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Read All About It Celebra ons and events

October 2016

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News Round-up and Diary Dates Sky Fallers, smoothie bikes, tag rugby and key dates 

Pages 7 & 8

Service News Keep up to date with all the news from Aspire 

In this issue:

Olympics for All  The sun shone in Leeds as brightly as in Rio during our Olympics for All in August.  Whilst elite athletes from around the world were     going for gold in Brazil, over 100 of our very own compe tors were running, pushing, throwing and jumping their way through 34 races and matches at John Charles Centre for Sport.   The crowd entered into the spirit of the games by singing, cheering and applauding during 4 hours of thrilling track and field events including the javelin, shot pu , discus, hammer, long jump and races. Also, young people from the Na onal Ci zen Service had our feet tapping and people dancing to their constant musical rhythmic drumming. (Con nued on page 4)

Top: The opening ceremony. Bo om : Women’s wheelchair race and Patricia running a relay being encouraged by Debs

www.aspirecbs.org.uk 

Pages 4, 5 & 6

Olympics for All Captured in photos

Left: Staff from Middleton Leisure Centre at the 80’s Beach Party Right:  Scott Hall Respite’s Summer Fair & BBQ 

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Ruby Anniversary Congratula ons to Bramley day service on celebra ng the 40th anniversary of their building opening (which was on 16 September 1976). Despite the awful weather over 200 people showed up throughout the day to share in the celebra ons including people who have moved into community bases, people who have le the service and former members of staff. With smoothie bikes, BBQ, raffle and live music (Mr Lamin & the African Root Music Band) there was plenty to keep everyone happy. Ma hew Birch explained that staff had set up a memory board: “The whole board was covered in photographs of people who use the service (taken in their prime) or who have passed away. Everyone wanted to look at it. For me this was the best part – it was very moving”. Trade Union, GMB, generously donated the star raffle prize of £200 worth of vouchers for the White Rose Centre. Paula who a ends Bramley won this prize and was very pleased to go on a spending

spree with her sister! Staff felt their hard work had all been worthwhile because everyone had a great day.

Rain and Shine Sadly, rain has plagued the summer events this year. That’s why we had to cancel our South Summer Fest in July. It was touch and go for Middleton’s community base 80’s themed beach party too, but happily this could go ahead. The neon‐bright colourful clothing, BBQ and fruit kebabs certainly cheered everyone up. A week later and the sun was shining again in me for Sco Hall respite unit’s summer fair and BBQ.

1st Birthday It’s hard to believe that 1st August 2016 was the first anniversary of our spin out from Leeds City Council to become Aspire Community Benefit Society. We marked this in tradi onal style with a celebra on event a ended by approximately 200 members of staff.

Our first Annual General Mee ng in September was also very well a ended. Ginger Cat Theatre Company gave a heart‐warming performance of what each player achieves in life thanks to the support they receive from Aspire. It was a very funny live song and dance performance. Chair of the Board, Sheila Dunham, invited each of the Directors to introduce themselves before our Chief Execu ve, Andy Rawnsley, presented the Annual Report. The members voted unanimously to accept the audited accounts and to re‐appoint Sagars as our accountants. There was an opportunity for ques ons from members before the event was wound up by showing the Made in Leeds TV coverage of our Olympics for All event. You can download a copy of our 2015‐16 Annual Report from the Aspire website at: h p://www.aspirecbs.org.uk/publica ons/annual‐report‐2015‐16 

Left to Right: David enjoys the celebrations, Mandy & Everton with Bramley artwork and party‐goers dancing to 

the music 

DIARY DATES

News Round-Up Sky Fallers is Aspire’s rock and pop singalong band which includes talented members who have a learning disability. They rehearse regularly at Garforth Leisure Centre and the Old Chapel Studios in Holbeck. Not only did they perform at the Ignite Fes val at Calderdale College, but they had a chance to learn some ballet moves too plus the Lady Mayoress of Halifax asked for a photo with Damien! The band also ran a workshop at Bramley day centre, did a gig at Swillington Social Club and played the newly refurbished performance space inside Kirkgate Market.

The smoothie bikes con nue to be in demand – they were at both the Delph and Sco Hall Respite summer fairs, Olympics for All, Great Middleton Show and Bramley’s 40th anniversary.

The 16th annual Disability Tag Rugby Fes val was held at John Charles Centre for Sport in September. More than 250 players – children, young people and adults ‐ took part, including 9 Aspire teams from across Leeds. The event is run in partnership with Leeds City Council and Leeds Rhinos Founda on as part their commitment to provide spor ng opportuni es for all abili es.

In the morning Leeds Rhinos academy players trained everyone who was taking part. The matches in the a ernoon were as compe ve as ever. Ronnie Rhino was on hand to get spectators cheering and the day was rounded off by Danny McGuire and Carl Able presen ng medals.

Throughout the day our community base at John Charles acted as wonderful hosts to anyone who wanted to make a hot drink or sit down to eat lunch at a table. The event organizer, Chris Godfrey from Leeds Rhinos Founda on, said: “The Disability tag Rugby Fes val is always a fantas c event”. Once again it was a great celebra on of the game of rugby.

Leap the Bridge Club Nights At Tiger Tiger from 7 to 10pm

27th Oct &

17th Nov

Closing date for entries to the Aspire Christmas Card Compe on 11th Nov

Wrap up warm for the Victorian Yule Fayre at Middleton Park Café from 10:30 to noon

9th Dec

Leep the Bridge—The Christmas Ball will be at the Royal Armouries from 7‐11pm. Contact The Bridge on 0113 276 2720 for ckets.

