CURRENT NEWS
24/06/2008
Unique Futures in Dublin
On 23rd June Lucy Hurst-Brown and Steve Day travelled to Dublin at the invitation of the St John of God Charity to speak about new initiatives for providing support to people with learning disabilities, drawing on Brandon's Unique Futures Strategy. Lucy and Steve led a whole day seminar covering a wide range of material from Human Rights implications through to Individual Budgets and User Involvement. The invitation to visit Ireland came as a result of Lucy's speech at a London Conference at the beginning of this year (see News archive 14.1.08) where she received very positive feedback of her analysis into the way independent charities have the potential to enable people with learning disabilities to have real choice over their support options.
17/06/2008
Makaton Signing at Banwell School
Brandon Trust's Banwell Pottery has been developing links with our local school, Banwell Primary. The school asked if anyone could help teach Makaton signs that could be used in their Christmas concert, as a pupil with Downs syndrome in the reception class uses signs to communicate. One of our Potters, Jane Smith, volunteered as she has excellent Makaton skills. The concert went well so she was asked to go back on a regular basis to teach the class and the teachers signing. Jane now goes to the school every Friday morning for half an hour. The teacher says a word, Jane signs and the children copy. The sessions are a lot of fun, Jane really enjoys it and the children look forward to her visit.
The teachers believe it has increased communication within the class and playground as the children are keen to try out the new signs. We are very proud of the work Jane is doing at the school; she helps the children to see people with learning disabilities in a positive way.
13/05/2008
An Important Job at Brandon Trust
Brandon Trust is pleased to be advertising this new job – we hope that people with learning disabilities who have skills in communications will apply. We will be short-listing for this job in June and conducting the interviews in July. The reason we have such a long ‘lead in’ is to give applicants plenty of time to prepare. It is an important job because for a long time we have wanted to create the opportunity for someone with learning disabilities to be a paid employee; influencing, advising and representing the work of the organisation. At the moment this permanent job is just one day a week. This is both a small start but a great leap forward. We look forward to hearing from anyone who is interested.
Click here to view the advert.
02/05/2008
The Consultative Committe in action!!
Regular readers of our news section will remember that on the 18.7.07 we had an item about Brandon’s new Consultative Committee made up of members of our Board of Trustees and the people we support, check it out in our News Archive. Since then the Committee has become fully operational and has met twice. The first meeting took as its topic ‘The importance of where I live’ and the second, ‘What makes a really good service?’ Both these meetings provided really useful information which will be used by the Board of Trustees in their discussions with Brandon Management concerning new resource planning.
The Consultative Committee members are Nigel Sommerville, Carole Jenkins, Brian Hudson, Martyn Chandler, Anna Hall, Teresa Sheehan, Lucy Hurst-Brown and Steve Day. The next Consultative Committee meeting will be in July.
02/05/2008
Cornwall Statement (2)
Since our previous news report we have had the opportunity to study the published CSCI Report into the Inspection of Services For People with Learning Disabilities in Cornwall. We broadly welcome the report's commitment to quality individual support for people with learning disabilities. Brandon Trust considers that the report represents a good benchmark for providers and commissioners. We are interested in developing real community opportunities for the people we support in terms of places to live and employment. We believe the CSCI Report shares those aspirations.
01/04/2008
Cornwall Statement
Brandon Trust welcomes the publication this week of a new CSCI Report into adult social care in which there is specific reference to services to people with learning disabilities in Cornwall. Over the last year Brandon Trust has successfully tendered to provide new individualised support for people with learning disabilities throughout the county. We commit to supplying quality support for people living in Cornwall in place of the failing services identified in recent years. Our involvement is driven by a person-centred approach; allowing for genuine choice to individuals and their families.
Brandon Trust will be issuing a further Cornwall Statement during April 2008 once we have had the opportunity to fully study the CSCI Report. We would emphasise that as an experienced independent charity championing the rights and welfare of people with learning disabilities we welcome new central Government initiatives such as Supported Living and Individual Budgets which mitigate against institutional services.
