What's happening

Festival Access Recycling Team

Want to do volunteering work at music festivals? Find out more by downloading this information about the Festival Access Recycling Team, you can also download this list of coming festivals they will be working at.

Beverley Lewis House

Beverley Lewis House is a national safe house for women with learning disabilities who have experienced abuse in the past or are at risk of abuse.

We work closely with the woman, safeguarding adults teams, child protection teams, the Police and any professionals involved to manage safeguarding issues. We support women who are pregnant and may have had their children adopted.

There is a telephone referral system and we offer emergency accommodation. Women can stay up to 2 years and we have 24 hour support, providing practical, emotional and psychological support to enable women to address and understand the abuse they have experienced, working at their own pace. We also access relevant services in the community relating to the woman's' needs addressing the abuse.

Each woman has a key worker and we run many life skills workshops to build self-esteem and confidence such as: budget management, maintaining a tenancy and employment etc.

Please see our brochure which you can download and print out. Please feel free to contact us if you have any queries.

Beverley Lewis House
Tel: 0207 473 2813
Email: blh@east-living.co.uk

www.east-living.co.uk/blh

East Living
29-35 West Ham Lane
Stratford, London E15 4PH

Do you enjoy Singing, Dancing and Acting?

Moveable Feast, the inclusive drama company, have launched Stage Schools for people with Learning Disabilities, their brothers and sisters, and friends

They will be Centres of Excellence for people who want to fulfil their dreams of being involved in fantastic drama and performing arts. They are offering weekend stage schools, evening classes and full time academies for people looking to develop their talents. They hope to be able to offer qualifications once the schools are set up.

There is already a school in Lincoln - contact Joanne Bekis to register on 07532 008120 and Rebekah Cairns for the West Midlands on 07532 008142. More schools across the UK are planned.

Call them now or go to the Moveable Feast website.

STOP PRESS: New inclusive stage schools to open in Birmingham!

The Internationally renowned inclusive theatre company ‘Moveable Feast’ is to open its first ‘Mixit Stageschools’ in Birmingham. The schools will offer people of all ages with disabilities, siblings and friends the opportunity to be involved in high quality drama and to put on shows at their local theatres. The classes will give students new confidence and independence and the opportunity to meet new friends and be part of the local community.

Com and register at their free Open day at ‘The Public’ West Bromwich, on Thursday 22nd April, 10am – 3pm where you can meet the team before registering. The world’s first inclusive pop group, Mixit, will perform through the day together with music and dance workshops. If you can’t make it on the 22nd April, don’t worry you can register by phone, details below.

Details of classes:
• Students can register for a ‘show off’ session in May, details to be confirmed.
• There will be evening and weekend classes and academies are planned.
• People are already registering for these so don’t miss out!

To find out more about fees and hours contact Rebekah Cairns, Development Worker, Mixit Stageschools, South.
phone: 01926 430 287
mobile: 07532 008142
http://www.mixitmusic.co.uk/contact.php

How to find 'The Public' in West Bromwich:
http://www.thepublic.com/index.php/contact/
There is ample parking, 40p an hour, Ł1.20 for the day.

Download a copy of the Mixit Stageschool information leaflet.

Hate Crime – BILD’s response to the cross-government Action Plan

The Government has published an Action Plan for tackling hate crime.
Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, identifies in the foreword to the Action Plan that “hate crime is a human rights issue, a threat to community cohesion and a rejection of our shared values. Our society is strong when our communities are strong and communities thrive when they are united by positive values they share. Values like fairness, respect, democracy and the rule of law.”

Unfortunately, the need for this action plan has been reinforced by the sad and totally unnecessary deaths of Fiona and Francesca Pilkington. Their daily harassment was hate crime, and should not be viewed as simply the ordinary problems of community living.

Read more about BILD's response, available to download here.

The Government's Action Plan can be downloaded here. There is an easy read version you can download here.

New interactive DVD for adults with learning disabilities

AbuseCD The 'Abuse – Tell Someone' DVD gives information on your rights to keep you safe from harm and abuse
- helps you understand what abuse is, and to know what to do if abuse happens to you or someone else you know.

For more information contact Learning Disability Wales, on 029 2068 1160 or visit the Learning Disability Wales website.

