People Who Were at the Meeting

Speak Out Council

Meeting

12 March 2015

People who were at the meeting

Speak Out Leaders:

NeilAdams – Young People

BillJones – City and South

Elspeth Jones – Speak Up Spectrum

Russell Henke – High Supports Needs Committee

Michelle Mansfield – Fenland

VoiceAbility Staff:

Oliver Hayler – Office Worker

Charlotte Hewer – Social Work Student (on placement) – Anglia Ruskin University

Clarice Jones – Social Work Student (on placement) – Anglia Ruskin University

Claire Mathieu – Young People’s Project Worker

Imogen Ridler – Interim Project Manager, Active Voices East, Consultancy and Training Coordinator

James Sheard – Speak Out Coordinator

Jonathan Senker – Chief Executive

Organisations Represented:

Cambridge City Council

Cambridgeshire County Council

Cambridgeshire Constabulary

CamTrust

Castle School

Dimensions (Queen’s Close)

Granta School

Rowans

Sense

The Former Learning Disability Parliament

Leaders’ Reports

For a copy of theLeaders’ Reports please email

Leaders’ Reports Questions:

How often are the drops-ins?

Michelle and Bill said once a month.

What do we discuss at drop-ins?

Michelle said whatever issues people bring up.

How many people attend drop-ins?

Bill said he had not had many people yet. He said he would advertise it in the venues he goes to.

A Service Userfrom Rowans asked about how the media shows people with learning disabilities.

Elspeth said this is a big subject, because of this the Speak Out Council will look at it at a later date.

Granta School Presentation – Ben Briars and Steven Potter

Ben and Steven talked about what the school council does at Granta to help students speak out. Fora copy of the Granta School presentation please email

Peter Nelmes said the presentation was good.

CamTrust Presentation –Jim Inman and Steven Chivers

Jim and Steven told us about the work CamTrust do to help people in South Cambs and City to live independently and gain employment. For a copy of the Cam Trust presentation please email

Transforming Lives Presentation – Bill Jones and Claire Bruin

For a copy of the Transforming Lives presentation please email

Transforming Lives Presentation Questions:

Anna from Rowans asked how Transforming Lives isgoing to happen.

Claire Bruin said they are trying it out in East Cambridgeshire for all of the teams.

The Mayor asked how Transforming Lives had thought about funding cuts.

Claire said we have to work with the money we have. By working with the community we can cut costs.

Granta askedif they will work with special schools to focus on Preparing for Adulthood.

Preparing for Adulthood means making sure young people:

1-Are ready to leave school.

2-Know what they can do next.

3-Are supported to make sure these changes are right for them.

Claire said we hope to work with people aged 14 and over.

Staying Safe Police Presentation – Michelle Mansfield and Kate Thwaites

For a copy of the Police presentation email

Staying Safe Police PresentationQuestions:

The Mayor was worried about flashing lights on bikes. Are flashing lights on bikes allowed?

Police Officer was not sure.

Action:The Police officer said he would find out.

A Service User from Rowans asked about how to keep cars safe.

Police Officer said to keep valuables inside the car out of view.

Consultation Report – Russell Henke and Clarice Jones

For a copy of the Consultation Report please email

Questions on Consultation Report

How many people did we ask?

James said we asked 57 people.

Jonathan Senker asked what the other results were from the one question consultation.

James said he would tell everyone later in the meeting and would send Jonathan all of the results by email.

For more information about the Consultation Report email

Workshop

Question 1 – Why someone might not have anything to do?

1)They want to stay indoors. They could be ill orchoose indoor activities.

2)It costs too much money. They do not have the money to do what they want.

3)Lack of transport. They cannot get to the places they want to go to.

4)Not enough people to support them. People sometimes need the help of friends, family or care workers.

5)They are scared to go out. People are worried about staying safe and if others will be unkind to them.

6)They cannot tell people what they want. They are not able to say where they would like to go or are ignored.

7)They do not know where they can go. They need to know the places where events are going to happen.

8)They do not have many family and friends. They want to find people who like the same activities as them.

9)Something is not working, like a wheelchair, which stops them from going out.

10)They do not have the right information. They do not know when events start or where they are taking place.

Question 2 – What changes could we make?

1)Make sure people know about activities they could do at home.

2)Make activities cost less money.

3)Plan events around what transport we can get.

