Over 150 Attend the Learning Disability Event

The Event was held within National Learning Disability Awareness Week on 24th June at Leisure Centre and was a celebration of achievements of people who have a Learning Disability and to share the work of the Learning Disability Partnership Board.

The Day event was officially opened with great enthusiasm by Councillor Harrap. It was open to all and visitors  who were encouraged to ‘participate’ from the moment they walked in the door by putting their finger print on the commemorative plate to signify their support and attendance to taking part in surveys and prize draws. A variety of interactive stands provided people with information and advice.

The Event was very well attended and received some very positive feedback (  150 finger prints were taken!)

The Partnership Board

The Partnership Board stand contained information about the people who sit on the Partnership Board. Some of their one page profiles were on display, containing information about who the people are, what they do and how they see their role on the Partnership Board.  Examples of minutes from previous meetings were available, along with copies of the Valuing People Now document and the East Riding Learning Disability Partnership Board Development Plan (Draft).  People were able to leave their contact details at the stand, in order to receive more information about the Partnership Board, or copies of any documents they would like. 

Our Say!

Liane Kirk supports the Our Say supports this self advocacy group for people with a learning disability in the East Riding which had a stall at this East Riding Learning Disability partnership board event.
The stall was attended by Anne and Alison who hoped to promote the group and also ask people what they would like the Our Say! group to concentrate on in the next few months

Person Centred Reviews

Anne and Jayne from Kingsmill School brought along lots of information about what they have been doing to promote person centred reviews and person centred approaches during the transition time from school to adult services. Their neighbouring stall on adult person centred reviews was run by Liz Ingle. This concentrated on the work undertaken in mainstream education to help children have a stronger voice during their own transition period.

Millers Photography

A group of people who attend Millers day service have an interest in photography. The group have previously developed a photographic journey into hospital which will help people with a learning disability understand what may happen to them should they have to go into hospital. The group promoted this work by handing out cd copies of their work. They kindly took the event photographs too.

Humber NHS Foundation Trust

Allyson Kent was focussed on Improving the patient experience for people with learning disability within the acute hospital setting.

Humber NHS Foundation Trust has been working very closely with Hull and East
Yorkshire Hospitals to improve the patient experience for people with learning disability accessing the acute hospital setting for over 7 years.

The Patient Passport is a tool that was promoted, a simple communication tool that identifies the persons everyday needs and helps the hospital to get it right first time. The passport is available as an A4 double sided paper or on a CD rom.  The passport needs to be completed by people who know the person best, to be read by people who know the person least i.e. hospital staff and helps to inform their care plan.  The passport also reminds people of the 5 key principles of the Mental Capacity Act.

Ian Tweddell  provided information about the Community Team Learning for Learning Disability and Peter Choules promoted Access to good health Care through GP Practices Health Checks and supported healthy lifestyles. The Health bus was a great asset to the event and very well received by the public.

David Boden – Passenger Services, ERYC

People on the stand – Debbie McGurn; Georgie Peach; David R Boden

Passenger Services Unit of East Riding Council turned up to offer advice on Public Transport services and Concessionary Fare entitlement.  Lee Dibnah provided information and celebrated the success of people who have a Learning Disability that through Independent Travel Training which has gained independence and confidence to ‘get a life’. They also gave out information regarding Liberty Wallets and Concessionary Travel Passes.

Angela Ellis, Inclusion North

Providing information about the organisation which works across Yorkshire & Humber and the North East.
Can support organisations, people with a learning disability and family carers from East Riding who can access:
– regional learning events
– a quarterly newsletter
– a small sparks fund
– the Skills Bank

Web Site – Inclusion North

Rachel – Direct Payments Support Co-ordinator @ The Wilf Ward Family Trust.

Our stand at the LD event provided information on accessing Direct Payments and the advise and support we provide to enable service users to employ their own workers to meet their assessed needs.

The aim of the day for ourselves was to provide service users and their families with information about accessing Direct Payments and how this can enhance their lives with the aim to living independently with the correct support.

Employment

People with learning disabilities undertaking employment training, and those who have gained paid employment were the key feature of this display. It was hoped that by showing lots of photographs of people working in real jobs, it would inspire others to want to do the same.

Worklink staff held discussions with interested people and gave information on how and where to access employment training. Because the photographs were of people who were immediately recognised by their friends and peers, it added real meaning for many people.

Organisational Development

Jason Peacock and Clare Hoggarth

The stand promoted the work that the Council has done to employ people with learning difficulties, and also highlighted some of the different jobs that people employed by the Council do to support people with learning difficulties.