13/03/2008
H/R Department in Easter Egg Shock
Easter is fast approaching and Reed Employment contacted Brandon’s H/R Department to ask their help in building a Charity Easter Egg Mountain. The Easter eggs are distribute to the National Children’s Home and MacMillan Cancer Support. Gradually over a week Emma Ralls’ desk became engulfed in chocolate eggs, luckily she has great willpower and hasn’t been tempted to buy eggs for herself. Last year the Bristol Charity Easter Egg Mountain reached 300 eggs, which must have had a huge impact on the kids they were giving them too. (Note: chocolate in modest amounts is supposed to be good for you; yum, yum!!)
28/02/2008
Brandon Trust link to Mozambique
Brandon Trust is beginning a new initiative in Mozambique as part of Bristol’s twinning arrangements with Beira, the country’s second city. Steve Day (Assistant Director at Brandon Trust) has just returned from Africa having been invited by Daviz Mbepo Simango, the Mayor of Beira to visit his city. While there Steve linked up with ACRIDEME, a parents and carers collective who are supporting people with learning disabilities who live in rural communities. Pictured here is Mik is an eighteen year old man with Downs Syndrome living in Macarungo. Brandon Trust hopes to be in a position to support ACRIDEME through a five year programme which will enable Mik and his peers to learn new skills aimed at increasing their independence.
18/01/2008
Family Matters - Disabled People as Parents
Brandon Trust has always acknowledged the work done by Circles Network, an organisation which has had a lot of influence in sustaining social networks in local communities. In order to improve understanding about supporting disabled people in their role as parents Circles Network is hosting a two day conference for professionals engaged in this field of work at the Hucclecote Centre in Gloucester on 25th and 26th February. It aims to provide an understanding of how the extensive range of tools which form the Family Matters toolkit can be used in a wide variety of situations ranging from initial meetings with parents through to the assessment process and beyond. For further information please contact: Mandy Neville on 01788 816671 or email mandy.neville@circlesnetwork.org.uk
14/01/2008
Lucy Hurst-Brown at major London Conference
Lucy Hurst-Brown (Chief Executive, Brandon Trust) will be speaking at a major London Conference on 13th March 2008. This event will consider the important issue of person centred alternatives to campus style residential provision for people with learning disabilities. Brandon Trust is one of those leading edge organisations championing individualised housing support. Lucy’s keynote speech will be focusing on the practical issues involved in this critical transformation of people’s lives. For information about how you can attend this conference go to www.pavpub.com
31/12/2007
New Trainer
Richard Francis is one of the participants of the ‘Get In There Project’. Over the last eighteen months he has been working on an Individual Service Design with his Circle of Support. Richard used this experience to put together a training session for other people. At the beginning of December Richard ran his own workshop at the Wellcome Collection in Euston, London. The feedback Richard received from his session was very encouraging.
During the workshop Richard shared with people the work he has been doing. This has involved looking at how he manages the major changes that are now imminent in his life. We will be talking with Richard and his supporters about him getting involved in further training opportunities both, at Brandon Trust and elsewhere.
21/11/2007
Celebrating People's Success Day
On the 7th November in Cheltenham we held a special day Conference to celebrate all the different kinds of positive things going on for the people who are supported by Brandon Trust throughout Gloucestershire. The day was impressive for the sheer range of activities. This photograph shows people adding their contribution to the Rock The Future banner which is to be taken to Manchester in December. This banner will be wrapped around the auditorium of the National Paradigm Conference, a nationwide event for adults with learning disabilities. In Cheltenham people wrote or drew different things, some funny, some serious; anything that they felt they wanted to pass on to people in Manchester. Perhaps one of the most telling phrases so far on this banner are the words, “Who will be your Wilberforce?”
