As I come to the end of my first full year at Norwood, I feel privileged to reflect on successful year for the organisation. The commitment, warmth and hard work of our amazing staff team means that, now we have fully emerged from Covid, we continue to ensure that the people we support are at the heart of everything we do, and we have focused on ensuring that they are able to live the lives of their choosing with dignity, choice and empowerment. We are proud of our achievements this year, which include another Outstanding rating from CQC in one of our London homes, a return to an in-person annual dinner, and a focus on developing our staff through leadership and mental health first-aid programmes.

Next year we will be focusing on developing and launching a multi-year strategy for Norwood, enabling our organisation, staff and the people we support to grow, focus and flourish. My hope is that Norwood will remain at the heart of our truly caring community, ensuring that people with learning disabilities and autism and their families get the vital support they need at the heart of a fully inclusive community. My prayer is that we in the UK and our brothers and sisters in Israel and across the world remain resilient and united as we hope to move towards stability, safety and peace. As an organisation with an almost 230-year heritage, we know something about resilience, and we’re committed to being a lifeline for our community, in good times and in bad. Happy new year to you all.

​Naomi Dickson is the CEO of Norwood