Director praises ‘powerful’ paper Meredith Teasdale is the Director of Education in Wolverhampton and she was keen to share her thoughts on the city’s young people led strategic ‘Challenge Board’s’ first piece of work. Expand "I would like to thank everyone involved in taking part in producing the Ordinary Lives paper. It is very powerful. It sets out clearly the expectation that every child, young person and young adult should have an ordinary life. It sets out a clear challenge to all professionals that we should be working to ensure this as well as ensuring that we have high aspirations for all our children, young people and young adults." Meredith Teasdale, Director of Education, Wolverhampton
The impact of the mental health people's parliament On 15th June 2017 at a Mental Health People’s Parliament we asked a range of stakeholders why the People’s Parliament was important and why it needed to be led by people with recent lived experience of mental health difficulties. People overwhelming acknowledged the impact of the Parliament and the importance of it being led by and controlled by people with recent lived experience: Expand "The Parliament is about making sure that people with lived experience are involved in the design and delivery of services. It's crucial that people with lived experiences play these roles." "MPs need to be strong and bloody-minded. It's easy to get into a conversation with commissioners or people in senior positions and then back down. MPs need to stand up and say this is what they want." "The Parliament develops people. Some people who become MPs will not have experience of leadership and the Parliament supports them to develop." "Making positive changes lies at the heart of the Parliament." "The Parliament identifies gaps in the system and brings people together to make a change." "Having people with lived experience lead the Parliament enables others to understand about mental health and enables the MPs to advocate for people experiencing difficulties with mental health." "The Parliament is about mutual aid and respect. It's about regaining control and people being the centre of their own recovery. It’s not about having something done to you but about you finding your own solutions."
The impact of person centred planning After person centred planning with 28 individuals in institutionalised care, we received the following feedback: Expand "I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for all of your hard work in the service. The involvement of Changing Our Lives, with the professionalism and tenacity you showed, has been important and I hope far reaching." Social work lead Feedback from a family member: "I am truly overwhelmed and moved by the personal report of D’s life. It's beautiful and wonderful seeing him being placed in the centre of his own life."
Employment for disabled people and people with experience of mental health difficulties After training and developing a team of 8 people, 3 with learning disabilities and 5 with experience of mental health difficulties, and supporting them into paid work as Quality Checkers, here is what they had to say: Expand "Before this work I wouldn't have thought I would be able to get a paid job and make a real difference to people's lives. Now I have a job and I'm making a difference to people's lives and it's great." "I have more confidence, independence and freedom because of this work. My self-worth is second to none. I have loved working with my colleagues on this work and I feel I am fulfilling my potential." "It’s hard being in this wheelchair. Thinking I won't be able to get a job because of my disability but I have got a job, I have done it. Now I want to make sure other people have the same as me." "I can now stand up for myself and challenge professionals so that I can make main decisions. Now I'm in control of my own life. I have a voice and the same opportunities as other people."
Changing Hearts and Minds Peter Beard, Senior Commissioning Officer for learning disabilities and carers in West London CCG, reflects on the impact of Changing Our Lives focus on ordinary lives. Expand "As a commissioner working with Changing our Lives I have found the experience to be truly inspirational and transformational. The rights based work has really brought to life the individual, their abilities and how we can support people with learning disabilities to live an ordinary life. Working with Changing Our Lives has not only shown me the potential that people with learning disabilities have to thrive in their local communities, but has reframed my expectations of my role as a commissioner. Thank you for opening my eyes to the responsibility that I hold for ensuring an ordinary life for people with learning disabilities." Peter Beard, Senior Commissioning Officer Learning Disabilities and CarersWest London CCG
Young people's leadership creates a stir! Following on from the launch of a young people led white paper on ‘An Ordinary life’ in Wolverhampton, which set out young people’s aspirations for the future, Lucy Harris, manager of Wolverhampton Information, Advice and Support Service, gave feedback: Expand "Just to say congratulations on your event launch and thank you for the invitation. It was wonderful to hear the young people talk with such passion and confidence. I found it very moving when they spoke about the labels that had defined them but then the beautiful butterflies emerged. I was overwhelmed to see Dan chairing the event. He is a remarkable and inspirational young man who I have known since he was 6! I’ve always known he’d go on to great things. I’m really looking forward to working with you as you push the agenda forward, count me in as a partner."