19/10/2007
Travel Buddies
Brandon Trust are featured in the next copy of Learning Disability Today magazine published by Pavilion. You will find an article about the Travel Buddies scheme which has been piloted in North Somerset. The project started in September 2005 and has now been copied across the country. People who we support have been trained and paid to support their peers to become independent in the use of public transport. Find out more. Read the article. Order the magazine – info@pavpub.com or www.pavpub.com
02/10/2007
Football Team Sponsorship
Brandon Trust has sponsored Boco Girls Under 11's Football Team. Here is a picture of the girls in their new kit. The team formed in September 2006 and played friendlies last year before entering into tournaments in the summer. In only the third tournament at Bitton they convincingly won only letting in one goal and beating some very well established sides. The girls who play are all Under 11 years of age. They come from a variety of schools across Bristol and have bonded well to form a strong team. The girls train once a week and play all their home matches at Christchurch school in Hanham. The team currently plays in Bristol Under 11’s ‘B’ league, check out their fixtures. We believe in community involvement this is one fun way of expressing that idea.
24/08/2007
Turnberries Cafe
We are proud to announce that Brandon@Turnberries is our third and latest café venture, it is based at the new Turnberries Community Centre in Thornbury (Bath Road). We are able to build upon our learning of our other cafes at The Park Centre in Kingswood and the Town Hall in Weston-Super-Mare.
Over the past 2 years, we have been working with South Glocestershire Council and The Thornbury Community Building Trust (TCBT) in designing and building the new café. The new centre ‘Turnberrie’s’ named by our own Matt Britt, formally opened in July and is sited on the old Cattle Market site in the town, next to police station. The centre, will also be used regularly by the Youth Service and by people who used to be supported at Siblands. The café will be managed by Sam Miller, who also works at the Park Centre and will involve around six people with learning disabilities working at the café everyday. "Anyone for tea?"
27/07/2007
No Place Like Home
'No Place Like Home' is a report by the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) which draws attention to the current problems created by the Department of Health definition of 'place of ordinary residence' in relation to Disabled people. When someone living in residential care, funded out-of-area, decides to move into independent accommodation, their place of 'ordinary residence' is deemed to have changed. The result is the transfer of their funding responsibility to the new local authority. Such a scenario opens up a series of complications which make it much harder for people to gain individual accomodation in the community. VODG estimates that at least 500 people are caught up in these disputes at any one time, costing an estimated £3m a year in legal fees and administrative costs. Brandon Trust is affliated to VODG and backs the 'No Place Like Home' report. To find out more visit www.vodg.org.uk
25/07/2007
That's Entertainment
That's Entainment was the title of an evening of contemporary dance performed by the William Knowles Dance Company in Weston Super-Mare on Tuesday 3rd July. John Day and Jane Smith are pictured in a dramatic scene from the second half of the show. At the end of the evening the audience gave the company a rousing round of applause, everyone agreed it was a fantastic show.
In December the William Knowles Dance Company are travelling to Manchester as part of Rock The Future, a Brandon Trust multi-media production for the huge annual Paradigm Conference. The show will be fast, loud and insightful about people with learning disabilities living in today's society. Get your tickets now!
18/07/2007
New Consultative Committee
Brandon Trust is forming a new Consultative Committee to advise the Board of Trustees on all aspects of our work. We are looking for four people with learning disabilities to join three Trustee members to make up the Consultative Committee. If you are interested and want to find out more, come and meet Lucy Hurst-Brown, Jon Minall and Steve Day at Olympus House on Thursday 30th August 2007.
To book your appointment contact Steve Day by:
Email - steve.day@brandontrust.org,
Letter - Brandon Trust, Olympus House, Britannia Road, Patchway, Bristol, BS34 5TA,
or Tel - 0117 9077200.
28/06/2007
Video Nation
Chris Aplin is a Day Services worker for Brandon Trust, he is also a Care Ambassador - a young adult who works as a carer and acts as a role model to inspire and encourage other young people to consider careers in Social Care. As well as supporting people with learning disabilities on community projects such as Elm Tree Nursery near Frenchay, Chris regularly goes into schools to talk to teenagers about the kind of work he does.
Chris' role as a Care Ambassador has recently been featured on the BBC's Video Nation Website. If you want to find out more about this new initative go through to www.bbc.co.uk and follow the links through to Care Ambassadors. Brandon Trust welcomes interest from young people who want to make a difference and are enthustiastic about enabling people with learning disabilities to do the things they really want to do.
