April-May 2004 Newsletter In Full

What Do you Think About Health Services?

A research project is being set up to find out how much support and information people with learning disabilities get to look after their health.

At the moment, people with learning disabilities do not get enough information or support to be healthy. Hopefully the information people give will help to make health services easier to use for people with learning disabilities and their carers.

The project is looking for 400 people with learning disabilities and 30 carers to take part.

If you think you might be interested in taking part, someone will come and visit you. They will explain what is involved and answer any questions you might have.

If you are still interested, you will be asked to sign a form to say you agree to take part. You can change your mind at any time.

The person will then visit you again and ask you some questions about your health. This information is confidential and your personal information will not be given to anyone else.

Once everyone has been asked, the project will organise meetings to say what they found out.

If you would like to take part in the research, or would like to find out more call
 233 4837 or 233 4854.
Or email  medgm@leeds.ac.uk

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Direct Payments Information Event

Real Life Options is working on a project in Leeds to let more people with a learning disability know about direct payments. They are also trying to help more people get direct payments if they want them.

To help them, Change and York People First will be holding an event to tell people about direct payments and what they can be used for. They will also be asking you to tell them what you think about direct payments.

This will take place on:

Thursday 13th May 2004, from 1- 4pm at the Congreve Room, West Yorkshire Playhouse.

If you would like to go, please contact CHANGE on
telephone  243 0202 or
email  changepeople@btconnect.com.

Or contact Real Life Options on
telephone  270 7020 or
email  rlodirectpayment@btconnect.com

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Join Mencap and Make a Difference

Would you like to join your local Mencap committee, and help make a difference in your area? The District Committee is open to people in the Leeds and Wakefield areas. Elections for the new committee will take place soon.

The committee meets one afternoon, every other month. Members work on issues and events affecting people with learning disabilities. The committee is for members with learning disabilities, parents, carers, professionals and anyone interested in learning disability issues. The committee also needs volunteers to support members at these meetings.

For further information contact:
Maggie Graham
Mencap
43 East Parade
Harrogate
HG1 5LQ.
Telephone   01423 568162.

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WHAT'S ON In April and May 2004

City Varieties

The Animals and Friends 40th anniversary tour
Tuesday 20th April, 7.30pm

The Beech Boys Inc
Saturday 22 May at 8pm

Gaga – Queen tribute
Wednesday 19 May at 7.45

Beyond The Barricade
Songs from the world’s greatest musicals
Friday 23rd April at 7.30pm

G2 – Genesis tribute band
Wednesday 28th April at 7.30pm

Opera North at The Grand

Eight short operas for people who want to try it out. For tickets call  222 6 222

Leeds Half Marathon and Family Fun Run

Sunday 16th May 2004. Watch or take part! Setting off from Millennium Square around north Leeds and coming back into town along Kirkstall Road and the Headrow.
For more information call 3950001

5th Leeds Children & Young People's Film Festival,

1 – 11 April. Various places in the City, Including the 4 City learning centres, Yorkshire Dance Centre, Ster Century cinema and Hyde Park Picture House.

Get to see great films, or take part in the Film Academy - a week long series of workshops and masterclasses for children and young people interested in films.
For more information call  247 7952 or
email  filmfestival@leeds.gov.uk

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Partnership Board Review 2004

In 2001 the Government published the White Paper ‘Valuing People’ about the rights of people with learning disabilities and about the services they use. In this plan, the Government asked each area, including Leeds, to set up a Partnership Board.

What is a Partnership Board? A Partnership Board is where everyone involved in planning and using local services can work together to make sure people with learning disabilities and their carers have the services and opportunities they want.

The Leeds Learning Disability Partnership Board has been working for over 3 years. In February the Partnership Board had an Away Day to talk about:

• If the Partnership Board worked well
• If the changes people wanted were happening
• If the right people were involved
• What important work needed to be done next.

The Away Day Group thought these changes should happen to the Partnership Board:

• To advertise for an independent Chairperson and co-chairperson. They would have a role in making sure work happens outside of meetings. The co-chair would be someone with a learning disability.

• Task Groups. Get task groups going for health, advocacy, transition, transport and workforce development. These groups write plans about what services could be like in the future. The groups would include people with learning disabilities and carers who were interested in these issues and who wanted to get more involved.

• Have four board meetings a year.

• Create a Partnership Executive. This group would be people from health, social services, the joint commissioning service and the council. It would help the Partnership Board see what it needs to do, who would do it and when. The Executive would be involved in decisions about money. The Executive would tell the Partnership Board what it was doing. Members of the Partnership Board would go to Executive meetings to make sure that the Executive had listened to their views.

• Membership of the Partnership Board. More people should be on the Partnership Board, especially people with learning disabilities and carers.

• Black and ethnic minority involvement. Make sure we can involve people from black and ethnic minorities, and make sure their needs are thought about when services are planned.

If you would like to find out more about the Partnership Board, contact Janet Wright on  247 8894.

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Keyring in Chapeltown.

The Chapeltown Keyring network has room for one more person to join the network and live in their own place.

Keyring network is where a group of people live in their own homes in the same area, getting support from each other and also from a community living worker who lives nearby.

If you would like to find out more about Keyring, call Glenn Swindell on telephone  270 7775 or 0796 676 0005.

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New Forum Supporting Student Nurses in Leeds

The University of Leeds has set up a new forum for the organisations offering placements to student nurses in the learning disability field.

Existing members of the Forum include TACT, Community Integrated Care, Catholic Care, St Anne’s and the social care services provided by Leeds Community Mental Health Trust.

The forum is open to anyone already providing placements or who might be interested in providing placements in the future. It provides an opportunity to talk about issues around workforce development, staff training requirements and mentor support.

The next forum meeting will be on Tuesday 15 June from 1.30 to 3.30 p.m at the School of Healthcare studies, University of Leeds.

The University Of Leeds provides a Certificate and Diploma of Higher Education in Learning Disability Studies that is free to those working in health and social care learning disability services.

Further information contact Jo Lay, TACT Lecturer/Practitioner on telephone  3431467 or email  j.lay@leeds.ac.uk

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Learning Disability Reference Group Meeting.

We are looking for people to become a member of the Leeds Learning Disability Partnership Board.

We are having a meeting to explain what this would mean and how people can choose members: Thursday 15 April 2004, from 10am until 1pm. At St Matthias Church Centre, St Matthias Street, Burley Road.

Call Les or Sue on telephone  244 0606 for more information.

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