Opening the door for young people in leadership roles Enabling young disabled people to ‘take over’ leadership roles as part of the Children’s Commissioner’s Take Over Day is a very powerful way to expose young people to leadership experiences. Here are reflections of the senior leadership team. Expand "We have been working with Changing Our Lives over the past two years to hear the voices of young people who have physical health needs and learning difficulties, particularly as they become young adults. We want to work with young people to improve services and meet their needs. This ‘takeover day’ is a good way for the young people to make a difference. I hope it will also mean we as managers better understand young people’s views of the services we commission. I have learnt that there are lots of different ways to work with young people and they have lots of energy and enthusiasm, which can drive change. Thanks you for your drive and energy, which is infectious." Dr Helen Hibbs, Chief Officer WCCG. "I have learnt that young people have a voice that needs to be heard and acted upon, so we need to look at new ways to communicate using modern technology. Coproduction is the way forward for effective commissioning and we need to work on this." Dan de Rosa, Chair WCCG "Wow! What a memorable occasion Thursday 19th November was for Wolverhampton CCG. From the early morning ‘take over’ of our executive leader roles, including the chairing of and participation at essential commissioning meetings right through to hosting a showcase event, Kashmire, Gina and Hayden excelled in style and influence. Their youthful vitality, energy and fresh ideas impressed all those lucky enough to be part of their audience. The new challenge must now be to ensure that the young leaders messages and influence become embedded in CCG core commissioning activity." Maria McCaffrey, Interim Children’s Commissioner
Young disabled people challenge traditional models of ‘care’ Young disabled people tell us that their dreams and aspirations are no different from their peers who don’t have disabilities. They, like us all, want a good income from their chosen career path, their own home, a relationship, friends and good health, not to mention a lot of fun along the way! Expand Working with a team of young disabled leaders, we wanted to find creative and challenging ways to get this message across so agencies working within the social care and health settings could become more aware of the aspirations of this new generation. We put together a programme of Ideas Festivals, Dragon’s Dens and Keep Up events where the team share with commissioners and providers a view of what the future generation wants from services and community supports. This programme is part of an on-going drive to stimulate the market and challenge assumptions around traditional models of ‘care’. Providers and commissioners alike welcome the challenge: “As a new provider it has gave me insight into how people want their care delivered. Would recommend this day and would want to attend more like this.” “Thoroughly thought provoking! The day clearly illustrated that disabled people want different options from their lives and services which providers need to listen to.”Commissioner “To hear from disabled people who are at the forefront of what we do was informative, emotional and thought provoking. Job well done!”
Developing a quality checking team made up of people with learning disabilities Changing Our Lives worked with Camphill Village Trust (CVT) to develop a quality checking team made up of people with learning disabilities. Part of the training focussed on every disabled person’s right to an ‘ordinary life’ as equal citizens. Philip Gibson, Coproduction Project Manager at CVT reflects on the impact of Changing Our Lives’ work: Expand "Obviously a large amount of recognition needs to be shared with you all at Changing Our Lives. The journey that we have started with you is already helping us transform the way we do things in CVT communities and this is only the beginning." "Since being trained by Changing Our Lives, the CVT Quality of Life reviewers have grown in confidence, bringing energy, enthusiasm, expertise and insight to their roles. The review teams are passionate that disabled people should be afforded the same opportunities as all in society. They are challenging the charity to consider the way we support people to be full and active citizens." "The Quality of Life review teams have produced reports that have resulted in fundamental changes to the way the trust supports people. Their work will continue to ensure that disabled people are afforded the same rights as all."
The power of poetry We use poetry to enable people to express themselves and challenge injustice. Here is feedback from ‘Express Yourself!’ and ‘Poet’s First!’, two poetry projects: Expand Express Yourself The Express Yourself project, funded by an NHS England grant, looked at how poetry can be utilised as a medium to work with young people with learning disabilities to discuss the issue of emotional wellbeing and what this meant to them. Four young people with learning disabilities were supported to co-facilitate workshops with 16 of their peers where issues relating to emotional wellbeing were explored. Then young people spent time with a performance poet looking at important words and meanings and seeing how these could be incorporated into poems. The poet used beatboxing: young people danced and clapped along, performing their own beatboxing and learning about rhythm and rhyme in poetry. Thomas Chalk, a Learning Disability Network Manager from NHS England, said after reading the book: “I’ve just looked at the Express Yourself book online… Genuinely have a tear in my eye. Fabulous stuff. I love the way there is so much about the process of communicating and creating woven in with so much about what makes the people individual. With a background in support work with people who have significant barriers to communication, this feels really true – getting to know people, building up a relationship with them, is so much about working together on communication; and getting it right is a shared joy, and a privilege to be part of.” Poet’s First Working alongside performance poet, Dreadlock Alien, young disabled people took part in poetry workshops and poetry slams across Sandwell and Wolverhampton and produced their own book of poetry called “Poet’s First!” This body of poetry, funded by a Clore Duffield Poetry and Literature Award, speaks of bullying, racism, teenage pregnancy, education and depression. The young people called the book Poet’s First because they wanted the reader to hear them as young poets, rather than seeing them as disabled first. “I have never seen this class so engaged and interested in literature. I will definitely see my students in a different light now!”English Teacher “The workshop has had such a positive impact on the students. I’m shocked to have heard such emotional and personal poems. It is important that their voices are heard and using poetry is a creative and engaging way to do this.”Head Teacher
Enabling disabled young people to design their own support In Wolverhampton we supported young disabled people and their families to design their own individualised support around their strengths and preferences. We worked alongside Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group to ensure funding was available to support these individual packages. Expand This approach was taken with young people who had been labelled as some of the most challenging, in the recognition that if we focused on their strengths and possibilities, they could avoid segregated large style services. This was achieved. ‘Working in this way with young people and their families has been fantastic and an eye opener for us: really getting to know someone, rather than just focussing on a list of needs to be met by a set menu of service solutions, opens up a whole range of options and possibilities that leads to imaginative and creative thinking about how the young person can be supported to develop their independence, achieve their goals and have better lives. For some young people this can mean the difference between a segregated life in services that are not tailored to the individual and are often very expensive, and an ordinary full life in the community.’ Maxine Danks, Head of Service, Individual Care Team, Wolverhampton CCG ‘I would like to thank you for all of your work with Beth, it has been life changing. I only wish I had a Lucy or a Jackie for all of our transition people.’ Jo Lake, Lead Nurse - Individual Care Team, Wolverhampton CCG “I have been qualified for 8 years and I started out thinking about people first and what I could do to help. Somewhere over the years I have lost that focus and I don’t know when or why. Today has really reminded me of why I started out in social work and I will make sure I see the person before the process from now on!” Social Worker, Wolverhampton City Council