Do you get the support you need to have a good life! ARK is doing very well! March 2014

Transcription

1 March 2014 Do you get the support you need to have a good life! You might remember that we sent out questionnaires last year, asking you about your support. We now have the results of the questionnaire: the Survey Results. ARK is doing very well! Members of the Review Group looked at the Survey Report. They told ARK what they thought about it. What Kind of Support Am I Getting? We have made sure that if you said that you were not happy about something; then there are Action Plans in place so that ARK can make the right changes. This will help you have better support and a better life. For some of you we have sent out with this newsletter a Feedback Sheet. This is to let you know what your service have already done to solve any issues you raised in the Survey. A summary of feedback from the survey of ARK Support and Housing Support Services 2013 ARK would be very pleased if you could carry on telling us what you think about your support. The next questionnaire will be out later in the year. 1

2 Jane, who is ARK s Chief Executive said: I am delighted at how your voice is being heard throughout ARK. It is very exciting and I am committed to making sure that we continue to get better at listening to more people. Everything we do in the organization must make sense to the people we serve. It is not just about your voice being heard in ARK. We are determined that your voice will be heard in your communities, so we will try and help you with anything that supports you to be active in your village town or city. The ARK Charter, that many of you helped develop, tells you how ARK will live up to its values, give you the services you need and support you to have a good life in your neighborhood. It is a very important document and you will be asked to give your views on how you think we are doing against what it says. This year we have committed more resources to participation in ARK and we are very pleased that Gloria s post is now a permanent position. In ARK we understand the importance of making sure we have well resourced structures in place to make participation and citizenship meaningful. Your voice is ever more important as we face further years of cutbacks and uncertainty in funding. Finally, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has taken part in a Speak Out group, to the Review Group, the Speak Out Workers and of course Sue and Gloria! With all your enthusiasm work and commitment this can only get better. 2

3 Tracy from Hoseasons and William from Grangemouth meet every 2 months at the Priory in Edinburgh to organize the next Review Group Meeting. This means that they help to control what happens at the Review Group. They are doing a great job! The next Review Group Meeting is on 16th May from am until 3pm. Get in touch if you are interested! 3

4 Review Group Update We had 25 people at the meeting in January; people who get support came from East Lothian (Musselburgh), Edinburgh (Hoseasons), Grangemouth, Perth, Alloa, St Andrews and from Arbroath Speak Out Groups. At the meeting there was also Lorna, Service Manager for Perth and Arbroath, who will attend every Review Group Meeting to share information between the Review Group and the Service Managers. There was 2 new workers from the Priory, Tracey and Tina. We had a professional photographer that took some picture of us during the meeting. These pictures will go on the Annual Report. Billy McInnis from the Arbroath Speak Out Group updated the members about the last Arbroath Speak Out Meeting. This brought up an issue about Community Alarms in people s home. The group agreed to get more information about that. People who have this at home, are they getting the correct information about it? We are going to make a new leaflet. Billy also talked about how he would be talking about his community at the next Arbroath Speak Out Group Meeting. Graeme Dey; Member Scottish Parliament (MSP) will be attending to answer some questions. You can see more about that later in the Newsletter 4

5 Planning this year ARK asked all the members of the Review Group what is important for them to talk about at the group for the coming year... These are some of the ideas that came up: Holiday Policy: The group said that they would like to check the draft version of the new ARK Holiday Policy. Sharon Ward ARK s Practice Development Manager, is the person who is working on that and she came to the March Review Group. Have a say about our home: Sue and Gloria are planning a lot of workshops about Tenant Participation. Keep an eye on your post, they will send everybody who is an ARK Tenant an invite, if they have not done it already. Scottish Independence: A lot of people asked for more information about it. Ian Hood who is the Coordinator of the Learning Disability Alliance Scotland came to the March Review Group to show us a video about it. Campaign about Equality and Human Rights: People suggested asking an MSP to come along. We will write a letter to Alex Salmond and will bring it to the next Review Group to let everybody sign it. Campaign for road safety: This seems an issue that affects everybody. ARK has a lot of experience to share and the group agreed that this should be available for Speak Out Groups. 5

