Beacon Hill Arts. Issue 53 Autumn 2013

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1 Issue 53 Autumn 2013 Beacon Hill Arts Award winning Beacon Hill Arts are on the look out for more budding film makers from the North East to take part in their second BFI Film Academy. See page 4 for full information Contents Page Contact a Family Workshops 2 & 3 Beacon Hill Arts 4 Cauldwell Children 5 Local News 6 The Ark SNAPS sessions 7 Your Photos Please 8 Jacqui Adams & Sarah Lewis Contact a Family The Dene Centre, Castle Farm Rd Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1PH Tel/Fax northeast.office@cafamily.org.uk National Freephone Contact a Family would like to thank Northern Rock Foundation and the Big Lottery Fund for their continued support of the North East Office

2 Contact a Family Workshops Contact a Family in the North East are running a number of free workshops for parent/carers throughout the region during the Autumn/Winter. We received loads of suggestions for workshop topics in our last survey so thank you to all the parent/carers who sent these in. As you can imagine, with limited resources and time, we are unable to offer workshops on all subjects but we hope that over the next few months, you will find something of interest to you. We have listened to your views and comments about the difficulties many of you face in travelling to workshops. In response to this, wherever possible, when we now run a series of workshops, we will hold these in four different parts of the North East; in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, County Durham and Teesside (and we will move workshops to different venues within these areas and not keep to the same places etc.) We appreciate this may still not be ideal for some parent/carers, especially those of you in rural areas, but again, we are sure you will understand we are trying our best with limited capacity and finances. Transition Workshops We are starting to roll out this series of workshops, focusing on Transition from child to adult services. One workshop will focus on Legal Issues, facilitated by Irwin Mitchell Solicitors and another on Growing Up, Moving On, will look at Person Centred Planning. Legally Speaking - understand your legal rights to services and support to help you through the transition period including the legal obligations of local authorities and health bodies. Growing Up, Moving On - find out what the key transition points are when moving from child to adult services, how you can plan with your young person and who should be involved in this planning process Tyne & Wear - South Tyneside; Legally Speaking 24 October and Growing Up. Moving On 18 November Northumberland - Alnwick; Legally Speaking 11 November and Growing Up, Moving On - to be confirmed Teesside - Stockton; Legally Speaking 13 November and Growing Up, Moving On 27 November County Durham - Durham; Legally Speaking 14 January 2014 and Growing Up, Moving On 28 January 2014

3 Contact a Family Workshops DLA Workshop We are organising a workshop helping parent/carers who are filling in Disability Living Allowance forms which will be facilitated by Shona Chambers, Regional Officer for Cerebra. The workshop will include tips, hints and help and give parent/carers the opportunity to ask Shona questions too. This is taking place on Wednesday 6 November 2013 at Bullion Hall, Chester-le-Street, County Durham (thanks to Durham County Carers Support for providing the venue). Legally Speaking - Education This workshop will focus on your legal rights with regards to your child s education and will help dispel myths about current legislation and future changes to the law regarding special educational needs. The workshop will be facilitated by Maxwell Gillott Solicitors. There will also be the opportunity to talk to representatives from the Parent Partnership Service and other organisations that can offer you support with education issues locally. This will take place on Tuesday 12 November 2013 at the Dene Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne. How to Book All of these workshops will run from 10.00am-12.00pm followed by a free lunch where you will have the opportunity to chat to facilitators one to one and ask questions. Financial assistance towards childcare and travel costs is also available upon request. Places for all workshops are limited and available on a first come, first served basis so if you are interested in attending, please contact us as soon as possible by calling or northeast.office@cafamily.org.uk STOP PRESS...our next plans are to roll out a series of Coping and Stress workshops from December 2013 to March These will again be held in County Durham, Tyne & Wear, Teesside and Northumberland. If you would like to receive more information about these when available, please let us know. We will be advertising these through our bulletins so sign up if you don t already receive these by ing northeast.office@cafamily.org.uk

4 Beacon Hill Arts Beacon Hill Arts BFI Film Academy are searching for talented young filmmakers! Following on from the huge success of its first academy, Beacon Hill Arts based in Wallsend, North Tyneside, are proud to announce that they are now searching for twelve young people between the ages of to take part in their second BFI Film Academy. The Beacon Hill Arts Film Academy is the only one in the UK that focuses on supporting the creative talents of young people with learning disabilities, autism and additional needs. Winner of the National Lottery Award for UK s Best Arts Project in 2010, Beacon Hill Arts supports people with learning disabilities and additional needs to create entertaining films that have screened all over the world and won plaudits from across the film industry. Beacon Hill Arts young filmmakers have won numerous international awards for their films, gained entry onto vocational media training courses, and worked on professional film commissions for some of the region s leading arts and voluntary organisations. The second Film Academy will start on Sunday 17 November 2013 with a series of thirteen sessions run by film industry mentors up until the end of February The Academy provides an exciting and fun opportunity for twelve young people to learn all about film-making, create, make and star in their very own film, and gain an Arts Award. Experience is not essential to take part, only enthusiasm and an interest in film-making. To be considered for a place, young people must attend one of the two Beacon Hill Arts taster and selection days, which are being held on Thursday 31 October 2013 and Friday 1 November 2013 at Beacon Hill School, North Tyneside. During this day, young people will take part in a fun film-making session with the Beacon Hill Arts film industry mentors to find out if film-making is for them. They will also be able to apply for a place on the Academy in an accessible way. Successful applicants will be notified after the taster and selection days. If you would like to find out more, or book for the taster and selection day, please contact the Beacon Hill Arts BFI Film Academy project manager, Michelle Fox on or or visit

