Every Day Choices & Inclusion at Bradbury Wing

Spring Residents' Meeting at Bradbury Wing

With the residents of Bradbury Wing assembled in their living room after Skills Centre sessions and before dinner, Rosie, Senior Support Worker welcomed them, along with Support Staff to their Spring 2026 Residents’ meeting.

Resident’s meetings are an important way for the people we support to be enabled and to make choices which affect their daily life. Rosie began by letting the group know what topics would be covered during the meeting. These included Menu Ideas, Activities and news of our CQC report and rating.

One resident shared that they only really liked Chicken Nuggets and wanted those. With some gentle encouragement from staff, they later agreed to try quiche with some salad (although with some vegetables excluded). Often, progress comes in small increments when it comes to encouraging a variety of healthy food choices.

Picking up on the staff encouragement with healthy eating, resident Regan shared her thoughts

 “Now we’re getting nicer weather, I want to have more salad. I’m enjoying eating lots of fresh healthy foods and protein.”

She also added that she likes goats cheese, before her friend Michael chimed in

“If you want goats cheese Regan, you will have to get a goat!”

Focusing back on dining at home, Rosie asked the group if anyone was keen to play a more active role in preparing lunch or dinner. This was met with limited enthusiasm, but she later explained that often residents are busy in activity sessions during food preparation. However, many residents who are able like to help with other tasks at mealtimes. From setting the table to helping to rinse plates and stack the dishwasher, Bradbury Wing has some hard-working superstar residents!

After the meeting, and away from the people we support, Rosie explained that the way food is prepared is adapted according to each resident’s needs.

 “Aside from any special dietary requirements, we support some residents who need to consume as many calories as possible at meal times, and some who need to keep meals lower in calories to maintain or reduce their weight. We’re able to do this as a team, without anyone feeling ‘left out or different.’ We also make sure that both options contain lots of nutrients and fibre. For example, we recently served Cottage Pie for dinner. We made two large separate portions; one using lower fat meat, low fat spread and skimmed milk and the other using butter and full fat milk. Each resident felt that they were having the same meal, but it was tailored to their needs.

We also support some residents, who due to SALT needs, need to eat foods with specific texture. We support with this both at the menu planning stage and when serving food.”

David, a resident at  Bradbury Wing does not eat food by mouth and is fed by PEG. This means that nutrition is delivered directly to his stomach, the feeding process takes 47 minutes. Josh, Senior Support Worker explained that as mealtimes are a sociable time, staff support David to be a part of mealtimes.

 “We ensure that during PEG feeding David is either with a staff member or his peers. He communicates using his iPad, facial expressions and sound. This helps David to prompt and aid communication about the things that are important to him. David is not able to communicate using words, but this doesn’t stop him from being extremely communicative.”

CQC Good Rating News

Using the Easy Read CQC report summary as a guide. Rosie explained that earlier this year, we welcomed some inspectors from the CQC to The Meath and that they have shared a report. With prompting from staff James recalled that he had taken part in the inspection by talking to an inspector. He commented

“They asked me about living at Bradbury Wing. I told them what I liked about my home.”

Staff and residents applauded James for this achievement and Rosie explained that it contributed to the inspectors having a good idea of what we do.

Sharing The Report Findings

Residents seemed interested and happy to hear that the report said The Meath was doing a good job of keeping them safe. Regan felt that her personal experience of living at The Meath matched up with this finding and shared her thoughts, commenting

“I feel safe and happy. The staff are caring. The residents here at Bradbury Wing are nice to talk to. We never seem to have any arguments!

I will have been here 16 years in May and I would never want to move out of The Meath as it’s very friendly and safe.”

While Regan has a greater ability to articulate her thoughts than many of her peers, lots of the group smiled and clapped her when she said this. The group reaction seemed to stem in part from a mutual understanding and agreement with how she feels, but also the desire to celebrate her achievement of articulating it so well.

A staff member asked one important last question which relates to the CQC report.

 “What do you do if you’re feeling worried or sad?”

While Regan and Michael commented that they would speak to staff, the question served as a useful reminder to other residents.

A Culture of Inclusion and Collaboration

With key meeting agenda covered came the announcement of dinner; perfectly timed for a few slightly dwindling attention spans. Rosie and her team adeptly balanced the need to cover some key topics in an engaging way, and gaining some useful insights to implement.

While Rosie and the team at Bradbury Wing gained lots of useful ideas for menu items and activities to plan, the meeting itself seemed to play an important role in the inclusive and collaborative culture at Bradbury Wing.

Everyday enablement and little choices matter, and it’s great to see the staff and residents at Bradbury Wing all recognise, value and live this!

With thanks to the residents and staff at Bradbury Wing for sharing their meeting with us.

Some of the residents at Bradbury Wing have shared their stories with us! Visit our website to see story features for Regan, Michael and James.