Inclusive Day opportunities Enabling Aberdeenshire issue 1 September 2013 Welcome From Philip English, Contents Head of Adult Services, page Aberdeenshire Council I am delighted to present 2. IDEA’s across this first edition of IDEA Aberdeenshire News. I.D.E.A stands for 3. Spotlight on jobs Inclusive Day opportunities, Enabling Aberdeenshire. This innovative project 4. National news is about making sure that adults with disabilities have good opportunities to fulfill their potential, 4. News across to be involved and recognised as valued members Aberdeenshire of their communities. It is also about making sure 12. Reviews that services for people are safe, always improving and continuing to meet people’s needs. 13. Involving the experts IDEA News is to keep you informed about what is 15. Events happening in your area and across Aberdeenshire. Keep an eye out for the next edition which will 16. And finally… be published in January 2014, or subscribe to IDEA News and be added to the circulation list by contacting [email protected] Out and about with Banff Day Services Banff Day Services are a busy a lot! Here’s some of the things they’ve been up to this year. IDEA’s across Aberdeenshire The ‘I.D.E.A. Engagement Final Report’ was published in April this year. It represents a lot of work from service users, family carers, day services staff, partner agencies, community planning and many other people. If you haven’t seen this report or the reports produced from local events for service users and family carers they are all published on Aberdeenshire Council at: www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/care/help/living/ during_day/big_idea.asp At a local level, groups are being set up to take the findings of the engagement events forward. Have a look - they make interesting reading. Each group will include service users, day services If you would like ‘hard ‘copies of any of these staff, care managers, community planning reports phone or email your local day service or officers, reps from employability services, contact me. Education Leisure and Learning and the third and private sectors. Anyone who wants to get involved is welcome and additional reps may be co-opted onto the groups for particular pieces of work. These Locality Development Groups will consider the findings from the engagement process, plan how to take ideas forward and engage with the community to deliver projects which will support community based services. The engagement events showed that our communication and information systems could be improved. This is always a challenge in an area as vast and diverse as Aberdeenshire. This newsletter is part of a plan to address this. As The engagement events were all about finding new projects and initiatives are developed they out from the experts – service users and family will be reported here. carers; what aspects of day services work best and what do people want to see developed to deliver If you would like to comment on any aspect of even better services in the future? The events the I.D.E.A. Project, make suggestions or have were also about involving the whole community any queries I would be in thinking about how we can work together to delighted to hear from deliver better services for service users and how you. I can be contacted this will benefit everyone. Day Services staff have by email: val.milne@ also been involved in contributing their views aberdeenshire.gov.uk or and ideas about what can be done and an event by phone 01224 664970. for provider organisations is being organised by the Providers Forum. Val Milne, I.D.E.A Project Manager 2 Project SEARCH Spotlight on jobs Finding work can be a trial Interns at the University of Aberdeenshire Employability Service is Aberdeen campus will benefit from Project working with local business to improve work SEARCH. Project SEARCH is an employment- opportunities. One such project at the Spotty Bag focused education programme, designed to Shop in Banff, offers “work trials” to people with give students with learning disabilities the learning disabilities instead of interviews, giving opportunity to develop employability skills people a chance to show what they can do. One and get hands on experience in the workplace, of the current “interviewees” is Ashleigh who is combined with classroom sessions. working in the restaurant, serving customers, clearing tables and taking orders. She is also Project SEARCH began at Cincinnati Children’s being trained on the till. Hospital in Ohio USA and quickly became a successful way of introducing students to The scheme has proved such a success, it has working at the hospital in a supportive way, been shortlisted in the Northern Star Business leading to many of the students becoming Awards for business diversity. Chris Holmes, employees of the hospital. The local Project Employability Officer, reported in the Press and SEARCH programme is a business led partnership Journal on 23 August 2013: “people have said between Inspire - the supported employment that their views on disability have changed, provider, The University of Aberdeen - the having seen how people with disabilities can be a host employer, and Aberdeen College - the valuable part of the team.” educator, with support by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Council Employability Service Aberdeenshire Councils. supports adults with a disability, mental health This year the course will run with 12 students at condition, or substance misuse issue who are The University of Aberdeen 2013 - 2014. Students ready to seek employment. The service is open will have the opportunity to adults aged 16-65 and referral can be made to choose where they through care teams or job centre schemes work, with 3 internships enabling access to an employability officer and on the university campus support worker who will work with people to and on-the-job support. find a job or training. Email the Employability Watch this space for Service to find out more about what they offer: updates on how they [email protected] get on. For more Carol Balcombe, information email: Employment Development Carol.balcombe@ Team Leader aberdeenshire.gov.uk 3 You can download copies of the new strategy National News from the Scottish Government website. The ‘Keys to life’ is the new Full version: www.scotland.gov. learning disability strategy uk/Publications/2013/06/1123 for Scotland. It was launched Easy read version: on Thursday 13th June at www.scotland.gov. Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. kzPublications/2013/06/6964 News from across Aberdeenshire Forest View Mosaic Project (Nick Jamison, Day Service Manager Forest View, Stonehaven) In June 2012 we were approached by Total to do a project with them. After much deliberation it was agreed we would mosaic a car … until someone thought of a boat and the amazing creative with the connection designs we agreed that we made to Stonehaven would incorporate elements Beach! from each design onto the boat! A boat was donated and The end product was an we had a aquatic theme incorporating competition sharks, octopus, lobsters etc. for all service Service users, staff, volunteers users to and Total staff all contributed come up with to the work on the boat design ideas. over a year and it is a great Due to the representation of the sterling huge response teamwork of all involved. 4 Total kindly funded the Aberdeenshire Council From the train line just passing majority of this project, whilst a landscape and design team in front of Forest View, the local tile firm donated all waste came up with the landscape mosaic boat and landscape tiles that make up the design design for the finished boat will be a pleasing view for all which would have otherwise to reside on. This in itself is travellers past the centre and gone to landfill - so we also did also a great piece of art full of will hopefully draw further our bit for the environment! creativity, which compliments interest in Forest View moving the boat to its full potential. forward. Ellon Editors are making headlines (by edited and published The Glasgow Keelie – the the Ellon Editors) wartime memories of a Glasgow boy evacuated to Tarves during the Second World War. This busy group runs on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday all day. We joined forces with the ‘Life through a Lens’ The Ellon Editors initially started up initiative last year and hope to maintain the links to link in with the Community News we made with other community groups. We and to write articles about the also contributed to the River of Words which Ellon area. We are under the umbrella of DALNIA will feature in the new Ellon Academy with the and have 3 representatives on the DALNIA help of local poet Bernie Briggs. We have a new committee. However, we now do a lot more than computer suite which we like and it is proving this! very popular. We have a Smart Board and find this is a great help with editing and team We now publish a 12-16 page newsletter every working. Every year one of the groups benefits 2 months and this has regular features like from an outreach computer course run by Volunteers’ Voice, Pets’ Corner, Creative Nook Aberdeen College. featuring a serialised story about Ellonium (Ellon long ago), sports corner and much more. We work on different projects and are currently working on a photographic book on Ellon Then and Now. This is a follow on to our very successful book called Ellon Through Our Eyes which has sold over 150 copies. We also 5 Emma’s Story (by Emma from Ellon I now work in the training Resource Centre) kitchen one and a half days a week, helping to prepare When I left Banff and fruit pots, sandwiches and Buchan College and chopping veg for soup.