changing

Bernie crowned Spotlight champion 2011! 

After a wonderful evening of fantastic performances, Bernadette (Bernie) Realf was crowned winner of Spotlight 2011.  In front of a crowd of 200, including special guests the Mayor of Sandwell, local hero 'Blind' Dave Heeley and up and coming sporting sensation Tannika Burgess, Bernie perfomed a beautiful rendition of 'Danny Boy' on harmonica and truly stole the show.

Jessica Bromley, a Wolverhampton People's Parliament MP, was a close second singing 'My Heart Will Go On' from the film Titanic.  It was a powerful performance accompanied with screens shots from the film on a large screen.

First prize was sponsored by Captured Music Ltd.  They have donated studio time to create a sound and film recording of Bernie's winning song.  She will also go on to perform at the Sandwell Mayor's Show in 2012.  Bernie and Jessica were also awarded prizes of £100 each by another show sponsor, New Hope Care.  

Other highlights of the night included Dudley Din winning 'Battle of the Boroughs'.  This part of the competition saw Dudley, Sandwell and Wolverhampton Council employees singing and dancing their hearts out! Fake That from Sandwell performed 'Love Love' with backing dancers from Performing Arts and Wolverhampton were represented by spoof Abba group Madda.

This was a fabulous evening that showcased the often hidden talents of people with learning disabilities who we work with.  Thank you to all the Artistic Buddies who supported each of the nine finalists to rehearse.  It has been a great success and we have already started to plan Spotlight 2012.

My name is Gina and I took over Jan Britton's job as Chief Executive for the day.

I met almost all of the directors who are in charge of all the the things Sandwell Council deal with, such as finance.  I approved some new business cards for all of the council to use and also approved the christmas edition of the Sandwell Herald.

Finally, I interviewed Jan.  One of the questions I asked was 'Why did you become the Chief Executive?'  He told me that 'it was a complete accident!'.  I really enjoyed everything that I did and learnt many things.

Giving back the power to people with PMLD.

People with a Profound and Multiple Learning Disability (PMLD) are a marginalised group whose voices are often ignored. This is usually because they have limited or no verbal communication skills.
Often staff in services are not always trained to understand alternative methods of communication, such as facial expression, body language, Makaton, Objects of Reference, and Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). People often assume that because of these barriers, people cannot be supported to involved.

Often people with PMLD have little or no input in to the choice of services they use or any involvement in consultation and decision making. This excludes them and means they are not consulted about the services they receive and how those are services shaped.

“A day in the life of” project challenges these assumptions, and empowers people with PMLD to have a real voice, through the use of multi media, film and photography.
      
We support and empower people with PMLD to capture the realities of their daily life experiences, hopes and aspirations by using
a time lapsed video camera attached to their wheelchair. This charts the person’s experiences throughout the day. A written log is kept of their daily experiences to supplement the video recording.

Evidence gathered from “A day in the life of” is used to make positive changes to the person’s life. Keep looking on the website in the next couple of months and we’ll update you on the changes its brought about to people’s lives.