The work ordered day is the one of the foundations of the Clubhouse model. During the work ordered day, 9-4.30pm Mon-Fri,members and staff work together to undertake all the work and make all the decisions necessary to run the Clubhouse. The work done is only that needed to operate the Clubhouse, no work is "made up" or taken in from outside sources.
All Clubhouses are different but, in general, they all have at least three work units, Admin, Catering and Employment. Many members specialise in working one unit, whilst some member prefer to move between units. All the work is voluntary and member attend the Clubhouse when they choose and stay for as long as they want to.
The Day at Old Fox House starts at 9.00 as people arrive and grab a cup of tea. At 9.30 we have the morning meeting, an informal chatty affair where we talk about things like; upcoming events, TEP opening and achievements and whats happening in the Clubhouse movement generally. After this meeting people go to the units and a short (5-10 minute) meeting is held in each unit to discuss what needs to be done and who would like to do it. The snack bar is open most of the day and people can stop for a tea, cigarette and a chat when ever. We stop for lunch at 12.30 and restart at at 1.30, finishing at 4.30pm.
Within the day we also have specific regular meetings. There is a weekly policy meeting where Clubhouse policies, general (non unit) topics, ideas, problems and concerns are discussed. All decisions in a Clubhouse are made by concenus and once made cannot be rediscussed for 3 month, so we really need to be sure we can live with the decision before we make it. We also have a weekly TEP meeting and a biweekly social programme meeting. Other meetings are held semi regularly such as R&D Unit research discussions.
Clubhouse members and staff working together in partnership to undertake the essential tasks and decisions necessary to enable the Clubhouse to operate, engenders a sense of belonging and purpose that assists the process of rebuilding self confidence and self esteem.
