. Photo from left to right: Lucy Sutton and Dan Crocombe
Here at Swanstaff Recruitment, we held our 4th annual Wellbeing Week (or WOW Week as we like to call it). As always it was a week that was jam packed with laughter, fitness, relaxation, mental health awareness and healthy eating! It couldn’t have gone better, take a look for yourself… Day one We kick started the week with our infamous laughter day. What better way to start off Monday than with a pun competition centred around fruit! This was carried out over email so that the whole company could get involved. The winner received 2 free comedy tickets – after all, laughter is the best medicine. This day was aimed to fill Head Office and the branches with nothing but laughter! We also asked all team members to nominate who they think is the funniest person in Head Office and the branches. This was a great way for people to feel appreciated in Head Office and the branches. Day two Day two was fitness day. We challenged our Swans to see how long they could wall sit for (the winning time was 2 minutes 47 seconds) and we challenged our consultants to see how long they could squat for whilst holding a sales call. Throughout the day we sent out the top fitness apps, free online workouts and wellness classes. This encouraged our Swans to be more active, and it was also good team building as teams were cheering each other on during the challenges. Day three Relaxation day. This was arguably one of our favourite days throughout the company. We challenged our Swans to complete some mindful activities such as mindful breathing, listening, appreciation and moving. We also sent out mindful and relaxation apps that our teams could make use of. At Head Office, we kitted out our library room with calming music, put the fire on and laid out bean bags so that our Swans could relax on their breaks. Day four The fourth day of Wellbeing Week was focused around Mental Health. We used the day to reflect on our stress levels and what causes our stress levels to rise. We sent out a weekly wellbeing check-up guide for our Swans to use – it includes coping strategies and ways to drain their stress away! Day five On the last day of Wellbeing Week – we hosted a pot luck picnic. We asked every member of staff to bring in an item of picnic food. We had so much nice food and our Swans said how nice it was to all eat lunch together and do something different! We also sent out our top tips for healthy eating! Well, that’s a wrap for this year. Until 2020, Wellbeing Week. We can’t wait to see what we plan for next year!
Swanstaff has achieved re-certification to the internationally recognised ISO 9001:2019 standard, establishing it as one of the leaders in its field. Swanstaff were originally certified in 2016. This independent assessment was conducted by the British Assessment Bureau, a leading Certification Body, and demonstrates Swanstaff Recruitment’s commitment to customer service and quality in delivery. ISO 9001 was first introduced in 1987 and requires organisations to demonstrate that they do what they say they do, and that they have a Quality Management System in place to ensure consistency and improvement; leading to high levels of performance and customer satisfaction. Certified organisations are committed to continuous improvement and are assessed to ensure progress is being maintained. Swanstaff Recruitment has shown they have good service reliability and process controls, which means lower costs for its customers! Swanstaff’s CEO, Stephen Rogers said, “We’re delighted to have achieved our ISO 9001 for the third consecutive year. It demonstrates our promise to our candidates and clients that we focus our efforts on providing a quality service. It allows our customers to have an insight into the standard of our back office activities. This achievement acts a testament to the hard work put in by all Swanstaff employees to maintain a high quality service.” The benefits of certification to ISO 9001 include: Streamlining an organisation’s procedures Bringing consistency to an organisation’s service delivery Reducing cost and rework Improving an organisation’s management practices Enhanced status Competitive advantage Swanstaff has been supplying its clients with high calibre candidates for over 21 years and has proven steady growth. Swanstaff will continue to provide opportunities to those seeking work in a multitude of industries including working internally for Swanstaff in the recruitment sector.
Swanstaff Recruitment has been awarded the contract to run family Contact Services on behalf of Liverpool City Council. As of April 1st Swanstaff launched 2 new centres: Liverpool North and Liverpool South. Swanstaff Recruitment – who already run “Swan Family” Contact Centres in Bedfordshire, Lambeth, Cardiff and Coventry, focus on a child-led service which includes a number of innovative practices. These incorporate Life Story booklets, which support a child’s journey through contact and feedback forum events, where children and families are invited to participate in various activities and give feedback on their contact experiences. Lucy Glass, Divisional Manager for Family Services at Swanstaff says “Swanstaff are delighted to be awarded this contract, our mission is to ensure that the child is at the heart of everything we do. Our centres are family friendly, incorporating themed rooms and providing a comfortable, relaxed and safe environment. We will ensure we provide Liverpool City Council with an outstanding service whilst supporting them to develop a Fair City by providing local recruitment possibilities.” The Swan Family services in Liverpool are available to both local authority and private referrals and services include Supervised and Supported Contact, Community Contact, Handover and Transport. For more information about Swanstaff and their Swan Family services, or to make a referral please visit www.swanfamily.org.uk