Home - News - Events - Courses - Jobs - Directory -Symbols - Newsletters - Partnership Board - Links - Contact Us
December 2005-February 2006 Newsletter In Full
|
Home - News - Events - Courses - Jobs - Directory -Symbols - Newsletters - Partnership Board - Links - Contact Us |
|
||
December 2005-February 2006 Newsletter In Full |
|||
|
|
|
|
Here is the latest newsletter in full. You can also read the new section of the newsletter, which is all about the Partnership Board, by clicking this link: Partnership Board News
Get ready!
In March 2006 the Beam Festival is happening in Leeds and across Yorkshire.
Beam is a festival of work by artists with learning disabilities, organised by Mind the Gap theatre company from Bradford and supported by Mencap.
It will include theatre, dance, film, music, visual arts and club culture events from StopGAP Dance Company, Oska Bright Film Festival, Oily Cart and the Beautiful Octopus Club as well as Mind The Gap.
The festival starts on Friday 3 March 2006, with a performance of ‘On The Verge’, by Mind the Gap. This will be at The Carriageworks in Millennium Square.
To get full information as it becomes available you can email your name and address to:
arts@mind-the-gap.org.uk or call Mind the Gap on Tel 
01274 544 683.
Interview with Ruth Lofthouse, from ASIST – the Leeds support service for Direct Payments and the Independent Living Fund. By Philip Hawley
What are direct payments?
It is money from the local authority to buy services. Anyone who is assessed as needing a social service has the right to ask for the money to pay for their own services themselves.
How do you get direct payments?
To get direct payments, you need to have a social worker, who will assess you for the support you need. If you don’t have a social worker, you can call the Social Services contact centre on 398 4702 – and say that you want to be referred for community care direct payments.
The social worker will then call us at ASIST to arrange an initial contact meeting. You can bring whoever you want to that meeting – a friend, family member or advocate. We talk about how direct payments might work for you, what your responsibilities would be and how we can support you. If you still want direct payments, the social worker would then write a care plan with you and get it approved.
ASIST then work with you to plan how you are going to use the direct payment – like thinking about what sort of person you want to employ and what they will be doing.
We can work with you to write the job description and job advert, provide support at interviews and write a job contract for them. It all sounds difficult, but that is why there is a support service. You don’t have to do it all on your own and you don’t have to worry.
Why do people want to use direct payments?
People get direct payments because they might not be happy with their services, because they might want their support to be more flexible, or because they want to be more in control.
Is it difficult to get and use direct payments?
For some people, saying what your needs are and what you want can be difficult. Getting the right staff can also take time – getting someone you like and someone who can do the job.
There is also a bit of paperwork – but there is support to do it, or you can ask someone you know to help.
There is no set time for getting direct payments and different people work at different speeds.
Do you lose other services when you get direct payments?
That depends on how you want to use direct payments. You can have services and your assessment still shows that you have unmet needs. Or, you might chose to swap a service you use (like going to a day centre) for direct payments.
For more information about direct payments, you can contact the ASIST team on Tel 214 3654, by minicom on 214 3598 or by email on asist@leeds.gov.uk
The Ethnicity Training Network is looking for carers from minority ethnic communities who would like to become trainers. Carers can help teach other people how to deal with cultural issues sensitively and how to provide services that include everybody, including people with learning disabilities.
The Ethnicity Training Network is a project that helps people get training and skills to deal with issues relating to ethnicity and health. We do this by arranging training for professionals who work directly with minority ethnic communities.
If you would be interested in becoming a trainer, please contact the Ethnicity Training Network on Tel 343 6903 or email etn@leeds.ac.uk
Do you like making art and working in a group? Are you aged between 18 and 26?
Pyramid of Arts is an inclusive arts organisation that works with people with and without learning disabilities. At the moment they are working on an interactive sculpture. This will be displayed in a solicitor’s office in the city centre.
If you think you might like to join the group, or if you would like some more information then contact Pyramid of Arts on 234 6040 or send an email to info@pyramid-of-arts.org.uk
Report by Sheila Quinn, Chairperson
The Leeds People First group held their Annual General Meeting on 6th October. Lots of people came, including many people that go to day services.
I gave a speech about what the group had been doing over the year and then it was time to vote for roles on the committee. The voting was completed with some people having new positions. Three more members were elected onto the committee and I was voted on as Chairperson for another year.
At the meeting, people said what issues were important to them for the group to work on. These were health, training staff and day trips.
Thank you to Les and Sue from Asking You for making a DVD of the event.
If anyone would like to become a new member or just know more about the work we do contact Fiona or Sheila on Tel 205 6530.
This will take place on: Friday 16 December at Pudsey Civic Hall. Starting at 10:45am with lunch provided after the meeting.
Ray Wilk, the chairperson of the Leeds Learning Disability Partnership Board will be speaker at the meeting.
If people want to come to the meeting call Leeds Advocacy on Tel 244 0606.
Researchers from the University of Leeds are finding out how much help people with learning disabilities get with their health. They say there is still a lot of work to do in Leeds to reach the targets.
At a workshop earlier in the year people had a chance to give ideas about what could be done. Here are some of the ideas:
Leadership!
A Plan!
- Support for people with learning disabilities to know about their rights, look after their health and make choices.
- Annual health checks for people with learning disabilities. These should be linked to health action plans.
- People in each hospital department who will take responsibility for learning disability work.
Money!
Rewards and Penalties!
If you would like more information about this report or about the research please contact Ghazala Mir: Tel 343 4854 Email E-mail: g.mir@leeds.ac.uk
Are you a learning disability nurse? Do you have some research or good practice that you would like to share with other people?
The Yorkshire Universities Learning Disabilities Research and Development Forum is looking for nurses in Yorkshire to share their ideas and so improve the quality of life of people with learning disabilities in the region.
For more information contact Helen Atherton on Tel 343 7562 or email h.l.atherton@leeds.ac.uk
From January 2006, there is a new weekly drop-in session for staff and clients using Intensive Interaction.
You can get advice on using intensive Interaction and there is a large choice of objects to use in Intensive Interaction
For more information contact Graham Firth on Tel 305 5160 or Marion Crabbe on Tel 305 5393.
Time for Carers is a grant (money) for carers to help them get a break- like having a holiday or doing a social activity.
The grant can be up to £350 and there are still some left for 2005. For more information contact Carers Leeds on Tel 246 8338.
Return to: Newsletters
Read the latest ??Partnership Board Newsletter
|
|
|
Through the Maze Information Service |