An imaginative, interactive social care board game

Whose shoes logo A new board game designed to be played by anyone involved in the Putting People First or Transforming Social Care government agenda, a huge programme of change in public services. The game has been designed and developed by Gill Phillips, someone with many years experience in the field of social services.

'Whose Shoes', which staff at BILD have played and can recommend, is a Learning and Development tool and aims to help anyone who is interested to know more about the real issues and concerns involved in delivering the requirements of transformation to person-centred planning.

For more information visit the nutshell communications website.

Clear vision to tackle sight problems among disabled

The Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland has a prominent feature in The Herald (it's the lead story in the 'Society section) on the high incidence of sight problems among people with a learning disability, often undiagnosed.... here

LDoalitionlogo

Sign up to support the Coalition

If you haven't already written to your MP calling for better funding for services for people with learning disabilities, it would be really helpful if you could do so. You just need to enter some very brief details about yourself on their website.

There is a link to an accessible version of the action at the top of the page.

Become a supporter organisation of the Coalition
As a supporter organisation of the Coalition, they will put your badge on their website and keep you up to date with the Coalition's work. For more information, please email info@learningdisabilitycoalition.org.uk

Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards publications

The Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty safeguards (formerly known as the Bournewood safeguards) were introduced into the Mental Capacity Act 2005 through the Mental Health Act 2007 (which received Royal Assent in July 2007).

The MCA DOL safeguards apply to anyone:

- aged 18 and over who suffers from a mental disorder or disability of the mind, such as dementia or a profound learning disability
- who lacks the capacity to give informed consent to the arrangements made for their care and / or treatment and
- for whom deprivation of liberty (within the meaning of Article 5 of the ECHR) is considered after an independent assessment to be necessary in their best interests to protect them from harm.

The safeguards cover patients in hospitals, and people in care homes registered under the Care Standards Act 2000, whether placed under public or private arrangements

The aim is to implement the safeguards in April 2009. The safeguards are designed to protect the interests of an extremely vulnerable group of service users and to:
- ensure people can be given the care they need in the least restrictive regimes
- prevent arbitrary decisions that deprive vulnerable people of their liberty
- provide safeguards for vulnerable people
- provide them with rights of challenge against unlawful detention
- avoid unnecessary bureaucracy.

There are two publications, funded by the Department of Health and produced by BILD, which you can download in .pdf format: The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and You and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Guide for families and carers.

Also available from the Department of Health website are easy read publications about Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards in basic and expanded versions, as well as a video version.

'Six Lives: the provision of public services to people with learning disabilities'

BILD welcomes ‘ an honest report’ but has doubts about how real change will be made to happen for people with a learning disability

An independent report, ‘Six Lives: the provision of public services to people with learning disabilities’, was published 24^th March by the Health Service and Local Government Ombudsmen. Focusing on investigations into the deaths of six individuals, it calls for an urgent review of health and social care for people with learning disabilities. The report revealed:

Significant and distressing failures in service across health and social care;
One person died as a consequence of public service failure. It is likely the death of another individual could have been avoided, had the care and treatment provided not fallen so far below the relevant standards.
People with learning disabilities experienced prolonged suffering and poor care, and some of these failures were for disability related reasons;
Some public bodies failed to live up to human rights principles, especially those of dignity and equality;
Many organisations responded inadequately to the complaints made against them which left family members feeling drained and demoralised.

For more information and BILD's response in full click here.

Live with a healthy heart

Coronary heart disease is the second biggest cause of premature death in people with learning disabilities.

Live with a healthy heart is a DVD and booklet for people with learning disabilities. Produced by the British Heart Foundation, it can be used by people with learning disabilities or by support workers and health professionals to educate individuals about their lifestyles and how to live with a healthy heart.

The booklet that accompanies the DVD reinforces the messages in the individual stories. It also provides further information about each risk factor and signposts you to other useful organisations for support. Like all their resources, the booklet and DVD are free, though the British Heart Foundation do accept donations.

An information leaflet about the booklet is available to download in .pdf format.

Build for the Future contribute to Government Learning Disability Employment Strategy

Build for the Future is an advisory group of people with learning disabilities, their carers and supporters established by BILD in 2006. The 30 strong group meet regularly through the year to help develop BILD and take a view on issues that matter to people with learning disabilities.

