Issue 46
winter 2023
Community
this news news letter InInthis letter Introduction
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Our news
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Community house open day
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London forum
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Greenwich
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Rochester
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Horniman’s Museum
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Ladies
Lads
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this news news letter InInthis letter Positive Voices Conference
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Magpie dance
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News from Sutton
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News from Bexley
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All Together Autistic in Kent
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Art corner
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Word search
Dates and events
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Introduction Welcome to Issue 46 of the Speaking Up Together Newsletter
This issue is all about community, and things we have been up to over the last few months
We hope you enjoy reading about our trips and working together in the community
From, the Speaking Up Together News Team
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Our news Congratulations to Bromley Together member, Yolande, who won an award for her volunteering work. Well done Yolande!
Bromley Together member, Annie, recently performed in a big dance show
with Magpie Dance. You can read about the show on page 11
All Together Autistic in Kent have been planning and putting together an art exhibition, Artvocacy, which is being held in November this year. Well done to all the artist involved. We look forward to hearing about it in the next issue
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Our news Members of Speak Up Sutton and Action Voices sadly had to say goodbye to their friend, Rory, who died recently. You can read more about the group’s memories of Rory on page 22
The Money Matters project has been
very successful, with members from the different speaking up groups running events in Bromley and Bexley, and hopefully Sutton soon. We are also hoping to go to Brighton!
We recently gave a presentation about the project in Birmingham. You can read about that trip in page 18
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Community House Open Day On 15th July 2023, Community House in Bromley held an Open Day. Community
House is where Bromley Together meet
The event was to celebrate all the different services that run at Community House. It was also to let the public know that there is a risk Community House might close.
The event was to help raise awareness
about Community House and why it should stay open!
Bromley Together members had a stall
where we told people about what we do, the respect campaign, and why speaking up is important 4
Community House Open Day The Mayor and some councillors from Bromley Council came to speak to us
We asked the public to sign our promise to never use the r-word, and to be respectful of people with learning
disabilities and difficulties
We really enjoyed the puppet show that our friend Naomi’s daughter put on in the
café
We also saw some old friends!
By News Team members 5
London Forum On 6th July 2023, a small group of us from Bromley Together and the Bexley
Speaking Up Groups went to The London Forum.
The London Forum is a big meeting with representatives from lots of speaking up groups in London
On the day, we talked about lots of important topics, such as
• The new Universal Care Plan • How best to help people with learning disabilities and difficulties with their health
• Heard about other big committees in London that the London Forum are working with
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London Forum We were part of a group with the cochair, Pat, and we answered questions to help with the new Care Plans
We shared with the people there information about our new projects
• Money Matters • Bexley Housing Advocacy
We invited the London Forum to come to
our Money Matters event, and some people came!
By Linda and Gordon
7
Greenwich Trip I visited Greenwich with the Creative Voices group on 5th July 2023
It was a lovely trip with my friends
Greenwich is in South London. It is full of historical buildings and sights to see, such as • Queen’s House • Observatory • National Maritime Museum
We saw lots of pleasure boats and clippers on the river
There was a big boat, the Cutty Sark, which we walked around. Everything was beautiful
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Greenwich Trip I was very moved by a riverside memorial to a French naval officer called Joseph Bellot. He died trying to rescue a ship called HMS Franklin in 1845. I looked up his photo online, and he was very young. It was sad he died so young.
We had lunch together. I had a wrap. The weather was mixed, with a little rain
and chilly air, but it was a good trip.
We told some people about Creative Voices and Bromley Together who wanted
to know more about our group
By Linda 9
Rochester Trip On Wednesday 6th September we met at Bromley South Station to get the train to Rochester.
When we got there we headed to the castle and found a spot with some seats where we could eat our lunch.
We then split into 2 groups. 1 group decided to explore the castle and the other went to the High Street. There were old fashioned shops full of great ideas for our group.
We saw an exhibition about seaplanes. These are planes which can land on water. Then we walked to the Guildhall
museum and saw an exhibition about Charles Dickens.
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Rochester Trip We found out that Charles Dickens’ dad was homeless.
We also saw a green letter box from the 1800’s.
To finish off the day, we met the others in a coffee shop for drinks and cakes.
We thought the travelling by train went well and the weather was good for us.