12th Dec

Skyfallers Damien and the Lady Mayoress of Halifax 

Lady Mayoress  of Leeds on one of our smoothie bikes 

Below: Darren, Maxine and Chris supporting the south teams at the Tag Rugby Festival 

plus the Barleyfields team with Ronnie Rhino and players Danny and Carl 

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(Con nued from page 1)

A genuine Olympics 2012 flame bearer led the opening ceremony before the ‘Queen’ formally declared the games open.

Three countries were represented: Great Britain (East/North East), the USA (West/North West) and Brazil (South/South East). In the end the results were very close. The USA came 2nd with 55 points overall but there was a e for 1st place between Great Britain and Brazil who had 57 points each.

Well done to everybody who took part and to Tim, Mar n and the team who worked so hard to make this event such a success. I’m certain we’ll be seeing the Olympics in Leeds again in the future.

Entertainment and Opening Ceremony

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Track & Field Events

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Celebrations and awards

20162016

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With Good Cause The people we support and staff have been keeping very busy again raising money for their services and other good causes. Delicious cakes and fabulous cra s were on sale at Delph’s Summer Fair where they raised money for Guide Dogs for the Blind in memory of Lesley Sidwell. Our Beeston respite service will soon have some new sensory products because staff member Tracy K organised a successful raffle at her local club and raised over £150.

Rothwell day service has seen 4 babies born to members of staff over the past year so they decided to hold a babies and buns coffee morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer! Mums brought their li le ones into the centre and people who use the service were absolutely delighted to have lots of cuddles.

Also congratula ons to the Templars Cro staff who joined the ‘Big Sleep’ to raise money for the homeless charity Simon on the Street. On a windy evening in late September they donned their thermal hats, gloves and underwear and slept under the stars near to the Royal Armouries in sleeping bags on cardboard.

Carrie M explained, “It was Heather’s idea. We have so much and some people have so li le. No‐one should have to sleep on the streets at night. We had been thinking about doing this to raise awareness for some me and now we’ve finally managed it.” The team smashed their target of raising £1000 and Sandra C said, “It was a very humbling and emo onal experience”.

Top : Delph summer fair  

Middle: Rothwell Babies and Buns Coffee Morning  

Bottom: Staff members Mia, Heather, Angela, Sandra, Tim, Carrie and Lauren  join the ’Big Sleep’ for Simon on the Street  

Sad News We are sad to report the death of Diane Moody, a much‐loved person who we have supported over the years. She will be missed by all those whose lives she touched. Our deepest condolences go out to her family and friends.

Changing Places In July Changing Places campaigners celebrated 10 years of working to have more Changing Places developed. Here in Leeds we have backed the campaign and now have 23 registered venues, including a mobile Changing Place which is used at most major outdoor events.

Day Service Modernisation The new Richmond Hill community base opened in August. Everyone has moved across the road from the old building and they love the extra space they now have. The refurbishment of the building at Po ernewton includes electrical re‐wiring, new windows, redecora on and installing extra toilet facili es. There will also be a new style recep on, sensory room and sensory garden. The work will be finished in the New Year.

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News Team  

News writer & editor   – Carol Benson e‐News producer/narrators  – Shaun Pilkington & Ian Pearson Newsle er producer  – Rebecca Heim Reporters  – Ailsa Ryder, Caroline Terry & Tim Snell Don’t forget to tell us your good news stories so we can let everyone know about them. Please send them to: carol.benson@aspirecbs.org.uk   

The next issue of our newsle er will be out in:

January 2017

Aspire Community Benefit Society Limited is a registered society in England and Wales under the Cooperative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. Registered number: 7062 HMRC Charities Reference number: EW36148 VAT number: 215 0549 36 Registered Office: Unit 2 Westfield Chambers, Lower Wortley Road, Leeds LS12 4PX

Sharing Information We’ve had a huge response to our Future Planning informa on session for family carers. In fact we are going to repeat the session again

so, if you haven’t let us know that you would like to come along, it’s not too late to add your name to the list. Just ring 0113 378 1919 and we’ll let you know when new date(s) have been fixed.

The Accessible Informa on Standard tells organisa ons how they should make sure they provide informa on which is easy to access and understand. This is not just for the people

who use our service, but for their family carers too.

What makes informa on accessible is different for different people – there is not one size that fits all. At Aspire we use a lot of methods such as plain English, short sentences, video, symbols and photographs to go with the text.

If you are a family carer and have any informa on or communica on needs, please make a member of staff aware of these. They will ask you how these needs can be met and we will take steps to make sure you receive informa on that you can access and understand.

The newsle er is available as a hard copy or to download from our website. If you prefer to watch an accessible e‐news version, this can also be found on our website at:                 www.aspirecbs.org.uk

Having Your Say Thank you to everyone who took part in our first staff survey as Aspire. We had 445 ques onnaires returned which is an amazing 60% response rate. The results are extremely posi ve: more than 90% of you indicated ‘always’ or ‘usually’ on the vast majority of ques ons. You’ve given us some great sugges ons for how we might make services even be er for the people we support. We’re going to pull all your comments together and give you feedback soon.

And Finally The annual search to find a design for the Aspire 2016 Christmas card has begun. Posters have been sent out so, if you haven’t seen one and you use any of our services, just ask a member of staff for details.

We want to see your pain ngs, drawings and photos. Please remember to write your name on the back of each picture you send in but don’t write anything on the front.

You must get your pictures to us by Friday, 11th November. People who use the service and staff will decide the winners and they will be invited to a presenta on event. This will happen at Wes ield Chambers on Thursday, 8th December. Goodbye

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish Kevin Nesbi , Janice Dixon and Margaret Cunningham (who sadly has had to give up work on health grounds) all the best upon

their re rements and thank them for all their years of dedicated service.