Changing  Our  Lives  

Bernie  crowned  winner    of  Spotlight  2011!  

After  a  wonderful  evening  of  fantastic  performances,  Bernadette  Realf  was  crowned  winner  of  Spotlight  2011.    In  front  of  nearly  200  people,  including  the  Mayor  of  Sandwell,  local  hero  ‘blind’  Dave  Heeley  and  up  and  coming  sporting  sensation  Tannika  Burgess,  Bernie  performed  a  beautiful  rendition  of  ‘Danny  Boy’  on  harmionca  and  truly  stole  the  show.      Everyone  found  her  finale  really  emotional  –  not  a  dry  

eye  in  the  house1    

W I N T E R   2 0 1 1  

Jessica  Bromley,  a  Wolverhampton  People’s  Parliament  MP,  was  a  close  second  after  singing  ‘My  Heart  will  go  on’  from  the  film  Titanic.    It  was  a  powerful  performance.  

 

 

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First prize was sponsored by Captured Music Ltd. They have donated studio time to create a sound and film recording of Bernie’s winning song. She will also go on to perform at the Sandwell Mayor’s Show in 2012. Bernie and Jess were also awarded prizes of £100 each by another show sponsor, New Hope Care. Our other sponsors included Formal Affairs and Sandwell Community Care and Trust.

Andy  Howells  and  Jessica  Bromley  

Harriet  Pooler  and  family  

Nigel  and  5  of  his  6  wives  …  but  where  is  number  6??  

Everyone  had  a  great  evening  and  we  received  lots  of  compliments:    

“A  big  thank  you  to  everyone  at  Changing  Our  Lives.    It  was  perfect  from  start  to  finish  and  we  certainly  felt  like  stars  walking  down  the  red  carpet.    Nigel  did  a  magnificent  job  as  host.    Thank  you  for  inviting  us  to  be  part  of  something  that  was  truly  special”.  

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Battle  of  the  Boroughs  One  of  the  highlights  of  the  night  included  Dudley  Din  winning  Battle  of  the  Boroughs.    This  part  of  the  competition  saw  Dudley,  Sandwell  and  Wolverhampton  Council  employees  singing  and  dancing  their  hearts  out!    Fake  That  really  got  the  crowd  up  on  their  feet  singing  ‘Love  Love’  with  backing  dancers  from  Performing  Arts.    Fake  That  have  since  gone  on  to  set  up  their  own  Facebook  page  with  a  big  following.    Wolverhampton  was  represented  by  spoof  Abba  group  Madda  who  gave  a  great  performance.  

The  Best  of  the  Rest  The  Fab  4  

   Gemma  Caffrey,  Philip  Humphrey,  Sonja  West  and  William  Horncastle  have  performed  at  Open  Mic  Nights  regularly.    They  came  together  to  form  the  ‘Fab  4’  and  sang  Lean  On  Me  at  the  Spotlight  Final.  

 

 

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John  Watson  John  is  a  talented  organist  who  came  to  perform  at  Spotlight’s  September  open  mic  night.    Despite  his  visual  impairment  he  has  developed  his  piano  skills,  which  demonstrate  his  natural  musical  abilities.      

Gina  Patel  

James  Millard  

Adam  Crompton  

Gina  has  attended  most  of  our  Open  Mic  Nights  and  has  grown  in  confidence  with  each  performance.    James  has  entertained  us  at  Open  Mic  nights  with  everything  from  opera  to  Queen  celebration  to  a  ventriloquism  act  with  puppets  James  has  made  himself.    Adam  is  part  of  the  Halas  Music  Project  who  performed  at  the  last  Open  Mic  Night.    A  big  thank  you  to  everyone  that  came  and  supported  our  performers,  it  helped  to  make  the  evening  really  special.        

 

 

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Frances  Painter  and  Darren  Selman  Awards  

Alan  Slim  

Dawn  Evans  

The winner of the Darren Selman award is Alan Slim. Up until last year he was in a low secure hospital in Sandwell. During this time he became a member of the Patient Council speaking up for the rights of people with learning disabilities and mental health issues. He has become an MP with Sandwell’s People’s Parliament. He is now getting ready to move into his own flat, which is a great personal achievement. Alan is an example of how someone can turn things around with hard work and determination and get the life that he wants. He says, “My life is now shining for me - I never thought I would get there”.

