Sometimes it is very easy to accept praise or a compliment and modestly brush it aside. And most people get them from time to time, but very rarely take the time to appreciate or share them. We were thinking about this recently and we decided to start sharing the compliments and praise we get. And to be fair, we should also share the criticisms too. With that in mind, we shall be sharing feedback and comments with everyone, on this web page.

To begin with, we thought we would start with the feedback we had received from clients following our recent move to new improved premises at the beginning of December 2013. After so much work arranging the move and settling in, we were keen to invite and elicit comments so we encouraged clients to tell us verbally and on big sheets of paper placed around the building so they could record their thoughts openly or anonymously, as they chose – and say whatever they wanted. And they did…

Thoughts & feelings about the new building - praise

• Room for all and a good move for all
• Carpe Diem!
• Light, bright, roomy and wonderful
• Good
• Nice and big
• The workmen have done a good job
• Huge!! Compared to the old one
• Like everything
• Excellent – nice building, lights, furnishings, good IT facilities
• Good to have more toilets
• Spacious (mind expanding)
• All right
• Like the mixer taps
• Light and airy! Bang Tidy!!
• A lot better for wheelchair users, nice and airy rooms, more space, much, much better
• Love it here
• Hear hear!
• It’s better here. I like it here.
• The facilities are superb. I continue to be impressed by the standards set by the staff.

Thoughts & feelings about the new building - niggles

• Coat hangers are too high
• Toilet door hinges the wrong way
• Would like a sign up with the day of the week
• Kitchen sinks not reachable for people in wheelchairs
• Hot water boiler takes a long time to re-fill
• Building still needs some finishing touches – painting, cleaning
• Boring white walls – would like more colour, posters, pictures – from art & photography groups
• Not very cosy
• Prefer the word ‘toilet’ not ‘toilets’ on signs
• Need a working clock in the group room
• Not keen on the buzzer system (entrance door) makes it seem like a prison
• Would be useful to have a sign saying ‘Hall’ as you come out of Art room as there are signs for toilets

What does that say to us?

We made the move to the new premises in order to secure and deliver a better service to our clients. We constantly consulted with the clients in the run up to and during the move. Having moved and resumed service, we wanted to be sure we understood how the clients felt about it and what the impact on them was. We could not just assume that everything we had done for them was wonderful - we needed to check what clients thought. So we value the little niggles raised by clients as highly as we value praise. After all, this service is for the clients! Some niggles could be fixed right away and some will take a little more time (sinks) and some are to do with expectations (toilet door). But all feedback is useful.

Thank you to everyone who said what they were thinking about the new building. Please keep sharing your thoughts with us.