Customer feedback and testimonials - Whose Shoes?
What do Whose Shoes? customers say about the this learning and development tool?
"Whose Shoes? was an excellent tool to use as part of our Inter-Professional Learning Workshops with nursing and social work students. It really helped the students to explore each other’s roles and it helped to create really useful discussions regarding partnership working" (Sarah Booth, Practice Education Facilitator, Community Health Stockport)
"This is a fantastic tool which I've used many times to guide staff through change, interact with commissioners and explain to service users about what services are available. It enables discussion and flow of ideas for all - it's fun and makes you think outside of the box. Gill is the creator of something truly wonderful, which has the opportunity to develop and get better and better!" - Philippa Codd (Service Development Director - Housing, Health & Social Care, Mears Group)
"This is an excellent way of exploring the range of views held in relation to personalisation. It is fun, non-threatening but very challenging. It’s a great teaching tool" - Ali Gardner, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Work, Manchester Metropolitan University
"The impact Whose Shoes? can have re developing User and Carer knowledge and understanding about the Personalisation Agenda is fantastic - and with the additional social outcomes it has for partnership and peer learning - its phenomenal. People absorb more when they are having a good time!!! We are just waiting for two games to arrive and can't wait to get started." - Barbara Dalby, Carer, Phoenix Support Group, East Riding
“I was blown away with how much any one person coming from whatever perspective can gain in knowledge by playing a game in the right context (training days/ presentation & interactive workshops etc)" - Sharon Terry, Service User, Phoenix Support Group, East Riding
“Really useful learning tool which helps creative and practical thinking” - Rose Bradley, Practice Trainer, Worcestershire County Counci
l“People have universally enjoyed the game” - Jo Yelland, Lead: Putting People First and Integration, Plymouth City Council
"Whose Shoes? has been very well received in Newham since we purchased it last year. In July (2010), we will be focusing on Self Directed Support as part of the Mayor's town show. We will be using the board game to assist members of the public to ask questions and participate. We will send further feedback after the event" - London Borough of Newham
It stimulated a lot of very good discussion, it raised a lot of issues and concerns from the team which were aired and clarified” - Carol Rowe, Workforce Development Manager, Bradford City Council
“The poems were fab and funny” - Gill Manning-Smith, Programme Manager, Adult Social Care Transformation, Buckinghamshire County Council
"It’s a fantastic idea which worked well during training sessions with social work teams” - Steve Morgan, Workforce Development Officer (Adult Provider Services), Gateshead Council
"It went down very well and provided an excellent way of EVERYBODY getting involved and talking about issues and it was FUN” - Maggie McNamara,
Commissioning Officer, (Self Directed Support), Nottinghamshire County Council
“Middle managers are looking for answers - but answers will emerge as we move forward. It is all about professional judgements. This is an excellent tool to help us find those answers and make progress” - Learning and Development Manager, large County Council
"This is an ideal learning and development tool for those aiming to make progress with personalisation" - Glasgow Social Care Providers Forum
'Whose Shoes?' has received great reviews throughout the country and is widely renowned as a genuinely useful tool for helping people to think about the bigger picture, and how Personalisation can be realistically achieved - Senior Manager in East Midlands Local Authority
We really liked the idea that you weren't playing in competition with each other, but as one team, driving to co-deliver changes to adult social care; also the fact that it was a very different way to engage in conversations / capture issues with regards to Transformation - and got away from the fatigue people suffer with email, newsletters etc! - Laura Walker, Communications Advisor, Adult Transformation, Newcastle City Council
Feedback from the staff reference group was very positive. The game generated a lot of discussion from different points of view and helped staff to see the bigger picture. Discussions were more informal and interactive than generally occurs at large meetings and staff found the experience enjoyable and beneficial… The staff present represented all service user groups as well as other teams, eg welfare rights, extra care housing, reviewing officers etc - Sandrina Mapletoft, SDS commissioning officer, Nottinghamshire County Council
In Nottinghamshire, the Self Directed Support Team love the game and are becoming sufficiently confident to champion it wider across the adult care workforce now. It is also so exciting that we have good robust collaborations with service users and carers and are working hard now to develop collaborative learning with health colleagues …I feel the game can support us here. Also, we are just about to discuss the curriculum re Putting People First with local HEIs … so, again I would want to use the game here - Veronica Bell, Team Leader (Training) Self Directed Support, Nottinghamshire County Council
"We had a trial run of Whose Shoes? yesterday. The feedback was very good – we particularly liked the way in which the cards prompted lots of discussion (too much at times!) and that even people with no prior knowledge of personalisation were able to contribute. We will definitely be using the game as part of our training programme - Kerry Davies, Senior Development Consultant, Walsall Council
"I've played Whose Shoes to learn what it was all about and found it extremely useful. It's a really useful tool to help spread the personalisation message!" - Melanie Turnbull, Commissioning Policy & Planning Officer (Personalisation) Durham County Council
"We are still using Whose Shoes in personalisation training with internal and external staff - the feedback they give is very positive and it breaks the ice during the training session" - Helen Tindell, Workforce Planning and Development, North Lincolnshire Council
"Using Whose Shoes? is a really good way to get a lively discussion going, the game highlights the main points and issues about Personalisation. All staff can take part, learn and share their knowledge in a relaxed atmosphere". Local Authority Manager, North West region
“The Whose Shoes? material is exceptional in its ability to promote questions about both the process and our understanding of personalisation and its outcomes” - Ray Massey, Training Coordinator, Learning & Development Team, London Borough of Redbridge
"Whose Shoes? should be a mandatory exercise for all involved in personalisation!" - Community Engagement Officer, NW MBC
"I really enjoyed playing the game. It was very absorbing and it got me thinking about what personalisation really means. I think it is such an innovative way to get a message across that we have a tendency to over complicate" - Sue Baxter, Policy Officer, Strategic Engagement, SITRA
"We bought the board game Whose Shoes? - it is very good indeed!