The winner of the Frances Painter Award is Dawn Evans She had lived in residential settings or with family for all of her life. She became an informal carer to someone she lived with but following a deterioration in his health she lost her friend and her home where she had lived for many years. She was supported to move into her own home in her own community. Since moving she has found new independence and has developed new friendships. She has come through a very difficult period where she was given many choices about where she wanted to live. She chose to live independently and has shown great enthusiasm and motivation to increase the control she has over her life and tackle new challenges and opportunities.  

Robert  Charlish  Robert  Charlish  received  a  special  acknowledgement  for  being  part  of  a  pilot  project  using  assisted  technology  to  develop  independence  and  improve  quality  outcomes  for  people.    Professionals  were  concerned  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  live  independently,  but  he  proved  them  all  wrong  but  he  now  manages  his  own  medication  and  has  safe  systems  in  place  to  ensure  his  well  being  24  hours  a  day.    He  also  travels  independently  and  uses  Skype  to  keep  in  touch  with  relatives.  

 

 

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‘All  of  Me’    

Changing Our Lives launched an innovative set of Quality of Health Principles for some of the most vulnerable members of the local population on 11th November, with the Chief Executive of the NHS for England, Sir David Nicholson.

The Quality of Health Principles were developed by people with learning disabil ities, physical disabilities, people with visual and hearing impairments and people with mental health issues and older people, for use by local health and care services. The Principles set out the expectations of local people about what a good quality patient experience should be like from local health services.

Launching the Principles, Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS for England, said: “We need the patient to be at the centre of all we do and we must ensure every person has a high quality experience of our services”.

“I  Pledge”   All of the delegates who attended the launch signed up to the Quality of Health Principles, having their photo taken and making short films of their commitment. The photos can be seen on the Changing Our Lives website: http://www.changingourlives.org/current-work/47-i-pledge http://www.changingourlives.org/current-work/whole-of-life-standards/2-latest-news/51-whole-life-pledge

 

 

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Marking the launch of the Principles, Jayne Leeson, Chief Executive of Changing Our Lives, said: “It is fantastic that we have been able to bring together local people to define what a high quality patient experience is for them. I am proud of the work we have done together and delighted we have been able to share this with the NHS Chief Executive and Department of Health.”

The Principles will be used as a basis for audits of local health services by Changing Our Lives, carried out by auditors with disabil ities, older people and people with mental health needs. Auditors from Changing Our Lives wil l also be visiting Sir David Nicholson and senior ministers in the Department of Health in January 2012 to look at the work in more detail and share the audit methodology with the Department of Health.

Areas covered in the Principles include: accessible communication, information, choice, admission, staying in hospital, discharge, appointments, treatment, the way

professionals work with me, accessible environment, privacy and dignity, respect, medication and complaints.

 

 

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Training    In November Nigel trained 400 medical students at Birmingham University medical school. They were trained in the history of people with learning disabil ities from the 1800s through to the present day, looking at how people were now achieving greater independence, living in their own homes, having relationships and buying their own support services with personal budgets. The training was very well received: “We wanted the students to leave with a different impression of people with a learning disability than many of them will have come with, i.e. citizens who can and should be able to have control over their lives. The excellent session that you two delivered achieved this aim”.

Liz  Mabley  –  Trustee  and  friend    

It was with great sadness that we learnt that one of our Trustees, Liz Mabley, passed away after a short period in hospital. Liz had supported Changing Our Lives since May 2009 - her experience and bubbly personality were invaluable. She worked with a range of communities across Sandwell for over 30 years and as a reward for her hard work and commitment as an active champion for community development she was awarded an MBE in 2001. She was known for making change happen in local communities, working with people to make sure their voices were heard. Liz was one of life’s diamonds and she will be truly missed by everyone at Changing Our Lives.

 

 

 

Spotlight  Open  Mic  Nights  

 • 3rd  February  2012  

 • 13th  April  2012  

 • 1st  June  2012  

 

Come  and  perform  at  one  of  our  upcoming  Spotlight  Open  Mic  Nights  

at  The  Public  6.00  –  8.00  pm.  

You  may  be  selected  for  the  2012  final!  

All  the  best  for  2012  from    Changing  Our  Lives!  

CHANGING  OUR  LIVES   WINTER  2011  

Changing  Our  Lives  The  Public,  New  Street,  West  Bromwich  B70  7PG  

Tel:  0121  533  7174  

Email:  ask@changiingourlives.org  

www.changingourlives.org  

www.twitter.com/Positive_Lives