Contact Ealing office newsletter: June 2018 We are Contact, the charity for families with disabled children. We support families with the best possible guidance and information. We bring families together to support each other and we help families to campaign, volunteer and fundraise to improve life for themselves and others. I hope all of you are enjoying the sunshine. I am pleased to be sending our June Newsletter! We are GDPR compliant and if you wish to remove your personal information or change your preferences, please contact [email protected]. Contents 1. Office updates 2. Annual Conference meeting 3. Workshop and events 4. ESOL and IT courses 5. Summer trips Our helpline Freephone: 0808 808 35559.30am-5pm, Monday-Friday; free from UK landlines and UK mobiles (Answer within five rings) Facebook: facebook.com/contactfamilies(Response within two working days) Twitter: @contactfamilies(Response within two working days) Email: [email protected](Response within 10 working days) 1 Office Updates : We are delighted to inform you that our Ealing project has recently secured 3-year funding from Big Lottery and John Lyon’s. We have two new staff members, Bharati and Olivia. We have organised several workshops, support group sessions and family events. Our Independent Support program will end on 30th July 2018. Our staff, Alison Lourie will be moving on from her Independent Support role by the end of July. Our manager, Asha Yadav will be leaving Contact by the end of August 2018 after 9 years of association. Bharati Limbu (Parent Advisor/Inclusion Coordinator) I am so happy to be back in Contact Ealing! I had started as a volunteer in Contact and many of you may have seen me at the summer trips or Christmas event. I will be responsible for setting up workshops, support groups, trips and events. Do come along in the office or email me at [email protected] if you have any suggestions about support group topics, trips you would like to go onto. I will be available Mon to Thur 9:30 to 15:00 if you wish to drop by. Olivia Germaine (Family Worker) Hello, my name is Olivia and I have recently joined Contact, Ealing in May as the new Family Worker. I am based at our Southall office and will be available to help you with queries related to welfare benefits and anything around your child with special needs. I have extensive experience working with young children and children with SEN. Now I am looking forward to working directly with you. I will be available full time Monday- Friday 9:30am-3.30pm. If you want to pop in for a chat, please feel free or you can contact me directly via email: [email protected]. Good bye from Alison Lourie (Independent Supporter) It’s been a great pleasure working with you in the past 1 year. Our Independent Support program will end by 31st July 2018. After that the IS service will continue at Ealing ISAID. I will be there for the next two months to support you, so please do contact me if you need help and support. Good bye from Asha Yadav (Manager) After working for 9 years with Contact Ealing, I am moving on from my role of Project Manager. I’m still passionate about the work we do in Ealing as I was when I joined in 2010. I’m taking up PhD in Early Intervention and will be departing from Contact Ealing by the end of August 2018. I would like to thank each one of you and wishing you well for journey ahead with your children and families. Cheers! Asha 2 Contact Ealing Annual Conference - Wednesday, 4th of July You are invited to our Annual Conference. We will be electing our Steering Committee at the conference. We encourage parents to become members of our Steering Committee as their expertise and dedication to Contact is invaluable. Please do come to the conference and nominate yourself to join the steering committee or contact the office at 020 8571 6381 or email: [email protected] PROGRAMME 10:30 am Arrivals 10:35am Annual Conference 11:00 am Speakers 11:25am Steering Committee election 12:00pm Finish Carers Week Celebration, Thursday 14th June– Kew Gardens We are organising a trip to Kew Gardens for parent carers only (no children) on Thursday, 14th June 2018 (timing tbc). Please call the office to book your place. Parent contribution: £2 per person. Support Group Sessions (Prior booking required, please call 020 8571 6381) Date Carer’s Support Group Contribution Thur, 19 July 2018, 10 - Venue: Southall Office £2 12:00 Stress Management Workshop Autism Support Group Sat, 16 June 2018 Venue: ExCel London, One Western Gtwy, £2 London E16 1XL Autism Conference Conference will cover topics like Challeng- 10:00 - 16:00 ing behaviour, New interventions and ther- apies, and sensory products. Thur, 5 July 2018, 10:30 – Venue: Southall office £2 12:30 Teenagers, puberty and autism Early Years Support Group For