6 Some examples are Coming soon to a Speak Out Group near you If you tell ARK that you are not happy about something that ARK is doing or not doing - this is a complaint. You can complain yourself or someone can complain on your behalf. If you asked for something you needed and it took too long to get it. What can I complain about? If you didn t get the service you are supposed to get. If you didn t get an answer to a question you asked or it took too long to get an answer. A lot of people are feeling confused. Would you like ARK to send out some information to you. If so please contact Gloria or Sue. Thank you. 6

7 Policies and procedures cover every area of ARK s work and they help us to make sure that we provide a good service. Over the next few months, we will be talking to people about which ARK policies and procedures are most important to you. It might be the Holiday Policy? What is a procedure? Procedures are step by step instructions that say how ARK will follow these rules. We will then put the most important ones into an easy to read format. This will take a lot of time and work though, so please bear with us! We will keep you updated on our progress. What is a policy? Policies are rules that say what ARK will do to make sure that your support is good. If you are interested in volunteering for the Policy and Consultation Working Group please get in touch with Gloria or Sue and we can send you some more information. You will look at some of the Policies that ARK already has. You will decide which is most important to you and then the group will decide how they would like the Policy made more accessible. For example should it be in Easy Read; should it be in audio? When ARK has new Policies you will with your group members decide what you would like to say about the new Policy and tell ARK about that. 7

8 Tracy said to the newspaper I knew what they were doing was wrong but I couldn t stop them. No one tried to help me. Everyone looked the other way. As Tracy got out of her seat to get off a bus, 2 young women trapped her by tying the cords from the hood of her jacket to the hand rail. Frightened, upset and angry, Tracy eventually broke herself free and, when at home, she called the police to report the accident. It was a Hate Crime. Tracy and his husband Keith are campaigning to try to change people s attitude towards people with learning difficulties so that they can stop hate crime from happening. People need to realise it is not acceptable to bully us or anyone in society. 8

9 Good support at difficult times like when someone is very ill or at the end of their life can make all the difference in the world to people who get support from ARK and to their families. This story is about David, someone who was special to all the staff who knew him. When David died the staff wanted to give him a good send off. They organised his funeral in a way that they knew David would have liked. They played the music that told everyone what they felt about him: You are my Sunshine and a staff member was there to pipe for David. David s staff also shared their memories of him as well as sharing a memory table: A real celebration of David s life. ARK would like to pay tribute to the staff and indeed all staff who help and have helped at these times in other parts of ARK. We want to improve the support that we provide at the end of our service users lives and we have developed a new Procedure on how to support our service users best when this happens. We are sharing this procedure with our staff teams so that they can provide the best possible support to service users at all stages of their lives. If you want to make plans for your future and haven t already, please either contact your Key Worker or Team Leader, or Sue/ Gloria and we can work to support you with this as much as we are able to. Living and dying with dignity Easy Read Leaflet: Living and Dying with Dignity (General Drive/Community Networks/ Participation/Bereavement/) Or contact Sue or Gloria for more information. This leaflet tells you about what is important about caring for someone with a learning disability when they have a life-limiting illness. Easy read 9

10 These are the latest scores that the Care Inspectorate gave us... ARK Borders: -Kelso -Galashiels -Peebles -Hawick SL 18/12/13 Quality of Care and Support - 4 = Good Quality of Staffing - 4 = Good Quality of Management - 4 = Good ARK Hawick Care Home 5/12/13 Quality of Care and Support - 4 = Good Quality of Environment - 2 = Not Good Quality of Staffing - 4 = Good Quality of Management - 4 = Good ARK West -Alloa -Linlithgow -Livingston ARK Housing Forfar -Forfar 30/10/13 Quality of Care and Support - 5 = Very Good Quality of Staffing - 5 = Very Good Quality of Management - 5 = Very Good 15/11/13 Quality of Care and Support - 5 = Very Good Quality of Staffing - 5 = Very Good Quality of Management - 5 = Very Good If you are interested in having an Audio CD of the Report, let Sue or Gloria know! 10

11 By Brian Gunn Participation and ARK Health and Safety Adviser working together! The main part of my role as health and safety adviser is to look after ARK`s workplace safety, but I am also interested in the health and safety issues that affect ARK tenants and service users. I have recently been involved with Sue and Gloria attending speak out groups to talk about health and safety matters that are important to you. I recently talked about fire safety and electrical safety in the home at a Speak Out Group. After this meeting some simple, low cost changes were made to keep tenants and service users homes a safer place for them and for ARK staff. You will see that we have made a Health and Safety booklet to help you keep safe...please let us know what you think about it. Thank you. Please speak to your support worker or Speak Out Worker if you would like me to attend a Speak Out Group in your area to get more information on health and safety issues that affect you. 11

