Nursery Manager – Chestnut Nursery

Fresh Horizons are looking to appoint a Nursery Manager to lead this exciting new service within the Chestnut Centre.

The successful applicant will be qualified to at least NVQ Level 3 in Child Care with more than 2 years experience in a managerial role within a child care setting.

They will need to be motivated and enthusiastic in the setting up and managing of this Nursery provision for Under 5’s.

Applicants will need to submit their current CV and any additional information to:

Fresh Horizons
The Chestnut Centre
2a Chestnut Street
Deighton
Huddersfield
HD2 1HJ

Copies of the Job Description and Person Specification can be obtained from reception at the Chestnut Centre, 2a Chestnut Street, Huddersfield, HD2 1HJ or Fresh Horizons offices at 3 Browning Road, Deighton, Huddersfield.

All enquires to Maureen McGlynn Tel:01484 551520

Salary: £23,088 per annum 37 hours per week

Closing Date: 9^th June 2012

Children’s Author and Poet

Poet and children’s author of such fun and irreverent books as “Teachers Pick Their Noses” and “The Hungrumptious Blumpfh”, Conrad Burdekin, paid a visit to the Chestnut Centre library last week.

Children from Ashbrow School were entertained by readings from his stories and poems on an Olympic theme.

Senior Customer Information Advisor, Darren Thomas, who manages the Kirklees Council library on behalf of Fresh Horizons said: “It’s really important for Fresh Horizons that we encourage a culture of reading in our area, as literacy and reading is such an important part of school life and we want local children to succeed.  Having fun authors like Conrad can help bring books to life and encourage local kids to keep coming back to our library.”

Amanda Ambler, librarian for Kirklees Library Service said: “The session was booked using Mission Active funding through Kirklees Libraries and Information Centres.   Mission Active Kirklees aims to inspire, motivate and encourage children to think about all aspects of their health and well being; their body, their diet, and their fitness through an integrated programme of activities.

The kids said: “He was excellent”, I really enjoyed it !” and thanked Conrad for being so entertaining.

Head Teacher of Ashbrow School Dora Plant  said: “Thank you for giving our children the opportunity to work with Conrad Burdekin.   They all came back enthused by the experiences provided.”

Tax and benefit changes will ‘hit families hardest’

Visit the link to watch the video

http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/uk-16418617

Fresh Horizons is thrilled that Leeds University undergraduate Gemma Haigh is joining us for her 6 week placement in May to support the development of cinema and film making in community managed libraries.
Gemma, who is currently studying for a BA (Hons) Film Studies at Leeds Trinity University said: “Film is my passion. I have been interested in the art of film from a young age and after studying it at A Level I made the decision that I wanted to continue my studies at university and that a career in film is what I aspire to. There are many aspects within the industry that interest me and both the writing and theory side as well as the practical side of film making.

Gemma will be working with Fresh Horizons and our partners Open Cinema at The Chestnut Centre in Deighton from 6thy May until the middle of June.

Fresh Horizons is being supported through the Arts Council’s Libraries Development Fund to establish cinema in the libraries it supports and help local people develop skills in film making.
Fresh Horizons Managing Director Mike McCusker said: “We’re hoping that Gemma’s enthusiasm for film and cinema will help us get our cinema project off to a flying start and it will give her an opportunity to use the skills and knowledge she has learnt at university in a practical environment.”

Fresh Horizons is delighted to announce that they have appointed Maureen McGlynn to project manage the establishment of their nursery and day care provision at The Chestnut Centre.

Maureen recently retired from Kirklees Council as their nursery manager for both the Chestnut Nursery and Tiddlywinks and brings a huge amount of experience in quality childcare to the company.  She will oversee Ofsted registration, appointment of the new nursery staffing team and work with parents to ensure the change is managed without disruption and ensure Fresh Horizons new childcare provision is of the highest standard.

Fresh Horizons has been working with Kirklees Council since they announced their decision to merge staff from the Chestnut into the Tiddlywinks so as to retain the number of childcare places in the area as the Council makes savings.

Fresh Horizons will establish its own nursery so that much needed childcare is retained in the Deighton and Sheepridge area.

Fresh Horizons Managing Director Mike McCusker said: “We are delighted to have someone of the calibre of Maureen join our management team.  We wanted someone who could give parents confidence that our child care will be of the same high standard as the rest of the services we deliver and Maureen is just that person.”

Maureen said: “I am looking forward to the challenge of supporting Fresh Horizons with their new venture and making it as successful as their other services are. It is essential that we continue to deliver a quality service for children and families in the Deighton area . I have worked in this area for the last 23 years building up relationships with families and other services and I look forward to the opening of the new Nursery at the  Chestnut centre.   I will do my utmost to ensure that it is an excellent provision for them to bring their children to .”

Contact details

About Fresh Horizons

Fresh Horizons, situated in Deighton, is a growing social enterprise, employing over 50 people, that helps people in areas of deprivation feel proud of what they do and where they live.

By engaging local people, with local knowledge, to solve local problems Fresh Horizons provides opportunities for learning, development and employment; engages people in community life through managing facilities and local events; and improves the quality and safety of community assets. As a social enterprise surpluses are re-invested into services that benefit the community. And as it grows Fresh Horizons creates more jobs, develops more community assets and helps more people improve their lives.

Fresh Horizons celebrates its role in providing affordable housing

Martyn Broadest of Connect Housing, signs up to 50in250 with Mike McCusker of Fresh Horizons and Lucy Findlay of the Social Enterprise Mark.