The Department of Health and the Cabinet Office had issued a short Call for Evidence to inform the learning disability employment strategy to be published this Spring, with the deadline for submissions on 11 March, the same day as Build for the Future met.

As a result, more than 20 Build for the Future members, carers and supporters worked together in groups to provide answers to the questions posed by the consultation. Each group spent ten minutes on each of the five questions, and ideas and suggestions were noted on flip chart sheets that were swapped between the groups.

That same afternoon everyone's comments were typed up and sent off to the Department of Health. If you want to see Build for the Future's submission, you can see it as a Word document, or as a .pdf file.

'Doing it Your Way' team wins award

Congratulations to the Worcestershire County Council 'Doing It Your Way' team who have won the 'Transforming Services Award' at the West Midlands Health and Social Care Awards 2009. The pilot project has empowered people with learning difficulties to shape their own support package by giving them a personal budget.

As the judges' comment put it: 'a radical approach which is achieving fundamental change in a short space of time and delivering a broad range of positive outcomes.'

The project, a joint approach between Worcestershire CC, BILD and Mencap has resulted in increased independence and better health for users and carers among the 75 adults involved with the project. The scheme will now be a blueprint for the roll out of personalised services across Worcestershire.

The pilot project report is available to download as a .pdf file.

Race equality in practice resource pack
Supporting Advocates Working With Cultural Diversity

Produced by North Wales Race Equality Network as part of the British Institute for Learning Disabilities and the Welsh Assembly Government Advocacy Grants Programme.

“A ‘colour-blind’ approach, or assertion that ‘we treat everyone the same’, is often operated within organisations. Such statements may, however, disguise the fact that organisations have either not considered the needs of minority ethnic communities or have chosen to ignore them.

The resulting lack of attention to meeting the needs of ethnic minorities has the consequence of underdeveloped policies and the lack of any mechanisms by which their needs can be explored and change effected. The ‘colour-blind’ approach has been shown to foster stereotypes and racist attitudes towards minority ethnic communities.

What is needed, instead, is an approach which moves away from the notion of
‘an average citizen’ to an acknowledgement of the diversity of need and
required services”

Ghazala Mir et al
Learning Difficulties & Ethnicities

Download resource pack

Download workshop evaluations & feedback

Tell it like it is

What the crisis in social care really means for people with
a learning disability.

This report reflects the experiences of a group of people who are often unheard, and for whom reality does not match up to the very many promises that have been made.

Full report

Easy read version of report

Advisors help get learning disability issues heard

Professionals from across the private, public and voluntary sectors have come together to fight for a fair deal for people with a learning disability. The advisory board has been set up to support the Learning Disability Coalition in its work to raise the profile of learning disability issues in the light of the adult social care green paper.

The group of advisors will provide support for the Coalition by providing objective advice on strategy, policy and profile.

Members of the advisory board span various professions, bringing a breadth of experience to the campaign. They include former senior civil servant Sir Christopher Kelly, who is currently the Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Chairman of the Financial Ombudsman Service and Chairman of the NSPCC; Prof Eric Emerson: Professor of Disability and Health Research at the University of Lancaster and Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Health at the University of Sydney; David Brindle, Public services editor, Guardian; Dr Stephen Ladyman MP, Labour MP for South Thanet and former Care Services Minister and Transport Minister; Nick Brookes, non-executive director, Next; and Prof. Martin Knapp, Director of the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the London School of Economics, Professor of Social Policy and co-director of LSE Health and Social Care (see full list of members in notes to editors).

Dame Jo Williams, Chair of the Learning Disability Coalition and chief executive of learning disability charity Mencap, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to tap into such a wealth of knowledge. The next few months are vital if we are to ensure that the adult social care green paper delivers for people with a learning disability. We want to make sure the government provides enough public money so that all people with a learning disability have access to good quality care.”

Professor Martin Knapp, a member of the committee, said: "Gathering sound evidence about demographic trends that are causing an increase in demand for services for people with a learning disability is crucial. Without this information, the Government cannot know what level of resource to allocate and how to use this to best effect. Our aim is to work closely with Government. After all, we all have the same aim - a better quality of life for a group of people who are often overlooked."

Page ref: '01headlines' Last updated: 01/07/2010