4)Make sure:

a)Family, friends and staff know us well.

b)There is enough staff working with us.

c)We do activities with people we trust.

5)There are safe places to go. If something goes wrong we may need to go to a safe place.

6)Make sure that friends, family and staff know how to talk to us, and listen to us.

7)Use social media and diaries to plan events. Allow lots of time to plan for events.

8)Help build community groups. Make sure people keep in contact with family and friends.

9)Make sure our equipment is working, charged and we know how to use it.

10)Make sure people have the right information and they understand it.

Question 3- Why do people not get to make the choices they want?

1)Peoplethink you are not able to make choices.

2)People think they know what you want.

3)People think risks are too high.

4)It may be someone else’s turn to make a choice.

5)People may need support.

6)They cannot access what they want.

7)They cannot tell others what they want.

8)They cannot afford the choice they want.

9)They cannot understand enough about their own disability.

10) Activities are not in the area they want.

Question 4 – What changes could we make?

1)Talk to someone else if the first person will not listen.

2)Talk to someone else if the first person does not understand.

3)Listen to what people want.

4)Give people all the informationin a way they understand.

5)Give people choices in a way they understand.

6)Make communities safer.

7)More funding for equipment and transport.

8)Make places more accessible.

9)Teach people how to communicate with people with a disability.

10)Make people aware ofwhat laws protectpeople with disabilities.

Talk Time – Elspeth Jones and James Sheard

How can we make sure people stay in touch with family and friends?

Regular events and social occasions.

Keep in touchwith school friends.

Speak to people face to face.

Use tools like Skypeto talk to people far away.

Make sure people know how to use different communication tools.

Let people know you are thinking about them.

Support packages which allow people to stay near family.

Have safe places where people can meet.

Good ideas like the ‘Bobby Scheme’

The ‘Bobby Scheme’ helps elderly and disabled people feel happier by talking ways about ways they can keep their house and belongings safe.

Action Points

• Beth McCabe – Send James info on the Bobby Scheme to send to other guests.

• Charlotte Wilson – Think about ways we can involve people with autism or learning disability. How to give them useful and important information.

• Claire Mathieu – Contact Police Officer Matt Gadsby to find out if the Easy Read version of Staying Safe Online is finished.

• Rebecca Avery – Raise awareness about making information accessible to people with autism and learning disabilities.

• Simon Randall – Help advertise and visit Bill’s drop-in session at Russell Street.
• Kate Thwaites - Think about communication to help others to keep in touch with people who are important to them.

• Lee McManus – Find out more about accessible information on smoking and advice on stopping.

• CamTrust – Sign up to immobolise.com

• Lisa Hives (Sense)
• David to visit a drop-in.
• Visit CamTrust.
• David wants to talk to Sense about a student council.

• Claire Bruin – Speak to East Cambridgeshire District Council colleagues about sharing stories at a future council.

• Gerri Bird –Check whether flashing bike lights are allowed.

• Evan Laughlin - Be more involved and involve others who are not involved already.

Feedback

• 8 out of 10 found the Leaders’ Reports interesting and useful.

• 8 out of 10 found the Speaking Out – Granta School and CamTrust presentations interesting and useful.

• 8 out of 10 found the Staying Safe – Police presentation interesting and useful.

• 8 out of 10 found the Transforming Lives presentation interesting and useful.

• 7 out of 10 found the Quality of Life Consultation interesting and useful.

• 8 out of 10 found the Quality of Life Workshop interesting and useful.

• 7 out of 10found the Talk Time interesting and useful.

• 8 out of 10we should use the Buchan Street Neighbourhood Centre.

These are the things some people said we could have done better:

• Spread the workshops and presentations out.

• Made the meeting shorter as people had to leave early.

• Have fewer topics as the meeting felt rushed.

• Made sure everyone could see the screen.

• Make the road outside better

• More to do for people with High Support Needs

• Have internet

As a result we will:

Discuss when we have the interactive parts of the day

• Make the meeting at a better time for schools.

• Discuss the number of topics we have at the meeting at our Speak Out Leaders Meeting

• Ask at the beginning of the meeting if everyone can see the screen.

• Have more to do for people with High Support Needs

• Make sure people know about the Wifi at the next venue.

Many thanks to everyone who came to our meeting

If you have any questions or want more information please contact James:

01223 555863

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