13/06/2007
Reflections On-Line
Earlier this year Steve Day (Assistant Director) at Brandon Trust had an article published in the influential British Journal of Learning Disabilities (Vol 35 Issue 1 March 2007). This is now available on-line free of charge by going through to the website www.blackwellpublishing.com and clicking onto Journals. Steve's article has an extraordinary long title: ''Reflection on PostModernism and the Transformation of Failure in Learning Disability Services within the Independent Sector at the beginning of the 21st Century''. He originally came up with a shorter version, ''Cutting Up Sharks'' but the publishers preferred the longer title! For people who want to be challenged about how learning disability issues fit into contemporary society, this original Reflection reads like few other articles. It is not easy reading but it is thought provoking; at one point society is defined as, ''A crowded place populated by people who carry ...... different labels, agendas and descriptions, yet who are all essentially competing for their independence and a place they can call home''. In this account inclusion in society is questioned, fought over and sometimes hard won. It makes for compelling reading.
30/05/2007
A Cafe Conversation
If you had been at the Park Cafe in Kingswood on Wednesday 23rd May you might have found it mighty crowded. The Park Cafe played host to a Cafe Conversation workshop led by Nan Carle. The purpose of this event was to bring thirty people together from Brandon Trust who are already engaged in supporting people with learning disabilities to become assets within their local community.
Nan has developed the idea of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD); encouraging individuals to think about how they can make a real difference among the various people who make up their local population. Ironically, at a time when media headlines seem to be about fragmented societies, people with learning disabilities are making a case for wanting to be included in what is going on. The picture with our news item is a visual record of what people talked about at the Park Cafe. Over the next six months these cafe conversations are going to be translated into real work. In November we are going to review what we have all been doing.
22/05/2007
Brandon Trust & The House of Commons
The House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights has asked for evidence to be submitted to them in relation to the human rights of adults with learning disabilities. Brandon Trust welcomes this opportunity to respond; we have highlighted six key areas of social policy which we consider have important implications. These cover further education, employment, housing, public access, the administration of Direct Payments and the opportunities for empowerment represented by the new Mental Capacity Act.
What does this really mean? This week Brandon Trust is exploring ways in which we can make things happen for people in their own local communities. It is about people being able to get jobs, having the opportunity to train for those jobs, and being able to find somewhere decent to live. In a way this essential, practical work is closely linked to the written submission we have made to the House of Commons Joint Committee. At Brandon Trust we believe it is necessary to get out in the community and make a difference for the people we support while at the same time involving ourselves in the national debates that impact on this work.
15/05/2007
A Crucial Meeting of The Board of Trustees
On the 9th May an important meeting took place at Olympus House. Seven people who use services provided by Brandon Trust met with members of the Board of Trustees of the organisation. It was a crucial meeting because a large part of the discussions were about different ways in which people with learning disabilities can have regular dialogue and communication with both Board members and senior management. As an independent charity supporting and enabling people with learning disabilities to have a genuine stake in their own communities, Brandon Trust is also committed to empowering people to become involved in the way our internal work develops in the future. We consider that Unique Futures must be built by unique individuals having their voices heard. The meeting on the 9th May is evidence of our determination to make this meaningful. The picture shows Terry Colewell (Gloucestershire) and Paul Clarke (Bristol) talking to Nigel Sommerville (Chair of the Board of Trustees).
26/04/2007
At The Watershed
On Monday 23rd April the stars of My Unique Life gathered at the Watershed on Bristol's Harbourside for the premiere of their powerful new DVD. Over two hundred specially invited guests joined in the celebration. The Watershed is one of the Country's leading Arts venues; it was for this reason that it was chosen to host this important event. My Unique Life is about people with learning disabilities who know what they want. It is not the product of social care professionals, or managers, or even advocates who believe they can speak on behalf of others, this film was made by the real experts. My Unique Life features one unique set of people with learning disabilities giving out a message to others, ''We can get a life and you can too!'' Check it out.
