When you become a member, you'll receive a number of free or discounted resources to support your role and your service.
- Receive a copy of our ‘Social care manager’s handbook’*. It covers what you need to know and understand to succeed in your role.
- Monthly members' newsletter, sharing practical information and guidance
- Members receive 25% off our 'Effective supervision' and 'Workplace assessment' guides. Take a look at our bookshop.
- When you renew your membership, you receive an exclusive printed workbook edition of our 'An introduction to working with partners: a practical guide for social care managers'*. This guide was written to help social care managers map out who their partners are, describe their role and responsibilities for working with others and consider how partnerships can be improved.
- If you don't yet have the 'Wellbeing for registered managers: a practical survival guide' you can still buy it on our bookshop.
Registered managers need the support of other registered managers.
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Marlene Kelly, registered manager, Auburn Mere Care Home
Monthly newsletter
Members receive a monthly e-newsletter, full of practical information, updates and guidance for registered managers.
Member blogs
As a member you can share best practice, ideas, news and information with other members. Keep an eye our on our blogs section and social media for updates!
If you're a member and have any news to share, or would be interested in talking to us about a blog, please contact us on membership@skillsforcare.org.uk.
When you renew your membership up to April 2022, you’ll receive a printed workbook edition of our new ‘An introduction to working with partners: a practical guide for social care managers' - exclusively available to registered manager members*.
The guide helps map out who your partners are, describe your role and responsibilities for working with others and consider how partnerships can be improved. It includes lots of great examples from other services about who they work with and provides exercises for you to complete to help you to embed and grow partnerships, no matter how well you already work well with others.
Mentoring
- Join our growing group of mentors
Our members have opportunities to learn and practice skills in mentoring. They can choose to join our growing group of existing mentors who provide peer-to-peer support for other members.
We run opportunities for members to train and hone existing skills in mentoring throughout the year.
By becoming a member you have exclusive access to our bank of qualified mentors. You’ll be matched with another member who has been trained as a mentor, based on the areas of development you're looking for.
Already a member? Register your interest in being mentored.
Member peer support and learning groups
From August 2020 we’re facilitating registered manager member peer support and learning groups. The groups utilise the principles of action learning to aid problem solving with other managers and every session is run by an expert Skills for Care facilitator.
The groups are exclusively available to our members.
Already a member? Register your interest in joining a group.
As registered managers navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for them to access support from other managers became more important than ever.
The Skills for Care Membership Team supported mentoring relationships to continue virtually. Our mentors attend training to help them develop skills in mentoring, including techniques for questioning, listening and providing feedback.
June Stephenson is the Director and registered manager at Orchard House Care Home Scarborough. In 2020, she accessed support from one of our mentors.
"I have found my mentoring sessions with my mentor very beneficial. We have discussed many topics, but I was particularly interested in developing a better system for governance. I have already adopted some of the tips my mentor shared for some audits I was not already doing and will be implementing these. I have also devised a matrix so that audit and compliance folders can be easily found and identified by staff.
I particularly liked her suggestion for reviewing all audits 6 monthly to identify any recurring themes and to ensure that any action plans raised have been carried through.
We have also prepared information to display for all staff on the location of isolators for all utilities in the event of an emergency and senior management not being in the building.
I would like to take this opportunity to formally thank my mentor for the support and encouragement she has given me."