parents with under 5 year old with spe- Tues, 26 June 2018 Venue: Greenfields Children Centre, Recre- Free ation Road, Southall, UB2 5PF 12:30 - 14:30 Topic: Welfare benefits including DLA, Uni- versal credit and information on benefit 3 Olivia’s Coffee Morning- Every Monday from 23.07.18 between 10 –12, drop in sessions without any appointment. She will be able to offer support in this time or provide alternative appointment. English Language Course for Parent Carers The English for Speakers of other Languages is designed to be focused to help you with everyday life including speaking to teachers or health care professionals, as well as, when shopping. It will provide you with confidence to speak and if needed, challenge health and social care professionals for what is best for your child. This course will be really helpful for parents who are struggling to get their thoughts and message across in English language. Venue: Contact Ealing office, St. Georges Community Centre, 8-12 Lancaster Road, Southall, UB1 1NW. Please call the office at 020 8571 6381 to book Timing: 10.00 - 12.00 (every Tuesday from 11.09.18) September Dates 11.09.18 18.09.18 25.09.18 30.10.18 October Dates 02.10.18 09.10.18 16.10.18 November Dates 06.11.18 13.11.18 20.11.18 27.11.18 December Dates 04.11.18 ICT course for Parent Carers This year’s ICT is designed to help you find information online or work on the computer; whether it means looking for information regarding your child’s diagnosis or support groups online or finding forms online or online shopping. This will give you confidence to use the computer and tablets to find information, fill forms online, email and draft letters. Venue: Contact Ealing office, St. Georges Community Centre, 8-12 Lancaster Road, Southall, UB1 1NW Timing: 10.00-12.00am Please call the office at 020 8571 6381 to book September 2018 Dates Wed, 12 Sep Wed, 19 Sep Wed, 26 Sep October 2018 Dates Wed, 03 Oct Wed, 10 Oct Wed, 17 Oct 1. Introductions to Computers 2. Using Internet Browser and Search Engine 3. How to Keep Safe Online 4. How to Shop Online Safely 5. How to create an Email Account: Sending and Receiving Emails (including attachments i.e. documents and photos/ images) 6. Relevant Local Council websites– Local offer 4 News and information NHS - By 10th of August 2018 NHS wants your feedback on GP weekends and evening services : https://surveymonkey.com/XBD5Q5Y. Help NHS gain information on equality so they can hear your voice on equality services and update their equality objectives: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/F28CK9H Speech and Language Therapy in Ealing The Early Start Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Team provide a ‘drop in’ service once per term to all children’s centres across Ealing for Stay and Play session who can provide advice on children’s communi- cation. ‘Talk and Plays’ Groups for under 3’s who might be ‘late talkers’ are currently running at the fol- lowing children’s centres: Grove House, Wood End, Islip Manor, Greenfields and The Grange. You can ring these children’s centres to book a place. Contact to work with Council for Disabled Children to deliver new government initiative We're delighted to let you know that from June we will be working in partnership with the Council for Dis- abled Children, who have been awarded a new contract by the Department for Education (DfE) to help ensure that in every local authority area, children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families have access to impartial information, advice and support about the services and support on offer. Contact's national advice service (which includes our helpline and the online advice and information we offer) forms a vital part of this contract, which will be called the Information, Advice and Support Programme (IASP). The government initiative brings together the Information, Advice and Support Network, Independent Support programme and Contact's national helpline advice service for the very first time, and builds on our SEN helpline work to support families needing more information about the new SEN system introduced in 2014. Anne Brook, director of family support services at Contact, says: "Last year we answered nearly 12,000 enquiries from families through our national helpline service and the demand for this service increases year on year. The new contract means we'll be able to expand our advice service and answer even more enquiries from families.” 5 News and information Government announces further £50m funding to further improve special education facilities The Department for Education (DfE) has announced an extra £50 million for local authorities to help them create more school places and improve their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.