Speaking Up Together Newsletter Spring 2017

issue 31 Spring 2017

Kent Artistic Spectrum An exhibition by poets, artists and photographers.

Thursday 6th April—Thursday 27th April at The County Gallery, Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ

Advocacy for All is an independent advocacy organisation and an equal opportunities employer. Charity no: 1064855.

in this newsletter page project

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our news

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Bexley Speaking Up Group

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Bromley Sparks

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Bromley Speaking Up Group

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Keeping Safe with the A Team

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Speak Up Sutton

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Speaking Up in Schools

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Speaking Up Together

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Young Advisers

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dates and events

our news Here is Adam on the computer. He is working on the newsletter. He is very good at putting frames round photographs.

Last year David and Gillian did a course run by Avenues.

The course talked about things to do with Bromley and how to be part of the community.

‘We went to visit the council. We did role plays about how to get a job. We learnt about voting too.’

Members if the Kent Peer Support group went on a guided tour of Ramsgate Tunnels. They used to be train tunnels. In the Second World War they were used as a shelter.

A group member said

I didn’t know all this history was under my feet.

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The Bexley Speaking Up Group have been working with Bexley Council to make a plan for people with a learning disability in Bexley.

They asked us about what we do with our time and what we want to do in the future.

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We have been talking about health, living my life and keeping safe.

At the Partnership Board meeting we talked about the plan and how to let people know about what is in it

written by Lucy

photo by Lucy

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ladies group new year resolutions We went to the Greyhound pub with the ladies. We had a meal and talked about our new year resolutions.

We talked about family. We had different shaped stones. Each stone was a different member of our family. We put them in order of the family member closest to us.

We talked one by one about our best friends. We all need each other. We said about who is close to us and the importance of friendship. We talked about being lonely. We would be stuck in doors looking at the 4 walls. We made pictures to give to people to show our friendship.

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young adults being independent As a volunteer I supported the young adults to talk about important things, to play games and share what they think.

One session was all about being independent.

The young adults asked each other what does independent mean to you?

People said: 

making your own decisions

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means to be responsible

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believing in yourself

I helped members to think about their skills and experiences.

I shared my own experience to help them build confidence to be more independent. written by Laura, volunteer

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members monthly meeting friend crime

For this session we invited the police.

They had an emergency and could not come.

We watched some slides to help us understand hate and mate crime.

We did a role play about a friend whose best mate asked for money to get food and a new walking stick. When asked for the money back he lied and said he did not have it.

This is wrong.

Do not treat your friends like this.

This is a hate crime by a friend.

To help understand it better we decided to call it friend crime instead of mate crime.

We did the role play at another event , Safety in Numbers, to help others understand what a hate crime by a friend is. written by Linda

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People First AGM 2017

We went to Brixton for the People First AGM. This was for 2 days.

There was lots of different speaking up groups from different places.

There were presentations about what People First had done over the past few years.

It was a chance for us to give our voices and speak up. We also voted for the new committee members.

We did 2 different workshops.

One was on easy read and the other one was about budget cuts.

In the easy read workshop we said what we do in our easy read group at Bromley Sparks.

On the last day there was a band which we watched and danced to.

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Hi everyone, one highlight for Bromley Speaking Up Group was going to the People First AGM attended by Nicky.

Nicky shared her thoughts.

I quite enjoyed it! it was interested to find out advocacy works though there was a lot to take in!

Meeting with Bexley and Sutton Speak Up groups members

I learnt about easy read and that everyone works in different ways to speak up, even if you are non verbal.

Nicky talking to the AGM about what life is like as a wheelchair user.

The band and dancing at the end was quite fun. I would like to stay in contact with the people I met.

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visitor from Bromley Council We had a visit from Sarah Wemborne from Bromley Council.

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She wanted to meet members who were going to take part in a Bromley consultation about advocacy services.

We asked Holly why she thought advocacy is important to her: “It helps me to get together with different groups and socialise with people.

It helps me to speak up more about different subjects that go on in life, like services in Bromley, and what we can do make better, and what is going wrong with services.

If the service stopped, I would be lonely because I would not have anything to attend.

I will be stuck with nothing to do. If this service didn’t run anymore, I would be sitting in and not getting out and about.

It gives me something to do.”

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visitor from MIND We had a visitor from Bromley and Lewisham MIND. Nathan came in to talk to members about negative emotions and depression.

The members then spoke about their own experiences and Nathan gave the group a leaflet with advice on how to deal with this.

We asked Adam, our chairman what he thought: It was really really interesting and it really helped me to express my feelings.

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Advocacy for All bigger voices– better lives Keeping Safe With The A Team

safety in numbers Safety in Numbers was a big event put on by the A Team, our group of safeguarding trainers with a learning difficulty.

We celebrated all the skills that we have now .

I learnt that I’m good at talking on the radio. I listen to the radio a lot and I used what I know to do it myself.

