The Friday Blog

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY FOR PEOPLE WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES? YES PLEASE!

Fri, 11 May 2012 07:31:38 GMT

Every now and then, something really fuels the imagination. It happened the other day: it was about sport and physical activity in general. Brandon Trust North Area had been meeting with ‘Active Gloucestershire’ to look at further ways in which we could support people with learning disabilities to participate in physical activity. But it was the background research we gathered when talking with the people we support that was the spark to the imagination.

Around 30% of the people we support are already fully participating in sport, way above the national average for the general UK population! From swimming to sailing, walking to horse riding, football to tennis, archery to trampolining, the people we support are already out there doing it! And what’s more, from the feedback we had from the Service User Forum, they want more.

So, in this Olympic year, we are going to work with ‘Active Gloucestershire’, who have strong links with Sport England, to take this to another level, including learning and development for staff, and fundraising.

Paul Bradley-Cong, North Area Director

FOUR MONTHS AT BRANDON TRUST

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:19:08 GMT

As I am about to enter my fourth month of employment with Brandon Trust I wanted to jot down a few thoughts about my experiences so far and some thoughts about the future.

Supporting people with learning disabilities is not entirely new to me: I previously worked in a College that had a large section of our student population with learning difficulties, but much is new, so I have tried hard to visit as many services as possible in all areas (including Odyssey, our London subsidiary organisation), to improve my knowledge and understanding. The overriding impression I have gained is one of high standards of support that we provide in many different environments and I am immensely impressed with the staff that I have met.

Here is a charity with a strong set of values and beliefs, and a group of people totally committed to the cause.

We are of course going through very difficult times and I do not underestimate the problems that our staff are facing, so I feel it is important as the new HR Director to get a proper understanding of those issues to help me shape employment practices for the future. I fully intend to continue meeting our service users and staff to inform our HR strategies.

Rob Rowe, Director of Human Resources

HOW CAN I BE SURE?

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:01:34 GMT

It was so hard to watch… Another video of a vulnerable person being abused. Someone’s mother being hurt, slapped and shoved around in a place she should have felt safe; in her own bedroom, in a place that cannot have felt like home.

Instead of offering kindness, compassion, support and care, the people on whom she depended chose to dish out anxiety, fear and pain, served up with callous indifference.

How can I be sure that it doesn’t happen here?

We’ve got the right policies and procedures. Our training meets the standards. We have good systems for checking and monitoring. We comply with regulations. We tick all of those boxes, but it takes more than that for people to feel trust.

They need to know that we offer kindness, compassion and respect. They need to know that we will challenge what we know to be wrong and stand up for what we know is right. Those are not just ingredients of Brandon Trust’s culture, they are the responsibility of each and every one of us.

Jon Minall, Director of Operations.

ALL CHANGE!

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:09:17 GMT

Well here I am, chucked my hat in the ring, started another new role and away from home. All Change…… I am at that oh s**t stage thinking ‘what have I done!’.

What I do know is that this feeling won’t last and in the past, by taking opportunities and making changes, I have learnt loads and grown as an individual. I also believe I have something to offer when I do and have entered into something new.

The thing I have learnt over the years through my own personal experiences, through developing new services and from the individuals involved, is that change, if supported, enables all of us to grow and learn and gives us the ability to affect positive change for others.

With Support, together we can all create and accept change.

Lynn Toman, Director of Strategic Business Development

WHAT MAKES QUALITY SUPPORT?

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:41:15 GMT

I’ve had a few busman’s holidays this year, travelling to Scotland to support my Dad find a suitable care home. It’s not a position he had hoped to find himself in, but after several weeks of hospital bed-blocking awaiting allocation of a social worker, we finally chose a place on the banks of the Forth. It boasts the usual benefits: person centred care, individualised support plans, balanced nutritious meals, a range of complementary therapies and a ‘good’ rated CQC (Care Inspectorate in Scotland) report. But there isn’t a real science to helping choose the right place for a relative to live when they need support; even after almost thirty years in the business of social care when you assume you would know exactly what to look out for.

The biggest single factor that affects my Dad’s daily life is the quality of his interactions with the home’s support workers – many of them a quarter of his age and with a fraction of his life experience. If they can spot when his shirt needs straightening on his back, laugh at his slightly off the wall quips, speak quietly and sparingly when he’s tired, he’ll have a better day. We shouldn’t ever underestimate the power and influence of our individual actions, words, attitude and responses. It won’t be written about in the Service User Guide, but it’s at the very core of good quality support.

Janet Shmulevitch, Development Manager (Performance)