Issue 6 Page 1 of 21 February 2011

Dear all, It’s been a busy couple of months regarding our Transforming Adult Social Services agenda and some areas are moving forward at quite a pace now. Some staff have raised with me their concerns that they do not feel fully involved in some points of the process, and I intend to look closely at how we can improve on this. We have been lucky to engage with Dr. Paul Thomas recently who will be supporting us to re-think how we engage and empower front line staff. So I hope the learning from Paul’s work will help us involve staff more meaningfully across the whole TASS agenda. We have had fantastic support from the strategic programme office over the last couple of months to help us manage all of the various projects in a more systematic way and will soon be looking for more front line staff to play a role in the various workstreams. I attended a workshop on coaching and mentoring recently and am liaising with our training and development colleagues to see if we could develop this approach across the whole of Adult Social Services ….. so watch this space. On a less positive note the funding for the evaluation of the pilot sites across Wales regarding Citizen Directed Support has not been approved - so back to the ‘drawing board’ there. However, on a brighter note Gwenda Thomas, Deputy Minister for Social Services in Wales has announced major reforms to Social Services which includes the statement that: ‘The key to achieving the Assembly Government’s vision will be to ensure that services are centred around the citizen. Users and carers will have a much stronger voice and greater control over services and services will be built around people - not organisations’. So here’s hoping we can all make the rhetoric a reality both across Wales and within the City and County of Swansea. I hope you enjoy reading this edition of the CDS newsletter - please keep your ideas and suggestions etc. coming in! Deborah Driffield Head of Adult Services

Citizen Directed Support

Changing Lives Together

In this issue: • Welcome 2 • Update on the proposed transfer of adult social

care provision 3 • Participation & Involvement

group for Carers 6 • New workshops for Carers 7 • Swansea Citizen’s Alliance 8 • Person Centred Thinking Skills Training 10

Out and About – developing community involvement 12

• Respite Care for Older Adults 13 • Adult Family Placement

welcomes new client 14 • Community Focus 15 • Transcend – a mental health peer mentoring project 17 • Be involved – what our citizens told us 19 • Working together 20

Issue 6 Page 2 of 21 February 2011

Welcome to the first 2011 issue of Social Services’ newsletter focusing on Citizen Directed Support. The current ‘hot topic’ is the proposal to transfer Adult Social Care Services to an arms-length Local Authority Trading Company. This month Cabinet has approved the development of a full business case for the model of service provision. On page 3 is an article by Deborah Driffield explaining more about what’s happening in this area. And as Deborah mentioned in the Staff Briefing paper sent out on 11th February, the full report that went to Cabinet can be viewed by following the link to the Cabinet papers of the 10th February, 2011, page 64 onwards: http://www.swansea.gov.uk/media/pdf/p/m/Agenda_Pack_Public.pdf On the service user side, the Swansea Citizens’ Alliance held its first meeting at the end of January. There is information about this on page 8. The first phase of the programme to train staff in person-centred thinking concluded in January, with two of our staff – Ceri Jones and Jane Thomas – now qualified to deliver the Helen Sanderson Training programme in house. On page 10 Ceri tells us more about the training. The three initial sessions were oversubscribed, but a new programme of 2-day courses will start in April, so staff who were unsuccessful in getting on one of these will soon be able to sign up for training.

Our next newsletter will be published around Easter time. Just as this newsletter was being finalised, the Assembly Government published Sustainable Social Services in Wales: a Framework for Action. The next newsletter will have more information about how Swansea fits in to this and what the implications for our work will be. There will also be an article on Community Networks. Please do send in your stories and questions for the newsletter, as everyone seems to enjoy reading about what’s happening around our different services. Don’t assume that someone else has already told us about what’s going on in your area – tell us about it! If you have a photo too, better still! And if there’s something you’d like the newsletter to cover, let us know. Remember we’re happy to include: • Case studies of successful outcomes

and/or community involvement • Personal stories from service users • Positive snippets of good news or

innovative ideas (just a few lines is fine) • Useful hints or tips you’d like to share

with others • Links to articles that you’ve found

particularly useful or inspiring

Colleagues in independent sector and voluntary organisations are also very welcome to submit contributions. The copy deadline for contributions to the next newsletter is 12th April.