Other A Team members learnt how to:    

tell stories write poetry how to host an event be trainers

We watched films made by the Quality for All team from Astley in Bromley and members of the Carlton Day Service in Sidcup.

Turn over for more. written by Adam

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great

The lunch we had at the event was lovely.

Lots of people bought good things to eat.

Our numbers activity was to help everyone have their say about what they felt about the day.

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excellent

Everyone was supportive of each other and had some positive things to say Lucy

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Speak Up Sutton Speaking up in difficult situations Here are our top tips: Never be ashamed to speak up for yourself. Always think positive!

Rory

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make eye contact take things slowly plan what you will say before you go ask someone for support ask for advice if you are not confident if you feel stressed, take some time out to calm down be polite be patient smile!

Be honest and ask for help if you need it!

Sometimes you just need to ignore the person who is annoying you and not let yourself get stressed.

Philip 16

learning disability strategy for Sutton The learning disability strategy is the council’s big plan to help people have a good life.

Speak Up Sutton have been helping the council. We asked people what should go into the new strategy.

We talked about:  how to make a house a home  health  support  being in the Sutton community We have found out what people think is good and what needs to improve.

Shona Harris at the council is writing a big report about the strategy.

If you want to speak up about life in Sutton, you can contact her: shona.harris@sutton.gov.uk

and

party!

come and join us!

Sunday 21st May 7.30pm to 10.30pm Sutton Football Club call 07711 590398 17

Marjorie McClure School—The Dark Horses The Dark Horses have been creating a murder mystery film.

We got our inspiration from watching clips of our favourite films. In our group work, we decided on the storyline, the plot, the characters, directors and narrator. participation: our drama games have helped to get into role and the characters we will be playing. confidence building: “I’m very pleased I was able to do that, I didn't think I could.”

Katie “I have enjoyed creating the story of our film” - Malik

Glebe School—friendship Life can have nasty turns when you’re feeling down and rough, but you are not alone.

Friends are so important, they can have your back, be a rock, support you and help you to feel better. written by James

Chloe says: ‘A friend is someone who is always there for you ’ 18

Drumbeat School What I like about ME We looked at pictures about things that we like

I have great hair

We took selfies so we could look at ourselves up close

I like my nose I like my lips We drew self portraits to show what we like about ourselves We looked at each others pictures and found  we are all different  we like some of the same things  it was fun finding out

Why don’t you ask someone at home what they like best about themselves?

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Transport for London I went to a meeting at Transport for London on the 14 February. We talked about:

 the drivers needing to pull up closer to the curbs and allow more time for passengers to get on and off

 bus drivers not noticing you have a

disability because some of them are hidden

 the launch of the ‘give up your seat’ badge  better communication systems about where the bus is going

 sometimes the bell on the buses do not work

 children playing with the bells  making sure the bus drivers get more 

training wheelchair ramps and making sure it is working properly

 what to do if your oyster cards do not work.

Show the bus driver

There were a lot of members from our groups in Bromley, Sutton and Bexley. There were other from all over London. written by Laura

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Having a Voice in Bromley Bromley Sparks and Bromley Speaking Up Group are joining together at 3 focus groups to have a bigger voice in Bromley.

health

Gill is the chair of the health group We talk about health services and our own health We will work with the Health and Wellbeing Board, Bromley Healthwatch, local GPs and anyone else involved with health in Bromley

out and about

Laura is the chair of the out and about group We talk about public transport, the roads, and being safe In a first group we talked about the diversions in Bromley and potholes

being together

Teresa is the chair of the being together group We talk about friends and family, being lonely and hate and mate crime We will be helping each other with our problems or difficulties

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g n ri

e v a H

Teambuilding by Jack We played a team building game about a lifeboat—it was complicated but we did it. It was rather hard!

Research by Amy We have been looking at the Local Offer website to see if anything needs to be changed to make it better for young people. We have made lots of suggestions.

Funding by George We were in a tight spot and had to make sure the Council knew we were doing a good job.

Successfully we got the funding and are still running in business.

Goals by James S We each have our own goal. I feel good when I take another stepping stone.

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Br om

le y

Back in January we finally celebrated Christmas and New Year together at Pizza Express.

“I felt good there I had a very good time “ – Tre

We’ve been working very hard on the Local Offer and planning our next school workshops

Steph from Healthwatch came and spoke to us about going to the doctors. She wanted to know about our experiences. We got lots of Healthwatch goodies.

We are looking forward to the next few weeks and meeting lots of new people. written by Sarah

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dates and events

15 years of speaking up in Bromley

Stay Up Late see page 17

Speaking Up Together picnic

Bromley Sparks

020 8300 9666 020 8315 2508

Easy Read Group

020 8315 2508

Sutton office Kent office

020 8669 0500

Advocacy for All

01233 668518

find us on social media

/advocacy4all /advocacyforall @biggervoice /biggervoices 24