Home - News - Events - Courses - Jobs - Directory -Symbols - Newsletters - Partnership Board - Links - Contact Us
December 2003-January 2004 Newsletter In Full
|
Home - News - Events - Courses - Jobs - Directory -Symbols - Newsletters - Partnership Board - Links - Contact Us |
|
||
December 2003-January 2004 Newsletter In Full |
|||
|
|
|
|
Books Beyond Words are about the important events and changes that can happen in someone’s life.
The books use pictures instead of words. They can help people find out how they feel about the changes and show how people might deal with their feelings.
The books include information on: Growing Up Going to the Doctor Making friends Being safe in the kitchen
For more information call 
020 7235 2351.
The Leeds Partnership Service works with families who have children with special or additional education needs.
The referral team offers independent advice and guidance on special educational needs legislation, policies and procedures. The service has a library with information about voluntary and statutory organisations in Leeds.
Volunteers are trained to be independent parent supporters. They can support and advocate for parents and carers at meetings, help them fill in forms and write letters, They can help parents and carers collect evidence and go to tribunals.
The Parent Partnership Service also has a development team that works with Education Leeds, schools and other agencies. They help to develop positive relationships with parents and carers and make sure their views are heard and understood.
To contact the referral team, call the Helpline on 395 1200.
For general enquiries call 395 1222.
The Through The Maze office will be closed from Monday 22 December until Tuesday 6 January 2004. We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
All libraries in Leeds now have IT equipment including computers that you can use for email and the Internet. Some libraries also have access points with equipment that can help people with learning and physical disabilities.
The libraries that have access points are: Beeston, Burley, Chapel Allerton, Chapeltown, Compton Road, Halton, Headingley, Holt Park, Leeds Central Library, Middleton, Moor Allerton and Seacroft
The equipment at the access points include:
To use any of the equipment you can make an appointment to go to the library. Staff will show you what is available and they can talk to you to find out what you might want to use.
To make an appointment to use an access point for the first time call Ann Day or Justin Tutin on 214 3316.
The libraries also run training courses on using the equipment and developing IT skills. To find out about the courses at each library Enquiry Express on 247 6016 or look at the library section on this website http://www.leeds.gov.uk
Leeds College of Technology runs short courses on computers for people who have a learning disability who are between 16 and 35 years old. Each course takes about 15 hours to complete and it is free. They can help with bus fares or taxis to get to the courses.
For more information contact Joanne Lucas on 297 7280.
Mencap Pathway has two new services for young people with learning disabilities.
E2E is a learning programme for people between 16 and 25 years old. The programme is different for each person, but offers learning, getting skills for living and getting a job. It can also include work placements so people can get an idea of what job they would like.
The Mencap Pathway office now has Connexions Personal Advisor and a Connexions Access Point – this is an office where you can go and see the Connexions Personal Advisor. They offer advice and support to young people for all areas of their life.
For more information in E2E or the Connexions Access Point call
Tel 266 5200.
S.P.A.C.E is a service to help babies and young children with a learning disability to reach their developmental goals.
This is done by working in the family home to help develop children’s skills through play and by supporting parents to work with their child on reaching these goals. The service also provides support, information and advice to parents.
Contact Anne Gait on
268 7923 or
anne@spacegait.co.uk
Philip Hawley interviews Irene Wood – Leeds Advocacy Housing and Mental Health Advocate.
Question 1: What is your job?
Answer: I am the housing and mental health advocate for people with learning disabilities at Leeds Advocacy. I hope to give people the information and support they might need to sort housing or mental health problems. This can be about moving house, about changes that might happen where someone lives, or any other problems about where they live.
I feel an advocate means giving people who haven’t got a voice or who are frightened to have a voice the chance to get what they want. This might mean speaking up on behalf of someone to other people or organisations. Being independent means that what I do is decided by the person I work with and no-one else.
Question 2: What difference are you hoping to make to people’s lives?
Answer: I hope people will have a better change to live how they want. We can talk about the choices they have and work together through any barriers they might come up against.
Question 3: What made you apply for the job?
Answer: Two years ago I was doing a BTec certificate in Care at Thomas Danby College. We visited Leeds Advocacy to find out what happened here. I realised then being an advocate was what I wanted to do.
Question 4:What was your old job?
Answer: I was a community carer. This meant that I went to people’s homes to support then with their personal needs. I worked with older people and people with learning disabilities.
Question 5: Who is your boss?
Answer: Paul Seccombe, the Manager at Leeds Advocacy. His managers are the Directors of Leeds Advocacy which include two Directors who have learning disabilities.
Question 6: How many people can you work with?
Answer: I hope to be able to work with 20 people at a time.
The Equality Team at Leeds City Council wants to set up a group for women. This is to find out what women think about services they use, or if new services are needed.
The things they want to find out about include:
If you would like to find out more first call Brenda Richards on 247 4749 or minicom 224 3589.
A new list of part-time courses from January 2004 is available. The courses include Number and Word skills, IT, Music, Drama, Nature and Arts and Crafts.
For more information contact Mandy Torbitt on
243 2210.
Return to Newsletters
|
|
|
Through the Maze Information Service |