If you have anything to contribute to a future newsletter – an article, a question, a tip, a link or even an idea for an article you’d like someone else to write – please contact the editorial team. Helen Barney 636902 helen.barney@swansea.gov.uk Angela Morgan 636414 angela.morgan@swansea.gov.uk

WELCOME

Issue 6 Page 3 of 21 February 2011

What has the process been so far (shortened account!!) As you may remember in September 2010 I presented a report to the Members Business Improvement Board (MBIB) to highlight the pressures facing the Local Authority specifically in relation to directly provided Adult Social Care Services (In-House Services). The report also suggested possible alternative models of service delivery that would be more sustainable both in terms of resources and the model of care. I then presented a further report to Cabinet in October 2010, requesting approval to develop a ‘business case/high impact options appraisal’, to explore the various models that are available to provide Adult Social Care. On the 10th February 2011, Cabinet approved the following: • Development of a full business case to evaluate the potential benefits of creating

some form of Local Authority Trading Company (LATC) with social objectives as an alternative ‘Social Enterprise business model’ to provide Adult Social Care Provision within the City and County of Swansea.

• Comparison of any identified benefits, risks and costs associated with the

development of a LATC with the potential benefits, risks and costs associated with continuing to deliver services in-house.

• Access to specialist legal advice to support the development of the full business case

by ensuring that the development of a LATC is the most appropriate legal vehicle to deliver a Social Enterprise business model for the provision of Adult Social Care.

Why are we doing this? We are embarking on this journey because of the policy direction that now exists around citizen directed support, increased expectations of service users and the current and longer term financial situation. It is crucial that we consider how long term sustainability can be achieved; Future service models will need to be responsive, flexible and enabling, of high quality, whilst also being best value for money and sustainable in the longer term.

Continued/……

Update on the Proposed Transfer of Adult Social Care Provision (In House Services) to an Arms-Length Trading Company)

Issue 6 Page 4 of 21 February 2011

At present our largest expenditure is on traditional day, domiciliary and residential care. Services are generally at capacity levels, but are inflexible, with people having to fit into what provision is available rather than providing flexible and responsive support. Also there is proportionately little spent on those services which may prevent or delay the need for more intensive services. Any new service model will need to focus on re-ablement and maintaining independence and will require major changes in the way Social Services uses the resources available. We already purchase, rather than provide directly, a large part of our services. For example, with regards to residential care 73% is commissioned from external independent and third sector organisations and more than 57% of home care and 33% of day care is similarly commissioned rather than provided by Social Services. Why are we keen to develop a business along the lines of a Social Enterprise to deliver Adult Social Care? We became interested in Social Enterprises as an alternative to how we currently manage our service provision for a number of reasons. A social enterprise is a business or service with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners. Social enterprises tackle a wide range of social and environmental issues. They compete in the marketplace like any other business, using their business skills to achieve social aims. Like any other business, social enterprises aim to sustain their business and make profits – it is what they do with their profit that is different. Most SE business models can prove that they have systems in place to involve staff, service users and communities more meaningfully in the running of their businesses. The Welsh Assembly Government has published a Strategy for the development of Social Enterprises and has funded a number of Regional projects to support their development. The Swansea / Carmarthen ‘Collaborative Communities’ project will provide ongoing support to the development of the current business case we are developing. What are the benefits to us specifically? In relation specifically to Adult Social Services provision there are a number of opportunities that a Social Enterprise model could realise: Potential to save money via reduction in back-office functions, reduction in sickness, turnover rates and over time payments. Opportunity to develop more effective and efficient models of care, Potential to maintain and improve quality, Access to other funding, Services can be purchased via a Direct Payment (not currently an option for those services directly provided by the Local Authority) Increased Innovation and flexibility around models of care, Terms and conditions become more flexible but without losing rights.