By Linda and Polly 11
Horiman’s Museum Creative Voices went on a trip to the Horniman’s Museum in London
The museum is about natural history, like animals and humans
We really enjoyed exploring all the exhibits, especially the music one!
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In June, Trevor from Seeability came to talk to us about different things that affect your eyes.
We talked about things like how often you need to go to the opticians to see whether you need things like new glasses or contact lenses
In July, Polly did a presentation about what is stress. We thought about what makes you worried and what you can do
to relieve stress.
By Teresa and Laura
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In April, Gordon, George and Juan talked to the lads about their medical conditions.
In June, we had a zoom with our supporter, George, who was recovering from an operation.
In July, the lads went to the Railway pub.
In August, the lads went to Texas Jacks for a birthday celebration
By Gordon and George
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Positive Voices Conference 4 members from the Money Matters Project and 2 supporters travelled to Birmingham for the Positive Voices Conference in September
The conference was all about celebrating
the work of self advocacy groups across the country
We travelled by train to Birmingham. It
was a very long trip! We learned travelling with a disability is very hard, especially in a wheelchair
We stayed the night at a Travelodge near the conference the night before. We got to rest and practice our presentation 15
Positive Voices Conference On the day, there were lots of presentations.
We really enjoyed the Makaton signing where we were taught some signs, and learned a dance with the signs. We also
enjoyed a talk from Fion and Jonathan, about not letting Downs Syndrome get in their way, especially with travelling
We gave a presentation about the Money Matters Project. We were very good! We got to hear from lots of people about their experiences with the Cost of Living Crisis, and we showed everyone our Money Money Money song.
By Gordon, George and Teresa
The conference was a great experience, and we would like to go again next year 16
Magpie Dance Show Some members from Bromley Together went to see a show and exhibition put on by Magpie Dance on 23rd July.
The show was called Borrowed Land, and was held at Langley Boys school.
The show was all about • different cultures • creatures
• styles of dance
Before the show, there was an exhibition, which had displays on lots of different cultures.
We were given musical instruments to 17
learn about different countries.
Magpie Dance Show One of our members, Annie, was performing. She was with a group of
people in white costumes, they were pretending to be druids (a different religion).
Annie also supported the little children in their dance. She was really good at it!
We enjoyed it because it was a good show and we liked being out with our
friends.
By News Team members 18
Members in Sutton sadly had to say goodbye to our friend
and member, Rory, who passed away.
Members from both Action Voices and Speak Up Sutton met up to have a lunch in Rory’s memory, and to release balloons in tribute to him.
Speak Up Sutton and Action Voices members share their memories of Rory
He reminded me of Bruce Forsyth!
He was a very happy person and people loved being around him 19
He was really friendly and polite
He has such a kind smile. His friendship with Shannon and Phillip was so beautiful
I loved meeting up with him, he had such lovely sense of humour, he was such a lovely old man. He will be in our hearts forever
He was a one in a million, funny, kind, good sense of humour. We use to have a really good laugh
He was a fun loving person, always smiling and having a laugh with all of us, We miss him 20
Being a Health Ambassador Hello, we are Sunny and Duncan. As health
ambassadors we went out to different places to show how health services can be made better for people with a learning disability. We would have liked the project to carry on but the funding ran out.
We want to • help improve the lives of people with a learning disability • to reach more people • share inspiring stories.
Being a DJ Chris has been telling us how he became a DJ and why music is important to him. In 1999 just before the millennium he remembers DJ-ing a huge new years eve party. There were fireworks outside and music in the hall until 2.30am.
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Celebrating our jobs
Stephen got a certificate from Bexley
Twofold celebrating 17 years of employment in the waste department at the council.
Duncan got his certificate for his work at Danson House.
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Tom, one of the All Together Autistic Groups members, wrote this story about what it can be like to be autistic. Dog and Cat, or Cat and Dog, is a story about two different styles of communication and misunderstandings that can happen. A lot of people talk about cats and mention some similarirties with autistic traits and I wanted to show Cat and Dog’s relationship a little similar to the way an autistic and neurotypical person might find communication hard. It is only through talking that the situation is resolved.