12 Active Citizenship ARK is taking part in the Cross-Party Group on Learning Disabilities. This is a group for Members of all parties, outside organisations and members of the public to meet and to ensure that the needs and aspirations of people with learning disabilities are considered by the Scottish Parliament and by public policy makers. Here is a picture of an ARK tenant, David Tawse, who was about to enter the Scottish Parliament for the Cross-Party Group Meeting on Wednesday 15th January. Learning Disability Alliance Scotland Ian Hood, who is the Coordinator of the Learning Disability Alliance Scotland, updated the group about different topics. Care Charging Competitive Tendering Guardianship Supported employment Welfare Benefits Reform If you are interested in having more information about what LDAS is doing, get in touch with Gloria at Head Office. 12

13 At this meeting we voted for the new Chairperson for the NIN meeting. National Involvement Network Tracy, Agnes, Fraser, Ann and Robert volunteered to be part of the Working Group to think about the beginning and the end of the NIN Charter, its design and its launch. They will work hard to have the Charter ready for October. Watch Out! The Section 13ZA is a rule that allows social workers to help people who can t decide for themselves, to get a new home quickly. Some people who live in their own houses are being moved into care homes by social work who say that the Section 13ZA rule lets them do this. Everyone should be told when the 13ZA rule is being used. If you want more information about this please contact Gloria or Sue. Information Do you want more information about Self Directed Support? Have you missed out the Welfare Reform booklet (about benefit changes)? Get in touch with Gloria or Sue to get a copy! 13

14 After two years of hard work the Charter was produced in The Charter is made up of 13 Statements which set out: The rights that people who use services want from involvement. What people want to get out of being involved. The kinds of things that people want to get involved in. What people need in order to be involved. The National Involvement Network, which is known as NIN, is made up of people who use services and their helpers. It started in 2006 and meets 5 or 6 times a year to talk about things that matter to everyone about involvement. The meetings are held turn about in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Charter is unique because it is people themselves saying what they want and how they want to be involved. The people who are in charge of 22 support organisations signed up to the Charter and said they would put the statements and principles of the Charter into practice. NIN members can check how well they are doing. An Evaluation Report was produced in This showed that the Charter was helping to make a big difference. It also showed ways that the Charter could be improved. After evaluating the Charter in 2012 NIN decided to improve it and write it again to get more people and organisations involved. This work is being supported by ARC Scotland, and paid for by the Scottish Government. A working group has been set up to produce the new Charter, and people with ARK are involved in this. The new Charter will be launched near the end of For more information about NIN or the Charter for Involvement contact Paddy Carstairs, Development Worker, ARC Scotland. Tel paddy.carstairs@arcuk.org.uk 14

15 A day in the life of the Have Your Say The Have your say group meets on the first Wednesday of the month from 1pm to 4pm at Norton Park. This is where the Action Group offices are based. It is run by Jo Kirby and Trevor Wood. by Sheree Stewart We have a newsletter where people write about their birthdays, holidays, discos and different departments of the Action Group. In the winter edition we had articles on winter weather, what we want from a review, Real jobs and working with a Support Worker. In the main meeting we go through the last minutes and any actions. People chair it so that people get a fair chance. We talk about different groups in the community. These are Fair, Mates and Dates, Neighbourhood Networks and Disability Alliance Scotland. Sometimes we have visitors to the group such as Carol Flack and Ian Hood. We ask them questions. We don t have the main Have Your Say meeting in June because we have our summer outing. Last year we went to the Five Sisters Zoo. We also don t have a meeting in December because we have a Christmas party. These are only for members who are in the group. Keys to Life a new strategy (plan) that the Scottish Government made for people with learning disabilities. The Keys to Life tells us how to make people s lives better in the future. Self Directed Support is one of the ways to make sure you can have a better life. One of the aims of the Keys to life is to help you have an Independent life: This is about disabled people of all ages having the same choice and control in their lives as other people. It also means having the right help and support to take part in the community. 15