- Dorothy Jarvis-Lee, CEO, UBU
.....and what do organisers and participants of Whose Shoes? workshops say?
"Whose Shoes? was a fantastic way to discuss the issues of personalisation in a friendly, comfortable, non-threatening environment. It had such an impact on our work that we bought 2 copies of the game, which can be used to broaden thinking (and horizons) across the wider organisation. Well done Gill - an invaluable resource for all" - Stephanie Flower, CEO, Enrych (previously Ryder Cheshire Volunteers) using Whose Shoes? as part of their re-branding.
Thank you so much for the day, Gill, we have received a lot of very positive feedback. It was great and people were thrilled with your game - Kym Billington-Baddley, Head of Staffordshire Social Care Workforce Partnership (SSCWP) - (Whose Shoes? workshops at SSCWP conference)
Thanks again for your time, enthusiasm and support yesterday to make our festival of ideas event another fabulous success! Well done to you! (Workshop Gill ran as part of GSCPF "Festival of Ideas"). I attach the evaluation we have pulled together from everyone’s comments. Great stuff! - Charlie Barker, Director, Glasgow Social Care Providers' Forum
I really enjoyed the workshop (in Manchester - 29/4/10) - Whose Shoes? is a challenging, but safe, fun way of exploring a range of views and perspectives on personalisation. A great learning and development tool it can also be used in other arenas such as team meetings to generate personalisation big picture discussions. - Dorothy Lowe, Learning and Development Business Partner, Care and Person Centred Planning, National Autistic Society
Thank you for giving this learning opportunity. As a student and almost a newly qualifying social worker, the game developed my understanding of the personalisation agenda and how it’s implemented in practice. The discussions when playing the game outlined some dilemmas and challenges within practice. I now feel equipped, taking on what I learnt within my future practice and remain committed to the values of the personalisation agenda. Angela Yeboah, final year social work student, Manchester Metropolitan university
Gill is passionate about her work. She understands her subject and this is reflected in the Social Care game Whose Shoes? She makes her workshops interesting and educational and encourages all levels of staff to discuss problems associated with Health or Social Care. Gill is a great collegue and service provider. Top qualities: Personable, Expert, Creative
Val Barcroft, organiser of Whose Shoes? workshop at Bangor University
We have used the Whose Shoes? game as part of our IPL Workshops with nursing and social work students, and the session was really well evaluated. One of the evaluation comments from a social work student was "it gave me more of an understanding of nurses' roles; I enjoyed the game, it created good discussions" (Sarah Booth, Practice Education Facilitator, Community Health Stockport)
Gill gave us an inspirational session and responded positively to the differing views of our participants - who were from a wide variety of care sectors and included: Local Authority; Private care providers; Carers and Service User groups. The feedback we received for this training event was overwhelmingly positive - even from those individuals who were not initially certain about the concept and the material. I can whole heartedly recommend Gill and her company Nutshell Communications as a Value for Money champion around Personalisation, Service User involvement and positive ways forward for everyone involved in care provision. Top Qualities: Expert, Good Value, Creative
Ray Massey, Training Coordinator, London Borough of Redbridge.
Whose Shoes? is also recommended by the British Institute for Learning Disabilities (BILD)
and as a speaker at events?.....
Gill gave a talk to 130 delegates about her innovative approach to change management, learning & personalisation at the SPIC conference in Shropshire, 21 September 2010
"Thoroughly enjoyed your presentation at the SPIC conference – it is always difficult to present to a group information about a game / methodology which facilitates learning but the concept came over really well"
Mandy Thorn, Chair, Shropshire Partners in Care
The Whose Shoes? logo is subject to UK Trade Mark No. 2502651.
The Whose Shoes? board game is subject to UK Registered Design No. 4009563.