Continued/…..

Issue 6 Page 5 of 21 February 2011

What is the difference between a Local Authority Trading Company(LATC) and a Social Enterprise(SE)? If the Local Authority had proceeded with their early proposed intentions of creating a Social Enterprise, and directly transferred the service provision of Adult Services to the newly created Enterprise, the Authority would have breached the implied and expressed principles of the European Procurement Law. This posed a risk of challenge from the identified market that could potentially provide this service, but had not had the opportunity to bid for the [transferred] service provision by way of a procurement process An alternative mechanism available was to create a ‘special purpose vehicle’ and transfer the service provision into some form of Local Authority Trading Company (LATC). The LATC could adopt social objectives and other principles inherent in any Social Enterprise, and depending on their constitution, could be recorded as a Social Enterprise. A LATC could also be seen as a stepping stone to the development of a stand-alone Social Enterprise at some point in the future. This would allow time for the LATC to demonstrate financial viability and would need to be permissible within the contract established between the LATC and the local authority. What happens next? The work-streams that have been identified as critical include: • All legal aspects and the viability of the preferred option in detail, including

Procurement issues and Contract negotiation. • The financial aspects and the “affordability” of the preferred option. • Any HR issues including the formal Consultation process with TU and Staff, Terms and

Conditions (TUPE) and Pension Arrangements. • Any transfer of Assets including Premises, Plant and Equipment, Materials and Stock,

Vehicles and ICT Equipment arrangements etc. • The Commissioning of future models of care and support, shaping the market and

anticipating collaborative/ integration opportunities. • Engagement and Consultation with all Key Stakeholders including staff. When will this actually happen? Jan CMT Feb Cabinet – seek approval to undertake full business case March Project Board commences Aug Full Business Case Completed Sep MBIB/CMT/Cabinet seek approval to implement October Formal Consultation Commences Nov Prepare Implementation Plan Dec Formal Consultation Completed March Go Live (Transition period to be agreed)

Continued/…..

Issue 6 Page 6 of 21 February 2011

How can I have my Say? I would like to reassure everyone that there will be various ongoing ways of having your say both informally and formally. There will be various events organised, you can send in comments/questions to the newsletter, discuss at your team meetings and as part of the ongoing engagement/consultation process. Thank you for taking the time to read this ….your points of view really are welcome and greatly appreciated. Deborah Driffield Head of Adult Services A participation and involvement focus group will be held for interested carers on Monday 14th March 2011 from 10am-2pm at The Environment Centre, Pier Street, Swansea. A buffet lunch will be included. Carers Wales will be facilitating the event. It is a great chance for carers who want to get more involved in different aspects of participation, from their local communities to national policy, to meet others who share similar views and also find out more about the practicalities. To book a place please contact Delyth Rees at Swansea Carers’ Centre (01792)653344 or email delyth@swanseacarerscentre.org.uk

Participation and Involvement Focus for Swansea’s Carers

“The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when someone asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer." - Henry David Thoreau

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out." - Titus Livius

Issue 6 Page 7 of 21 February 2011

Swansea Carers’ Centre has gratefully received a Wellbeing Activity Grant to run community based stress awareness workshops for carers. Following a consultation in October, where stress workshops were identified as one of the main activities that carers felt would benefit their overall health and wellbeing, the centre successfully applied for a grant to run a number of workshops across Swansea. Successful sessions have been held in Pontarddulais and Clydach, and there will now be a chance to access sessions in other areas including:

• The Gorseinon Institute on Wednesday 23rd February from 10.30am-12.30pm

• Mumbles Pier Ballroom on Friday March 18th from 1pm-3pm

• A session in North Gower on Monday 28th March from 7pm-9pm (venue to be confirmed)

If anyone wishes to attend these sessions please get in touch with Delyth Rees at Swansea Carers’ Centre on (01792)653344 or email delyth@swanseacarerscentre.org.uk