Fresh Horizons, a social enterprise certified with the Social Enterprise Mark, has signed a deal with Connect Housing, the West Yorkshire housing association, to help bring empty homes into use as affordable housing.

As a result, Connect Housing have become the latest company to sign up to the Social Enterprise Mark’s 50 in 250 Campaign, by contracting with Huddersfield based Fresh Horizons.

The 50in250 campaign is designed to help 50 businesses each buy from 5 social enterprises, within 250 days. By using certified social enterprises in their supply chain, businesses can demonstrate easy corporate responsibility in an ongoing, valuable and meaningful way.

Fresh Horizons will deliver housing refurbishment and management.  Managing Director, Mike McCusker, said: “We are delighted that such a prestigious organisation as Connect Housing, has added us to their supply chain as part of the Engage Project to bring empty homes into use as affordable housing.  The 50in250 campaign is designed to help businesses use certified social enterprises within their supply chains, and in the process dramatically improve the benefit they deliver to communities. This work will certainly do just that. ”

Lucy Findlay Chief Executive of The Social Enterprise Mark said: “50in250 will help companies know who can contribute real social value to their supply chains. As the certification for social enterprises, the Mark provides the only reliable way of knowing that the people you do business with have genuine commitment to use profits to support their social or environmental aims.”

Martyn Broadest Director of Regeneration at Connect Housing said “Connect Housing is delighted to be working with Fresh Horizons as part of the Engage partnership, with the aim of bringing empty homes back into use as affordable rented housing.  Our partnership will bring benefits to both organisations, helping Fresh Horizons to create a sustainable property lettings and management business, and offering Connect the opportunity to learn from Fresh Horizon’s entrepreneurial success.”

Fresh Horizons is supporting Passion 4 Fashion Kirklees, a fantastic local project aimed at unemployed people who have an interest in fashion and need some experience. Daneeka and Nicola from our Youth on The Hill Team have been working with volunteers from Deighton to build confidence, skills and help participants move into employment as part of a Kirklees wide initiative.

80 participants from across Kirklees have been attending workshops working with designers providing expert tuition and coaching and encouraged to design and create their catwalk outfit, exclusively recycled from charity shops, on a budget.

Tickets at £2 are now on sale for the showcase fashion show at the Huddersfield Town Hall on Thursday 26 April 2012 as participants show off their work on the catwalk.

Valuing Social Enterprise Conference

Fresh Horizons will have a stand at the Valuing Social Enterprise Conference being held at the University of Huddersfield on 2^nd April 2012.

The sold out event was initiated by Fresh Horizons and the Social Enterprise Mark as part of their national “50 in 250” Campaign to encourage 50 large organisations to contract with 250 social enterprises in 250 days.

Kirklees Council has been incredibly supportive taking responsibility for the organisation and working in partnership with key local bodies Third Sector Leaders, University of Huddersfield, Calderdale Council and Locality.

The conference will provide a place for discussion and debate around the impact of policy changes such as the Social Value Bill and Localism on Procurement and Commissioning in West Yorkshire.

Workshops and seminar discussions, giving practical advice and information on how to get the most of out of Commissioning and Procurement opportunities, developing an ethical supply chain and Corporate Social Responsibility Workshops and advice on making Tender applications and seeking investment to support your organisation

Hear the latest on changes in the Policy context – your chance to join the debate and start the discussion on how this might work at a local level.

Please visit our stall on the day for a chat about how we might work together.

Fresh Horizons craftsmen and apprentices have been fitting out the former Premier shop in Sheepridge Village Centre as a new laundrette.

The new service will be run as a social enterprise by Local Services For You, the enterprise arm of the Deighton and Brackenhall Initiative Ltd.

DBI Chief Officer Andi Briggs said “Fresh Horizons construction have undertaken a range of property refurbishments for DBI which include both domestic and commercial properties.  The work has varied from full refurbishment of a property to general maintenance and repairs.  The work has been to a high standard and quality at all times.”

Mike McCusker, Managing Director of Fresh Horizons, said “This piece of work was great to do as we know we are supporting another local social enterprise.  Like us, Local Services 2 You are keen to employ local people to deliver the launderette services, so it’s another win – win for Sheepridge.”

Stars of Finnish TV

Deighton based social enterprise Fresh Horizons have won international coverage on Finnish TV for their pioneering community development work.

The social entrepreneurs hosted a news team from Finnish broadcasters YLE who were in town to find out how what the idea of Big Society looks like at a grass roots level.

They were impressed with the wide range of services Fresh Horizons was providing, filming the community run library and the refurbishment of empty homes and shops.

They also interviewed Fresh Horizons’ Youth Team and volunteers about their work supporting local young people to find work.

Mike McCusker, Fresh Horizons Managing Director, said “It’s a massive boost for the community when we see our successful local enterprise getting international interest.

“ Our youth team really enjoyed working with the Finnish film crew and this visit built on the positive feedback we got last year when we were visited by a Japanese professor and local government representatives from Holland.”

Contact details

About Fresh Horizons

Fresh Horizons, situated in Deighton, is a growing social enterprise, employing over 50 people, that helps people in areas of deprivation feel proud of what they do and where they live.

By engaging local people, with local knowledge, to solve local problems Fresh Horizons provides opportunities for learning, development and employment; engages people in community life through managing facilities and local events; and improves the quality and safety of community assets. As a social enterprise surpluses are re-invested into services that benefit the community. And as it grows Fresh Horizons creates more jobs, develops more community assets and helps more people improve their lives.