ARK Voices Update May 2015

Transcription

1 ARK Voices Update May

2 This time we held our meeting at the St John s Church Hall in Princes Street. We had 32 people at the meeting; people who get support came from East Lothian (Musselburgh), Edinburgh (Hoseasons), Grangemouth, Perth, Alloa Outreach, Alloa Tobar Tight, Rymonth and from Arbroath Speak Out Groups. The group has 2 new members: Sandra from Livingston and Elisabeth from Quartermile. The meeting was attended by Ann Kershaw, ARK Board Chairperson and Jane Grey, ARK Chief Executive. Unfortunately People First Scotland could not attend the meeting to speak about Protection of Adult at risk. We will have their workshop at the next meetings. This group is an open forum for all people who get support from ARK. The members talk about things that are important to them. 2

3 We started the meeting with a report on the work done so far by the ARK Working Group. Tracy Lynch, the Working Group Chairperson, gave out leaflets and updated everybody about the hard work done by the members of the group. For example: The Restraint Policy - about how to make sure people are safe and well. The Furniture Policy - with Diana Swift, the Housing Officer. The Complaints DVD - about what to do if you want to make a complaint to ARK. We will have a wee report from the ARK Working Group at each Review Group meeting. The ARK Working Group will continue to meet every 2 months at the Priory to work on other ARK policies. The policies will be then written in easy read and sent to ARK offices with the quarterly Newsletter. Speak Out Workers can share the ARK Working Group update booklet at their Speak Out Groups. 3

4 The name and logo of the Review Group This name is out of date as there have been many changes to the identity of the group. The group started over 10 years ago with 6 members. In the last few years the group has grown in numbers...the group has now more than 20 members. With Staff we count more than 30 people at each meeting. Because we are so many, it became impossible to do things like looking at ARK policies. That s why ARK needed another group, a smaller one, the ARK Working Group. At the Review Group we do not REVIEW documents or policies anymore. We are more like a FORUM now. A Forum is a space where a lot of people meet to: Speak up and share their worries. Talk about things that affect everybody in Scotland and UK. Listen to speakers. So that we know better what this group is about, the group voted for a new name. Kyle proposed ARK Voices and everybody warmly welcomed his idea. The Review Group will be now called ARK Voices We also spoke about having a logo for this group. Gloria and Sue will collect all the group s ideas and bring something at the next meeting. 4

5 Your say, your way Agnes gave a presentation about a workshop that she attended with Sue. Agnes said: There was a lot of different people there from different organisations. We were asked: What is the best way for the police to respond when people phone for help? What would be a good service? We all shared what we thought would work best for people who needed help from the police. The police are very keen to make the service much better for people who may need extra help to speak to them. They took everyone s ideas away to think about how they could make the service better. 5

6 Keys to Life Keys to Life is a plan made by the Scottish Government for people with learning disabilities. It has 3 important parts: Relationships & Family Independent Living Health and Wellbeing We worked in 4 small groups to talk about these statements. Friends and other relationships How easy is this for you? What would help to make it easier? Staff supported me during my relationship with my girlfriend. I found this helped me. Most of us would like to see their families more often. We would like Staff to support us to set boundaries with our families, girlfriends and boyfriends. Like length and frequency of visits. Sometimes people aren t close to their family and may need some mediation to help them - this means having some help to speak with families. 6

7 What do you do when you get ill? Do nurses and doctors help you? Is there something that would make things better for you? We would phone a doctor or NHS 24. We would tell Staff or take tablets. We would phone an ambulance. Nurses and doctors help us but emergency services appointments take a long time. Staff support us to get medical advice or appointments. It would be better if the patient transport is more available; if doctors and nurses would explain things in terms we understand, if there was a better budget for the NHS. Do people listen to what you say? What would help you to speak up? Speak Out Groups, Talking to family, talking to Staff like Keyworkers, speak to Liaison Worker Sylvia, Telephone, ARK Voices, Working Party Group, My Job Volunteering, Options in Life, Pupils First, Cosmos, Befrienders, Advocates, Neighbours, Enable Group, Ministers at Holyrood. 7

8 How do you think the police can help you? With problems with neighbours (however sometime we don t think they help enough). There should be more police on the beat and more police training - to help working with the public. They can help with bullying and harassment, with anti social behaviour, with assaults, rape, missing persons (also people being abandoned), with shoplifting, burglary, suicide attempted, tempted murders, siege, kidnapping, accidents, event stewarding/marshall. Any Other Business? Lisa came along to the meeting after lunch. She used to work with ARK a few years ago. She is back in Edinburgh and is helping out the Housing Team at the moment. Everybody said welcome back to her! The next meeting for the ARK Voices will be held in Edinburgh. The meeting is on the 4th September. It will start at and finish at 3pm. Please let Gloria or Sue know you are coming