Swansea’s Carers to benefit from locally based stress awareness workshops

"All real living is meeting." – Martin Buber

"There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way." - Christopher Morley

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." - Henry Ford

Issue 6 Page 8 of 21 February 2011

Over 40 people attended the first meeting of the newly-formed Swansea Citizens’ Alliance held on Monday Jan 31st in the Civic Centre. What is the Citizens’ Alliance? The Alliance had its beginnings at a Citizen Directed Support information event, ‘Be Involved!’ held in December 2010. At this event Chris Maggs and Deborah Driffield informed people about the change programme in Social Services. They explained how the two drivers for this — Citizen Directed Support / personalisation and the financial pressures that the public sector faces — mean that we need to listen to and work with people who use services much more closely if we are to continue to survive and improve. A small group of people who use services had worked with Social Services staff and voluntary sector representatives to organise the ‘Be Involved!’ event and continuing this work by forming a bigger and more permanent ‘Citizens’ Alliance’ felt like a natural progression. So the idea is that the Citizens’ Alliance will work in partnership with us in Social Services and act as a ‘critical friend’. We explain the need for change and our ideas for achieving it, and everyone works together to shape what actually happens. Membership is open to anyone who either uses Social Services or other social care services or has an interest in this area. Already it includes people with learning disabilities, people with mental health problems, physically disabled people, Deaf people and people with visual impairment, older people and carers. To date, approximately 50 people have expressed an interest in joining the Alliance. The first meeting The first full meeting of the Alliance on 31st January provided the chance for people to hear from Deborah Driffield about some of the changes we are working on in Social Services, and how services could be delivered differently in the future, including, for example, via different models of Social Enterprise.

Continued/…..

SWANSEA CITIZENS’ ALLIANCE – OUR CRITICAL FRIEND

Issue 6 Page 9 of 21 February 2011

Andrew Hubbard, the Chair of SAIL (South Wales Association of Independent Living), spoke about how working together in such a way will demand a change in culture. We can no longer use existing systems to create new journeys. We all need to be open to new possibilities and develop a renewed sense of trust between us. This will help us all to understand the pressures faced by service providers and the public alike, and to work together to shape things for the better. At the core of the Alliance is new dialogues; diverse ways of talking to each other that allow all involved to be themselves and not to hide behind their traditional labels or jargon. The core value of citizen directed support is that the people who use services need to be at the very heart of what we do, involved in planning, shaping our practice and ensuring that there is — to use the phrase coined by the disability movement — ‘nothing about us without us’. The future of the Citizens’ Alliance Discussions at the first meeting brought up a range of subjects that members were keen to explore further. So, future meetings of the Citizens’ Alliance will include some or all of the following: • A detailed look at the business case for services to be run by a social enterprise or

a local authority trading company instead of by the local authority. • Talking to people already running similar social enterprises / trading companies in

other parts of the country. • Good practice models of service user involvement. • Speakers from the Equality and Human Rights Commission discussing ‘Making Cuts

Fair’. • Information about Direct Payments and how to access them. The next meeting of the Alliance will take place soon. A smaller group of Citizens and staff from Social Services and the voluntary sector are working in the background to organise the agenda and everything that is needed for that meeting. (In a future article we will hear from one of the organisers about what is involved in making such meetings a success.) We think this type of partnership working between service providers and those who use services or with an interest in them is unique, and so it will be interesting to see how it progresses in the next year. Watch this space…

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The training on person centred thinking is not new - many staff have already attended courses over the last five years - but the difference this time was that, as well as three courses being provided, Ceri Jones and Jane Thomas from Service and Staff Development were assessed by Helen Sanderson Associates to become accredited trainers.

Many people will be more familiar with the term “person centred planning” and the change was not made to cause confusion, but to emphasise that the plan is not the important part or the end result; the important part is the individual’s life and outcomes. It can be that people have excellent plans but there is little impact on their lives, or person centred planning is seen as something a specialised team or worker does, separate from the support we provide. It also recognises the good practice that is already there in working in a person centred way though we wouldn’t necessarily have called it “person centred planning”.