16 Workshops have been taking place in Perth and in Edinburgh (Oxgangs). Sue, the Participation Officer at ARK, held the workshops with the Housing Officers. The workshop aimed to involve tenants in the decision-making processes and in influencing decisions about their Housing. This is part of ARK s work as a Landlord to accomplish The Scottish Social Housing Charter. The Perth group would like to meet again in 6 months. Oxgangs tenants will decide soon what they want to do. The Perth group would like to do Mystery Shopping (telephone enquiries), Walkabout and talk about housing at the Speak Out Group Meeting. These are all Scrutiny Activities where tenants can get involved how and when they like. 16

17 Staff Recruitment Training George McIntosh was part of the Perth Group who did the recruitment training with Sue and Gloria. After completing the training, George was part of the interview panel when we recruited for staff. George said It was good I asked everyone the questions I had picked I picked the right staff. I want to do it again and I ve said I will help other services if no one can do it. Sue and Gloria have started the training in March with people who get support in St Andrews (Rymonth Service). There are 4 folk who are taking part in the training. Everyone is enjoying it so far At the end of the training they can do their own interviewing... 17

18 Hoseasons Staff Team The Speak Out Workers are getting together again in Edinburgh on the 4th April to share Information and learning. Sue Tait has been going to ARK staff team meetings to talk about Speak Out Groups and Speak Out Workers. There are now 15 Speak Out Groups across ARK and that means that a lot of people who get support are getting the chance to meet up and talk about things that matter to them. If you don't have a Speak Out Group in your area, talk to your Team Leader and ask if its possible. Next Meeting is on the 30th April 2014 Tom McIntyre Speak Out Worker 18

19 At their meeting in January, the Arbroath Speak Out Group decided what questions they would like to ask Graeme Day who came to the February meeting. Some of the questions were about what was happening about some of the local services that people use. Some questions were about Scottish Independence and some about the cuts. It was very interesting lots of people took part in the meeting. Graeme Dey MSP (Angus South) (SNP) Lois Laird Arbroath & Forfar Speak Out Worker. Forfar Speak Out Group will be holding their meeting on the 22nd April Lois sent out letters to everyone asking when would be the best time to meet up. Quite a lot of people answered. People in Forfar will get more information from Lois about where the meeting will be and at what time. 19

20 Nikita Leeson from Arbroath is a textile artist. She told us a bit about herself and her art... I am enjoying doing a City and Guilds Textile course. I like doing Arts and Crafts, staff sometimes support me with this and also to tidy up after as it can be messy work. I love going to college, the course tutor is brilliant and has helped me a lot. The class are also very friendly and helpful which has made a big difference and helped me settle. I feel satisfied when the image I have in my head works out. My thoughts at the moment are that I would like to go into Fabric Design. 20

21 Garden Design! The members of the group talked about what they would like in the community garden. The next meeting is on the 26th April. Elwyn Rennie Speak Out Worker Kerry Swan Speak Out Worker The Perth Speak Out Group met in February. Christine Grant who is a member of the Review Group as well as a member of the Perth Speak Out Group, gave a presentation about what the Review Group talked about. The group also did some planning for future meetings. One of the things they would like to do is meet up with the Arbroath Speak Out Group. 21

22 David McMillan Speak Out Worker Brian gave a very helpful and interesting talk about Health and Safety. Members of the group talked a lot about this. The group will be focussing on what they feel about their support, at the next meeting. They also agreed that they wanted to do the Complaints Workshop soon. Brian Gunn - ARK Health and Safety Adviser Next meeting on 1st April The next meeting will be on the 3rd April at 6.15pm The meetings will now be in the evening to help make sure that more people have the chance to come along people are busy during the day. Shirley, Mo, Jackay and Sue did some planning. We are going to be thinking about how to help everyone to move on into their new homes. The move is going to happen next year and the Speak Out Group will be talking about what things matter most to people about moving. Maureen Lewis (Mo) Speak Out Worker 22

23 Lorraine Wilson Speak Out Worker Next meeting - 15th April at 6pm The members talked about crossing the road safely. Most people agreed that there is not enough time at the crossings to get over in one piece! We will get more information about that and perhaps write a letter to the council. The group also talked about how staff can be really helpful at meetings. The staff and group members did an exercise about it. They came to some agreements, but decided to do it again when there are more staff. New Speak Out Workers Welcome Annmarie McLeary from Blairgowrie Dominic Graham from Lochgelly Look out for your first Speak Out Meetings; Lochgelly and Blairgowrie! 23