Leisure and Tourism

Dave Clark, Senior Facility Manager Leisure and Tourism

To create greater awareness of the Council’s Leisure and Tourism facilities and network with other service providers to share ideas and information.

We encouraged people visiting the stand to take away an accessibility questionnaire inviting them to visit a Council facility and give us feedback on their experience.

Questions ranging from car parking, access inside the building, changing and toilet facilities, information, and the support and assistance given by staff. Feedback will enable us to improve our services.

East Riding Lifeline /  Tele-care Service

The service provides a home safety and personal security system that enables people to live independently within their own homes.  This is achieved through the clever combination of a 24hour telephone link to the monitoring centre and state of the art technology.

A range of unobtrusive intelligent sensors offer a comprehensive was to manage the risks to a person’s health and home environment, 24hours a day 365 days a year.

This service makes a real difference to people’s lives, not only for those using the service to maintain their independence, but also their families and loved ones.

The event gave us the forum to raise the awareness of telecare for people with Learning Disabilities and their families.

Housing Options – Julie Arnold

The Housing Options stand aimed to raise awareness of the options available to those people with a learning disability who are considering either now or in the future moving onto independent living.  Those available on the day were Steve Harris from Housing Options, a national organisation with the expertise in housing option available.  Staff from the included Ann Issott, Assessment Officer, who was able to give advice on the care and support options and Elaine Hawkins, Home Safety Co-ordinator who’s service aims to prevent falls and accident in home. “Protecting and supporting older, disabled and vulnerable people. Enabling them to live at home independently in a safe and secure environment”.

They offer a safety check within an individuals home to identify potential hazards.  Information was available on all of the options and equipments available included a ‘story board’ mapping the journey of a person with a learning disability who now has his own local authority accommodation and is living an independent life.

Transformation/Personalisation/Transition and Person Centred Planning

Our stand was at the LD partnership event to offer advice and signposting around the work done by the Transformation team, Person Centred planning, the Personalisation agenda and the Transition process. Our stand had representation from the Children’s disability team (Sharon Martin), from Adult services (myself) from the Transformation team (Lauren Kitchen) and from Connexions (Joanne Parker), as well as occasional members of the teams dropping in to support the people manning the stand. It offered people the opportunity to discuss issues that they may have from both adult & children’s services, as well as the opportunity to consult and network with other professionals working with people with learning disabilities, as well as those accessing the services.

Information packs were available on the Transition process, from Connexions, and from Adult social care, on the changes to adult social care, and the introduction of personal budgets, and attendees had the opportunity to discuss this with the representatives on the stand, or leave their contact details for more information to be sent.   We also were very grateful to FISH (Family Information Service Hub), ERVIP (East Riding Voices in Partnership) and Connexions for the freebies that were donated to give away – they went down a storm with all the attendees. It was a fabulous day, and thoroughly enjoyed by all!

The Shared Lives Scheme

This was the first time Shared Lives has been represented at Learning Disability Partnership Board Event.

It was an enjoyable day, lots of parents and workers asked about the scheme:  How do people become carers, what sort of things can they offer, how do you access the scheme?

We wanted to share the positive things people have said following a stay with a shared lives carer and let people know what options are available when considering short breaks or a holiday.

We also have carers who can offer a longer stay if needed.

Changing Places

The ‘Changing Places’ stand provided people with information about accessible changing and toilet facilities in the East Riding.  These facilities include a hoist and changing bench for people who need support to access the community.  The Changing Places group (represented at the Event by Jon Lancaster MENCAP  Liz Smithson – ERYC and Paula Brown – ERYC are campaigning for additional facilities and celebrating /promoting East Riding’s achievements of Changing Places in Beverley, Goole, Bridlington, Driffield and Pocklington. For more information go to www.changing-places.org

Benefit and Money Service – Sammi Jude

Allison Branson and I attended the event for the Benefit and Money Advice Service, we were there to advise on any benefits people may be entitled to, and to give advice if they were unsure if they were currently getting everything they are entitled to.

Safeguarding Adults

The safeguarding Adults team has only been in existence since June 2009, therefore it was the first time we have been able to contribute to this event. The protection of vulnerable adults is an extremely important area of social care and I hoped that by having our stand we would be able to promote the role of the team and hopefully encourage others to work with us in the protection of vulnerable adults.
Safeguarding vulnerable adults “is everyone’s ” so the event was an excellent opportunity for us to raise awareness.

Our stand included case studies from “Death by Indifference”; the stories of six young people with a learning disability died as  result of neglect. We had a lot of interest throughout the day and we where able to share information and leaflets to those who attended.
We thoroughly enjoyed the day.

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