As Helen Sanderson Associates explain, “for people being supported by services it is not person centred planning that matters as much as the pervasive presence of person centred thinking. If people who use services are to have positive control over their lives, if they are to have self directed lives within their own communities then those who are around the person, especially those who do the day to day work, need to have person centred thinking skills”.

Much of the course looks at how we gather and share information as even small changes in the way we support someone can have a big impact on making their life better. The person centred thinking tools help us not to miss what appear to be small things while we concentrate on the big issues.

Continued/…..

Person Centred Thinking Skills Training

There was a lot to get through ……

Everyone enjoyed the bit where course participants got to appreciate each other.

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The two day course covers fourteen tools and as the participants are busy staff members, they are generally relieved to find out that the expectation is not to complete all the tools with everyone they support but to see it as a toolkit where the appropriate ones can be used with each individual. However, this does mean a great deal of information is packed into the two days.

Though trainers are used to being observed doing their job, being assessed by Angela from Helen Sanderson Associates did feel a little like resitting your driving test, so Ceri and Jane were relieved that with her support they did achieve the accreditation. They are also very grateful to the staff who attended the recent training for their excellent participation and good humour throughout the course. This now means that the training will be available as a rolling programme, with courses already scheduled to run between April and December 2011.

As the course is open to all staff working in Adult Services, at the moment we still have more applicants than places, so places are shared between the service areas.

For more information on Person Centred Thinking go to: www.helensandersonassociates.co.uk

If you have been on this course and would like to tell people about how it has changed the way you do your job, please drop us a line. Eds.

One of the tools in action

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Over the last few months Denise Thomas has been busy trying to develop community day opportunities that link together different groups of service users and others from the local community. Although Denise’s focus has been on encouraging adults with a learning disability to get involved in social activities away from traditional day centres, none of the groups are exclusively for this client group. Here is a short account of some of the groups and what they’ve been getting up to.

One group meets every Tuesday afternoon at the Coopers Arms in Morriston. Adults of all ages can get together to meet friends, play pool or darts and have a pub lunch. The pub is easy to get to, being on a main bus route and with a large car park. The landlord has been very welcoming and supportive of the group’s use of the pub. Service users who have visited the Coopers Arms have really enjoyed the food; one man reported that his portion of fish ‘was so big it was hanging off the plate’.

A group has recently started in the Cockett Inn to provide an opportunity for

older men to socialise together. A few games of pool are often the focus of these Thursday afternoon sessions. We knew this would get competitive when some people turned up with their own pool cue, and indeed some very good players have emerged with a strong will to win, but it’s all in good humour. Again the landlord has made us most welcome and the friendly regulars welcome the fact we liven up the place a bit.

At the Central Library, a Tuesday morning group brings together older people

who attend day services at both Norton Lodge and Abergelli. The group discuss a range of topics and share experiences and memories, and people often seem to find that hearing other people’s memories triggers memories of their own that they had forgotten all about. Happy times are spent reminiscing! This group works best with a small number of people. Staff at the Library have been very supportive and keen for this community opportunity to continue.

This is just a small snapshot of how individuals are having meaningful social opportunities in the community. Denise hopes to share many more through this newsletter in the future.

OUT AND ABOUT Some examples of developing community involvement

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Since the closure of Earlsmoor last year, a lot of work has gone into remodelling the respite – or short break – options for older people. The focus is more on carers than it once was, and only those people who have a carer providing them with regular and substantial support are eligible for most of our short break services. A Short Breaks Bureau has been established. Once someone has had an initial assessment which confirms their eligibility for local authority support, the Bureau is able to help people find a break which is suitable for them. Two planners – one for service users and one for carers - have been developed to help people work out what they want and need from a respite break. Some of the options now available are: Short breaks in care homes Several of our care homes are now able to offer short breaks. The main provision is at Rose Cross and at Ty Waunarlwydd, the latter being for people with dementia. In addition, Cartref, the Hollies and Bonymaen House will have a respite bed which is primarily for people living in the local community, enabling them to have a break without going far from home. Extra care flat There is also an extra-care flat available in Hazel Court, for people who would like a little more independence. Any domiciliary care service the person is having could be transferred to Hazel Court, in addition to the on-call support available at the complex. Someone taking a short break there is able