24 ARK Tenants Grass cutting starts April Now that Spring is here, our Landscapers will start their garden maintenance service again. They will cut grass, edge, remove cut grass and rubbish every 2 weeks. During periods of frequent rain, grass cutting cannot always take place. Dog droppings on the grass also prevent it being cut, so please clean up after your dog. Remember: If you have large items which are too big for the bucket, please phone your local council and arrange for them to pick these items up. Do not leave these unwanted items on the street. A tidy estate benefits everyone! Tenants who have their own garden should keep it tidy and make sure that grass and hedges/bushes are cut regularly. Pests in your Home Unfortunately the next thing that sometimes comes with Spring and Summer is uninvited guests in your home, such as ants and mice. ARK does not deal with pests so if you have pest problems you will need to call a pest control company to deal with the issue yourself. Your local council can give you more information. 24

25 Reduce Junk Mail and Sales Phone If you don t want any more Junk Mail in your post you can register FREE with the Mailing Preference Service at OR phone If you don t want any more unwanted phone calls you can register your phone number FREE with the Telephone Preference Service at OR phone Central Heating Broken - Who to Phone Gas Central Heating: If you are an ARK tenant and you have a Gas Central Heating break down at any time day or night please contact: KINGDOM GAS ON Electric Central Heating: If you are an ARK tenant and you have an Electric Central Heating break down please contact ARK on during office hours. Outwith office hours phone the Emergency Contractor for your area. You will find a leaflet with this Newsletter with all the numbers to call for repairs and maintenance of your heating. Hang it where it is handy for you to see! 25

26 Welfare Adviser for ARK Tenants I am Drew McLellan. I am the Advice Project Manager on the Managing Change project. We get our money from The Scottish Legal Aid Board. The project s aims are to make sure Ark Tenants can get good advice on welfare benefits and deal with financial worries: it means to help you not to have money worries, not to build up debts so that you find it hard to manage. In the beginning this help will be carried out by project advisers. They will also be giving training to ARK Housing Officers and Support Workers: They will then move on. ARK work together with The Action Group to give you this services. They are my employers. I have been working in Benefit Advice and Money Advice for over 20 years. I have worked with the Citizens Advice Bureau and the City of Edinburgh Council Welfare Rights Service and other places. I have worked on different things that have given me the experience and knowledge I need to make sure I give a good service to ARK Tenants. Drew McLellan (Advice Project Manager) I am Val Stewart your new Housing Services Assistant. I am the first contact in dealing with housing enquiries. I look forward to providing a helpful, friendly service within the housing 26

27 Do you want to change something about your house in some way? Medical Aids and Adaptations If you want to change your house in any way, such as putting in a new light fittings, changing the kitchen, installing a shower; you must contact us first. You might want to make changes to your home for medical reasons such as a wet floor shower or grab rails to assist you living in your home. We will only be able to make these changes if we are given funds from the Scottish Government. If you feel that you need any of these put into your home, please get in touch with your local social work department who will assess what you need. Then they will let ARK know what needs to be done. 27

28 Direct Debits Reasons to Switch Direct Debits are convenient, quick and easy to set up. Best of all they save money. The more tenants who pay by Direct Debit instead of Pay point, the more ARK has time to spend on things that really matter to tenants. More and more tenants across Scotland are switching to Direct Debit because they save time, they are safe and they re guaranteed. All you need is a debit card If you would like to switch to direct debit, or you want to find out more, please call to speak to a member of the housing team. Data Protection Officer Tel: john.rankin@arkha.org.uk Maintenance Team Contacts repairs@arkha.org.uk Housing Team Contacts Tel: housing@arkha.org.uk Tenant Participation Contacts sue.tait@arkha.org.uk If you have any questions or need to contact me for any reason here is Sue Tait s phone number and address and sue.tait@arkha.org.uk Sue will get in touch with you as soon as possible. Thank you. This newsletter was produced by ARK Community Networks. ARK Community Networks is a trading name of ARK Housing Association Ltd, Communities Scotland Number HEP66, Scottish Charity Number SC