04/04/2007
Our Second Cafe
Carrying on the success of The Park Cafe in Kingswood, Brandon Trust opened a second cafe called Brandon @ Town Hall on Monday 2nd April. Following discussions with North Somerset Council we are now running the canteen and the hospitality service within the Town Hall in Weston-Super-Mare. This is an opportunity to give some of the people we support the chance to develop their catering and retail skills. Compliments have already been coming in; we now move onto Thornbury where cafe Number three opens at Turnberries on 16th April….watch this space.
04/04/2007
Axe Factor at The Fleece
Brandon News regulars will remember reading about the Axe Factor in January. Last week the successful musicians from the auditions played their first gig supporting Small Axe at The Fleece, a legendary late night rock venue in the centre of Bristol. Axe Factor were really inspiring, playing a short set that had the audience up on their feet and shouting for more. The guy playing the red Stratocaster guitar is Dennis Waugh, who Brandon Trust supports in Gloucestershire. He is a Rhythm Giant and provides the band with a real funky heart at the centre of their performance. Axe Factor will be on the road again later in the year watch this space.
30/03/2007
Scotch Horn at Tyntesfield on Television
One of the aims at Brandon Trust is to support people's involvement in community projects; another aim is to work in collaboration with other organisations. Here is a wonderful piece of work that covers both these aims. People who are supported by our Scotch Horn Team in Nailsea have been working on a conservation project at the National Trust's gardens at Tyntesfield. You can find out more about this work by watching Country File on BBC 1 on Sunday 1st April at 11.00am.
21/03/2007
UWE and Brandon Trust Score with the DTI... Success for the PEAC Project
The University of the West of England and the Brandon Trust have been awarded a high grade for improving the Trust's efficiency under the Department of Trade and Industry's Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme.
Brandon Trust called in experts from UWE's Bristol Business School to help develop robust and effective staff, service and finance management systems. The Trust had grown rapidly over the past 12 years, and now has 1,400 staff providing care and support to over 1300 individuals at 100 locations, in Gloucestershire and the former county of Avon and Cornwall.
The two year project was supported by a grant from the DTI and led by IT graduate Abid Mohammed, who worked closely with Hilary Pearce, Director of Finance and Stephen Batty from the Bristol Business School. Among the results were improved cross-departmental communications; integration of HR, payroll and finance systems and improved staff rostering. It has also led to a reduction in paperwork and cut out administrative duplication.
Chief Executive Lucy Hurst-Brown was thrilled with the success of the partnership...
''This was an ambitious project and we are absolutely delighted with the recognition from the DTI for all the hard work that Brandon and UWE put in over the last two years. These new streamlined systems will support Brandon as we move forward with our objectives for improving services to the people we help under our 'Unique Futures' plan.''
Dean of the Bristol Business School, Warwick Jones, was also excited by the result...
''We are especially pleased that this project was such a success, as it represents an excellent example of knowledge exchange between UWE and local organisations. UWE has gained valuable real examples of how business re-engineering theory can benefit a large complex charity and this will feed back into our research and teaching''.
Following the success of the project, Abid is continuing to work with Brandon Trust as Business Systems Manager. The Trust is also sponsoring him to study for his MBA at UWE. As for the rest of us...? We're just thrilled that we can spend less time on paperwork and more time doing what we do best - supporting people to live the lives they choose!
27/02/2007
Brandon Trust Cornwall Information Day, 12th March 2007
12:00 noon to 7:00pm, Kingsley Village, Fraddon, TR9 6NA.
This drop in event is for people who use services, their relatives, commissioners and staff of current services. You will be able to talk to Brandon Trust staff about what we do and how we do it. We also want to listen to your ideas and concerns for the future so that we are as well informed about what people want as possible.
If you have any questions about this event or about Brandon Trust services in Cornwall please call Nick Fripp or Karen Mellalieu on 0117 9077200.
31/01/2007
The Get In There Project
About a year ago Brandon Trust became involved in a two year research project being carried out by the Foundation for People with Learning Difficulties. The Foundation is collecting information and success stories from 4 organisations across the UK; all of whom are looking at different ways in which people with high support needs can get a life in the community and how organisations are able to facilitate this for the people who use their services.