to join in with the range of activities that take place there. Adult Family Placement We are also trying to develop an Adult Family Placement Scheme for older adults, working closely with those staff who have for some years run a successful scheme for people with learning disabilities. More information about this is on page 14. People who don’t have a carer The options mentioned above are only available to people who have a carer. Those who don’t can still have an opportunity for a break from day-to-day living by having their care needs which are eligible for Social Services funding met in a different location. For example, someone may go to stay with a relative in another town and have a local domiciliary care service while they are there, in place of their existing domiciliary care package. Breaks together Another option might be for someone to have a break away with their carer, perhaps staying in a hotel specially designed for people with mobility difficulties. Of course the local authority would not fund the holiday itself, but if care support was needed this could be supplied. The Short Break Bureau could also help by suggesting possible suitable locations. There is more information on the website at www.swansea.gov.uk/shortbreaks, or contact Emma Forrester at the Short Break Bureau on 01792 637619.

Respite Care for Older Adults – More Flexibility and Choice

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Swansea’s Adult Family Placement Scheme (AFP) offers family-based care, both respite and long term, to adults who have a Learning Disability. Potential Carers undergo a thorough assessment. Both Scheme staff and the Scheme itself are regulated by the CSSIW. In many other areas of the country schemes similar to ours offer the same services to older people. Last year the AFP Scheme was asked to set up a pilot scheme for older people in Swansea using our existing AFP Carers. Scheme. Staff felt that this was a service that would work well for the older people in Swansea. We agreed to make four respite places available to Older People’s Services for a six month period. Each of these placements was to be for a maximum of six weeks over a twelve month period. If successful, it was agreed that these placements could continue because it would be fair to the service users and their families but no new placements would be made after the six month pilot scheme. The reason for this is that the AFP Scheme is currently set up to provide a service for the Community Support Team for people who have a learning disability. The placements offered to older people reduce the service available for that team’s service users. It was felt that the pilot scheme would be sufficient for Older People’s Services to gather enough evidence to decide whether this might be a model of care that they would wish to replicate. Because of the short-term nature of this pilot it was decided to use the Scheme’s existing processes with regard to documentation, allocation and charges. All of these would need to be looked at if it were decided to use this model of care in the future. We agreed to offer a service to one service user from each of the patch-based teams and one from the team working with people who have dementia.

Continued/…..

Adult Family Placement Welcomes New Client G

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As registered manager of the Scheme I had to apply for a variation of the terms of our registration before the pilot could begin. During this period I and my staff were busy publicising the Scheme to our colleagues in Older People’s Services, while Sue Field kindly arranged training about dementia for our Carers. The pilot has been slow to take off probably because it has been such a “different” model to that which service users, family and staff are used to in Older People’s Services. It is a big step for an older person to go and stay with strangers, even with introductions beforehand. Most interest has come from Sue Field’s team, who work with people with dementia, and so far we have had four enquiries and two actual placements, leaving capacity for two more people to join the Scheme. The first two placements have gone well, despite some initial anxiety from one gentleman in particular. He was very wary about getting out of the car and going into the carer’s house for his stay – he just wanted to go home again. The Adult Family Placement Officer and his wife failed to persuade him, but the carer had a much better technique and he was soon sitting in an armchair having a cup of tea. The resultant break was enjoyed by all concerned and we hope he will be going for respite again soon. Vicki Davies Team Leader – Service Development Community Support Team

01792-614100

"You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore." - Christopher Columbus

“Life’s most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” Martin Luther King

‘The future is already here, it’s just unevenly spread’ - William Gilbert.