5 Cauldwell Children Caudwell Children - North East Caudwell Children provide practical and emotional support for disabled children and their families. Through their seven core services, the charity acts as a safety net for families who can t find the help they need anywhere else. The Caudwell Children Family Support service is now being rolled out in the North East thanks to a recent Lottery Grant and is available to families caring for children with any type of disability and who cannot access mainstream activities without support. To date, Caudwell Children has supported thousands of children with over 500 different medical conditions. Caudwell Children understands that when a child is diagnosed with a serious disability or a life-limiting illness the news affects the whole family. By providing emotional support as well as practical help for parents and other relatives, the charity is recognised as a vital service for families caring for a disabled child. Sophie Roberts is the local Family Support Service Co-ordinator. She said: "As a charity we come into contact with families whose lives are turned upside down by a diagnosis involving a child. The families need many different levels of support from medical appointments, benefits claims, housing and education. Whatever families need we are there to support them, but we need more people to volunteer to reach more families across the region. Focused on supporting those families that need help and support the most, the charity aims to support families with a household income of less than 45,000 per year and disabled children and young people up until their 19th Birthday. For more information please contact Sophie Roberts on or sophie.roberts@caudwellchildren.com or visit their website

6 Local News Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Group The Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Group meets at Chowdene Children s Centre, Gateshead on the first Wednesday of every month from pm. This is a group for people of all ages and their families to meet up and make friends with other people in the same situation as them. Every month they have a different theme, for example in previous months they have used the Centre s Sensory Room. The group also gives people that are new to both conditions a chance to ask any questions they may have. For further information, please contact Sarah Stevenson at sarahstevenson@gateshead.gov.uk or call Family ASD Group at Blyth Central Children s Centre The Family ASD Group is a session offering children who are on the autism spectrum and their families a friendly, fun and supportive group. Activities available in the sessions include family activities plus a time for parents/carers to go off for a tea/coffee and have peer support time together sharing ideas and supporting each other. A range of speakers are invited into the group to share information, advice and support to the parents. The group is for children and young people aged between 0 and 8 who live in Blyth, Cramlington and the Seaton Valley area of Northumberland. Siblings are welcome to attend and join in with the session. Sessions run on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month (term time only) from am at Blyth Central Children s Centre, 103 Wright Street, Blyth, NE24 1HG. Free transport is available to bring you to and from the group and the sessions are free of charge. Blyth Central Children s Centre also has a sensory room available for hire to local families. The room includes many features that your child can interact with, changing their environment through bright lights, shapes and music. For more information about the group or the sensory room, please contact Joanne Reay on or joanne.reay@barnardos.org.uk

7 SNAP - Crawcrook The Ark is a Play Centre, Sensory Room, Cafe and Church all rolled into one but primarily it's a non-profit organisation which is seeking to support the local community and wider Gateshead. The Play Centre will be open Monday to Friday from 9.00am-3.00pm (except Tuesdays which will open 9.00am-1:30pm). The Conservatory cafe will be open during these times too serving hot and cold snacks. Every week they hold SNAP special play sessions for children with Special Needs/Disabilities and their siblings on Tuesdays from 1: pm and on Thursdays from pm. The Play Centre will be closed to the public so your children can play safely. They are alternating between afternoon and evening sessions to enable as many families as possible to benefit. During these sessions, you are free to use the play frame and sensory room. The sensory room will be themed each month with appropriate toys etc. reflecting the theme. They are also beginning to develop a range of PECS resources for children who communicate with this system. The Sensory room is also available for private hire from 3:00-4:00pm weekdays, for half an hour ( 3) or one hour ( 5) SNAP! Sessions are discounted by 25% from the normal admission price. Children under 1 free, 1-4 years 2.55 and 5-12 years For more information contact Tracey Hume by deacontraceyhume@gmail.com or call or visit Don t forget...contact a Family sends out weekly bulletins with lots of information about leisure opportunities across the North East. We also include details of events for parents, conferences, workshops and training along with useful news about resources, reform updates and research. If you don t already receive these but would like to, please sign up at northeast.office@cafamily.org.uk

8 Your Photos Please Does this look like your spare room? Or any room in your house for that matter! This photo got us thinking about the impression people have of families with disabled children 'complaining' about needing a 'spare room' or extra space in their houses and the challenges families face in getting support with this. We would like to use your photos in disability awareness workshops and hopefully to make a poster that clearly shows the amount of equipment and supplies families need to have in their home. Photos should not include people. Thanks Please send your photos, along with a list of all the equipment/supplies you need to keep in your house for your disabled child to northeast.office@cafamily.org.uk National Freephone Number Contact a Family s National Freephone Helpline for parents of disabled children is open from Monday to Friday 9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Our SEN National Advice Service and Benefits Advisors are available through this helpline so please give them a call if you need specialist advice. Language Line is available for parents whose first language is not English. If you did not receive this newsletter at your own address and would like to be added to our mailing list, please give us a call or write to us at Contact a Family, The Dene Centre, Castle Farm Road, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1PH. Tel/Fax northeast.office@cafamily.org.uk Website - The next edition of In Contact will be circulated Winter 2013/4 The views and suggestions in In Contact are those of individual contributors and are not necessarily supported by Contact a Family. Contact a Family cannot accept responsibility for any goods or services mentioned in or enclosed in In Contact Registered Charity No Company Limited by guarantee No