By using the principles of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) we question what is currently available to people. The Get in There Project is about being creative, thinking outside the box, enabling individuals with high support needs to be involved in their local community using Circles of Support from family and friends. Richard is one such man who is developing links with a school close to his home, Sarah has started making her own personal plans, other people are meeting peer advocates. This is an opportunity for people to look at their lives and discover how to achieve genuine participation, recognition and understanding in their local communities.
Anyone who is interested in the project and would like to share their interests with an individual please contact: Luke Joy-Smith (Tel. 0117 9077200)
26/01/2007
Launch Day In Weston
Things are really happening in Weston-Super-Mare. On the 14th February 2007, Work, Learning and Leisure are at The Royal Hotel as part of a Launch Day to promote the opportunities available in around the town for the people we support.
Brandon Trust was originally contracted to manage Community Teams and Day Centres in the town. The last few years has seen the rapid and continuous development of new and innovative person-centred community initiatives. At The Royal Hotel, Weston between 10.00am and 2.00pm there will be displays and speakers, all focusing on what's happening now. You will be able to hear about developments that have taken place, the changes and projects that are shortly coming up, as well as our plans for extending this work over the next few years. We are now working in partnership with local clubs, associations and businesses to provide a range of interesting new projects for people with learning disabilities in and around Weston.
A number of our community partners will also be there throughout the day. People will have the chance to network and make new contacts. You will also get the chance to hear about a new cafe, plus plans for more cafes to come, The Travel Buddies Project, Micro-Enterprises (from grounds-man to DJ); in fact there is loads of news! Come and meet our staff and the people we support; hear their stories.
08/01/2007
Nan Carle - A Special Relationship (and we don't mean her pets!)
Our knowledge of Arizona is limited, get out your map, it is down in the south-west states of America, a huge desert where Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) once lived in self imposed exile painting wonderful, dramatic pictures. Yes, Arizona is a long way from the South West of England but Brandon Trust has a connection. Arizona happens to be the current home of Professor Nan Carle, an extraordinary American woman who has become a genuine champion for rights and inclusion for people with learning disabilities.
During the 1980's Nan Carle was based in England working for the King's Fund and serving on the Board of Management for Choice Support. She was instrumental in leading the closure programmes for long stay hospitals in and around London; in doing so she played a key role in bringing about positive change for people with learning disabilities. Since her return to the USA she is best known in the UK as an instigator of a number of important initiatives related to the Valuing People agenda. As a writer she is a regular contributor to journals and magazines, as an educator and practitioner she brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge to the learning disability debate. Nan Carle has agreed to work with Brandon Trust during 2007 in a new ''special relationship'' helping us to change the way we do things and ensure that the people we support really do have the opportunity to design their own unique futures.
20/12/2006
The Axe Factor
When Alan Fazakerely first approached Brandon Trust about the Small Axe Reggae Project, called the Axe Factor, we thought he was probably being rather ambitious. He wanted to bring the reggae band, Small Axe to Brandon's Olympus House in order to hold auditions for people with learning disabilities to create their own band based on the expertise of the musicians in Small Axe. On Saturday 2nd December Alan's idea became a reality; Small Axe started the day by playing a live dub version of the Bob Marley song Jammin'. Once in the mood, 40 people began auditioning to form their own band to play alongside Small Axe at gigs during the second half of 2007.
The Axe Factor Project will be announcing shortly who the successful people are; the fact is there was no shortage of genuine talent on show - at least one excellent keyboard player, a really spacey guitarist and some wonderful singers, percussionists and dancers. Decision making time is going to be tough. The new band will go into weekly rehearsal in January 2007. Brandon Trust is pleased to be able to help with the start of this innovative project, listen out for more news. Direct enquiries: Alan Fazakerely, Axe Factor, PO Box 1493, Bristol, BS20 0YH
20/12/2006
Success at the National Skills For Care Accolades Awards 2006
In 2006 Brandon Trust won two national awards as part of the Skills For Care Accolades Awards programme: Best Training Provider/Assessment Centre and Best In-House Training Provider/Assessment Centre. We also received Highly Commended (ie. We came in second) for Best Employer of Over 250 staff). This is the second year that Brandon Trust has successly won national Accolades awards; we believe such achievements reflect our commitment to quality services.