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With more and more people busy having to work hard and make ends meet community spirit in some areas is a thing of the past, However, the community of Gorseinon are looking at a new way of building community links once more; this popular town is looking at how we can all link together to increase what is already a close-knit community. The Social Development Service for adults with a learning disability based at Fforestfach set up a local community base for those who live in the Gorseinon area at Lime Street Institute. This has now progressed to the social centre based next to Princess Street Surgery. The group mixes with other like-minded community groups that are based within the community of Gorseinon.

From the social centre base the group have aided the community by regularly litter picking within Gorseinon and have also joined community groups to plant bulbs in Llewellyn Park. The group plan to take advantage of joining the new Time Together initiative which is being co-ordinated at the Canolfan Centre, where people can volunteer their time in exchange for time credits or community vouchers which are being developed to be used in the local community area.

Members of the public are already noticing the group’s hard work and congratulating them when they are working. The team based in Gorseinon are looking at new ways to engage with their community – if you’re passing look out for them and say hello!

Community Focus

Enjoying a cup of tea and a chat with our friends at the community café ‘Revive’ in Lime Street.

Doing our bit! Keeping our community clean

More hands make light work when the community work together

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Transcend is a Big Lottery-funded project which will build on the substantial development work already done by Swansea mental health support services to establish recovery support in the area. The project will provide training and support to mental health beneficiaries to become volunteer peer mentors, who will use their experience of mental health recovery to provide encouragement, motivation and a listening ear to those they work with (mentees). With the support of the Project Coordinator, mentors will support the mentees to develop action plans and empower the mentee to take control of their own recovery journey. Peer mentoring has been shown to have benefits for both mentor and mentee in a mental health setting. The Scottish Government’s review of the Scottish Mental Health Peer Support Worker Pilot Scheme found that mentees had an increased hope of recovery, and were better able to take control of their own recovery. The review also found that the peer mentors gained confidence and self esteem, allowing them to make constructive use of their experiences of recovery and keep up to date on self management techniques. Both mentors and mentees will generally be referred to Transcend by mental health support services, such as Mental Health Forum-registered organisations, statutory services, or advice and guidance services. Self referrals will also be accepted. Referral forms are being designed to make the process as straightforward as possible. As a staged pilot project, a total of 24 mentors will be recruited through the duration of the project giving around four hours a week. All mentors will undertake an enhanced CRB check. For individuals with convictions, the SCVS Recruitment of Offenders Policy will apply (this will be discussed with all applicants prior to completing the check). All mentors will complete an induction training program. This is currently in development, but will allow mentors the option of gaining OCN accreditation at Level 2 (comparable with GCSE A*-C) and cover all the issues surrounding one-to-one work, mentoring and mental health recovery.

Continued/…..

Transcend – A Mental Health Peer Mentoring Project

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Both mentor and mentee will receive ongoing support, completing action plans, and mentors will also keep a mentor journal so that progress can be monitored. Mentors will receive regular phone contact and face-to-face supervision and the referring organisation will be invited to participate in reviews. Mentors expenses will be reimbursed and they will be offered further training opportunities as well as group support sessions will also be developed. As part of the project mental health information and training sessions will also be made available to organisations and individuals in Swansea completely free of charge! Participants could include staff, volunteers or service users. The training can be developed in consultation with the group to ensure that information and activities are at an appropriate level, and completely related to the activities that the organisation undertakes. To find out more about the project, come along to the project launch event – March 23rd (confirmation required to attend). The session will include a talk by Rachel Perkins, Mind Champion of the Year 2010, providing a unique opportunity to find out more about recovery. If you would like to receive a booking form, please contact the Project Coordinator using the details below. Jaymie Huckridge, Peer Mentoring (Mental Health) Project Coordinator Telephone (01792)543637 or e-mail Jaymie_huckridge@scvs.org.uk

“Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." - St. Francis of Assisi

"My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there." - Charles Kettering