Dog was happy, Cat was not. Both thought the other felt otherwise. Whilst Cat was flicking her tail annoyed with the weather outside, Dog was sure the Cat was enjoying the deluge. Cat, Dog reasoned to himself, would likely be heading out of the flap and splashing around in the puddles in no time. Dog himself was looking forward to a rainy day walk with the family. The rain brought up all different manner of smells, the aroma was especially intense after a deluge of rainwater. He wagged his tail in joy, tongue lolloping out of the side of his mouth in joy. He turned to look at Cat, Cat’s tail was wagging also. 23
Cat was furious. The rain was pouring down. The garden was drenched. She had been wanting to go out and find that dratted mouse. The mouse would be sheltering in its hole. The weather yesterday had been so nice and comfortable to snooze in. Cat looked to her side at Dog. Dog was at best a mystery and at worst an annoyance, but Cat was comforted to see that Dog too was flicking his tail violently enraged at the weather. Maybe Dog wasn’t a
complete mystery after all. at least they agreed on something for once. Dog was always rushing about. Making those sudden, harsh noises. The Dog’s meowing was too loud for Cat to tolerate and often meant Cat would leave the room to protect her ears. Cat hissed at the weather. Dog turned and gave Cat his side eye. Cat was a
strange creature. Cat liked to just sit there upstairs away from him, Cat took walks by herself and didn’t like to go out with the family. Cat liked chasing things, but the one-time Dog batted a ball to Cat, Cat ignored him and walked away, only turning to give him a glare. Cat was glaring now.
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Dog wanted to get along with Cat. Cat lived with him. Cat was part of the family, part of the pack. But every time Dog tried to befriend Cat, it made things worse. Dog looked to Cat, still wagging her tail. “Are you going to come out for a walk?” Dog barked. Cat recoiled away from his loud voice, so Dog lower his tone, “sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. The rain should be good for bringing up the smells, don’t you think?” Cat stared at Dog, “I don’t think so, that mouse will have hidden and my lovely fur coat will be drenched by it.” Dog was confused, Cat’s tail was beating in joy, but her face was defiantly glaring at him. “Cat are you angry with me?” Dog looked nervous, and was anxious at her answer. Cat paused, “No, I’m not angry at you, angry at this,” she gestured with her paw at the rain outside. The rain was easing off, but not
gone. Cat was angry with the weather. Dog stared at the weather and back at Cat. “I thought you liked the rain?” Dog asked.
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Cat looked confused. “no, do you like the rain?” Cat stared at Dog’s tail, the tail was beating furiously. Dog stared at Cat’s tail, wagging away.
Cat wondered how to ask Dog a question. Dog had no reservations and asked Cat directly. “Your tail?” Cat looked at her tail, nothing wrong there. And she looked at Dog’s tail, “you are angry?” “No.” said Dog. “My tail wags when I’m happy.” “Hmm my tail flicks when I’m angry.” Cat paused, “I think we should probably have had this conversation a long time ago.” “same,” Dog wagged his tail happily, and Cat looked at Dog, face, he did seem happy, despite his tail signalling anger. Cat’s tail was still, maybe they could be friends after all. She approached Dog cautiously. Dog gulped. “What’s wrong?” Cat looked behind her, “oh my tail is upright, that means I’m happy” “You are happy?” Dog said loudly, at once Cat’s ears lowered instinctively, Dog lowered his voice. “Sorry.”
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“It’s okay.” “I know sometimes I’m loud, sometimes the humans complain about it, last night I heard a fox in our garden and when I told them, I got told off.” Cat looked at Dog, “Before you came, I got told off too.” Dog stared at Cat, then remembered Cat didn’t like staring. “You got told off?” “They kept telling me to get off the table in the kitchen.”
“They tell me to get off the Sofa. Well sometimes they do.” Dog and Cat looked at the garden, the rain had passed now. “Maybe we can talk later when I get back from my walk?” Dog wagged his tale at cat. Cat looked pleased at their new understanding. “I’d like that,” said Cat heading for her cat-flap. They sniffed each other as they passed by one another. With any luck, thought Cat, that mouse will be heading out too.
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Art Corner
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Word Search Can you find all the words about the articles in this newsletter? A
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Hornimans
Rochester
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London Forum
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Allotment
Magpie
Birmingham
Ladies
Open Day
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