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time." - Barack Obama

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Extensive feedback was gathered at the Be Involved! citizens’ event in December. There were a number of different ways for participants to give feedback, including a ‘question wall’ for specific questions, write-on table covers for both comments and questions, and instant audience feedback sessions as well as the traditional event evaluation form. Comments and questions raised during the workshop sessions were also recorded. This gave organisers a lot to analyse! Overall, feedback tended towards the positive. People welcomed the opportunity to hear the views of a range of people and to get a better understanding of the impending changes at first hand, though for some people there was too much information to take in on one day. There was a strong view that both individuals and interest groups needed to be involved in changes that would affect them, and to be listened to. The future of direct payments, self assessment, the role of carers,

community projects and social enterprise were all recurring themes. Certain groups, such as Deaf people and people with learning disabilities, were concerned that their particular views and issues were not overlooked during the transformation process. Opinion was most divided over the workshops; some people found them the most useful part of the day while others felt they achieved little, or were monopolised by a minority. Organisers originally intended to produce a short summary of all the feedback. However the views and comments expressed were so wide-ranging – and so interesting – that we feel it is more important to share these in full. This information is now available on a section of our Citizen Directed Support website. Click on http://personalisation.ccos.me.uk/latest-news/feedback-from-the-be-involved-event/ to go direct to the page about the event.

Be Involved! What our citizens told us

"You can adopt the attitude there is nothing you can do, or you can see the challenge as your call to action." - Catherine Pulsifer

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2011 is the ‘European Year of the Volunteer’ and Learning Disability Services have been keen to recognize the dedication and support that volunteers offer to their various services. These are the unsung heroes in the field of social care. We have strong associations with the volunteers from INVOLVE. The support from the dedicated individuals who give up their time for free means that our services are able to offer many more opportunities than previously. Another partnership deserving recognition is our continual support from City & County of Swansea Employment Training Services, who provide staff under the auspices of Future Job Fund (FJF) workers. The Future Job Fund gives people a six month contract which aims to help them prepare and train for the world of work. A number of dedicated individuals (who have become invaluable colleagues) have joined the social care route and have had a taste of what it’s like to work in this sector. Sam Saidely, who was a FJF worker at the Flexible Support Service during 2010, said:

I was fortunate enough to get an insight into this field and I’ve embraced it with open arms. Through my short time here I’ve met some fantastic people who have opened my eyes to a better life. Both staff and service user have welcomed me with open arms. I don’t think those that work for Social Services get enough praise for their day to day work and I feel it takes a certain person to do this job to a commendable level.

I recommend this field to anyone with an interest in making people happy and spreading goodness throughout the world. I know it’s cheesy but I think I’ve found a home with my friends, here in the upstairs office in the Beeches.

Continued/…..

WORKING TOGETHER

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Since this, Sam has completed his Technical Certificate in Care and NVQ Level 2 in Care, (with training and support provided by CCS Employment training department), and last week he was offered a position as a Support Worker with Walsingham. Alex Anderson, who spent six months as a FJF worker with the Social Development Team last year, said: The programme is great. It gives invaluable experience in a type of work I wouldn’t have normally considered. Alex is also now in full time social care employment. As well as providing valuable social care experience the FJF scheme is proving to have a success rate in terms of those who want to pursue it as a career, with several volunteers finding employment in the field of health and social care. A BIG thank you and well done to all those volunteers. Following on from this work, the Flexible Support Service (FSS) has blazed the way in recruiting Sam Leggett, their very first Young Foundation Apprentice in Health and Social Care. Sam, 18, has quickly established himself as being very much part of the team, becoming quite invaluable in terms of the support he offers both staff and service users at the many social clubs provided by the FSS. Asked whether he was enjoying his first experiences of health and social care Sam replied: To be honest I am having the time of my life. I didn’t know opportunities like this existed, let alone get paid for it… I really want a job like this and I will try hard to get my qualifications. Based on articles that originally appeared in the Community Services Newsletter