OUR IMPACT
IN CARDIFF
2022-23
mirus-wales.org.uk
Making friends through the social group Towards the end of 2022, the Cardiff social groups began to meet up again in person. Mark Griffiths who runs the groups visited people to spread the word. One of those people was Leslie… Leslie had generally enjoyed going out, but it had always been on his own. However at the beginning of 2023 Leslie decided to join in with ‘Meal Out Mondays’, where the social groups visit old favourite restaurants and try new ones, and he hasn’t looked back.
Now, Leslie is always the first to arrive, and loves being involved with everything that is going on. He has become a really popular member of the group. Leslie has even helped the group to grow; he recently persuaded his friend Gwen to attend, and now she regularly comes along with her friend George.
Leslie is happy to have an active social life
his family. However, Leslie loved his new social life so much that he decided to change his routine and see his family on a different night so that he can go bowling. His family are thrilled at his new friendships and activities! Leslie had rarely been to the theatre before going to see Cirque of Excellence at the New Theatre. But he enjoyed that show so much that he is keen to attend more shows either with or without the group. The social group has opened up a whole new world for Leslie, so much so that he has decided to buy himself a whole new wardrobe of clothes so he has options of what to wear on all of his new adventures!
Leslie’s birthday fell on a Monday, so he got to choose the restaurant that the Meal out Monday group went to.
When he arrived at the restaurant, he was presented with a huge card that was signed by all his friends from the social group. Thursday night is activity night for the social group, who often go bowling. Unfortunately, Thursday was also the night when Leslie regularly visited
Leslie (right) with friends at a ‘Meal Out Monday’ meet up
The social group joining a community litter pick
Recruiting the right staff to support people When John needed a new staff member to join the team who support him, he decided that he wanted to be part of the interview panel so that he could choose the right person. John said:
A member of the social group out having fun
Meeting up with friends and sharing stories The Cardiff social group activities are now more popular than ever, thanks to the use of digital forms and tablets. The new set up has revolutionised the way that information is shared and recorded, and even more people have joined as a result. Mark, who leads the social groups said:
Using the tablet to record data has cut down a lot of paperwork, leaving more time to plan new exciting things to do with the group. By recording attendance using a digital form, Mark has been able to identify which activities and events are the most popular, so that he can tailor the group’s plans to suit even more people. They have also embraced digital storytelling to capture and share photos and videos that show the positive impact the social groups have on the people who attend.
“It’s good to get to know staff before they join, I like to make sure they’re good people”. Lóránt supported John throughout the recruitment process and said: “First impressions tell you a lot about someone’s personality, and service specific questions help to employ the right staff”. John came to the interview prepared with his own questions and Lóránt had his own questions too. After the candidate left, John gave his feedback about the person he interviewed, who was called Bethan. He said that he liked them, and thought that they would be a great fit with the rest of the team. He was already looking forward to Bethan starting, and when she did it was great to see that because of the interview, there was already a good connection in place.
The walking group presenting Tom with his certificate from the National Autistic Society
Getting together to raise money for charity Mark is a support worker in Cardiff and organises the social groups. Mark is a great ambassador for the groups and the people who attend them. One of the most successful groups that has grown this year is the Cardiff walking group. The group is led by people supported by mirus and is joined by people outside of the organisation – everyone is welcome.
by the mirus’ craft group, everyone wore Autism Acceptance T-Shirts, and they shared information flyers on how to make society more accessible for autistic people.
One of the walking group members, Tom, was the biggest fund raiser – collecting over £300 towards the final sum of over £600! Tom was awarded a certificate from the National Autistic Society for his fantastic contribution.
In April the walking group, with Mark’s support, really got behind World Autism Acceptance week and raised money for the National Autistic Society.
The walking group organised a sponsored walk around Victoria Park. 18 people took part in the walk, which finished in Victoria Park Pub. The Victoria Park pub also got behind the walking group and the campaign to raise awareness of World Autism Acceptance week. They put up the Autism Acceptance Week bunting, that was made
The group after completing their sponsored walk
Having more control over finances and spending Malcolm joined his support worker Mike to learn about the Vanguard Method, to help to make processes in mirus more streamlined and effective. Mike had lots of great ideas that mirus agreed to take forward, and one of those ideas was about how to enable people supported by mirus to have more control over their money. Mike was invited to a working group with senior management and the finance team, and together they looked at ways to access people’s capacity to make decisions about their money, and make the whole process of accessing their money quicker and easier. They came up with an all new financial support plan for people supported by mirus. Malcolm, supported by Mike, was chosen along with a few other people to pilot the new idea. Together, they filled out the new financial support plan, which helped Malcolm to create a budget so that he knew how much he could spend each year, after his bills were paid. Malcolm said:
“We worked out how much I could spend on holidays, meals out, gifts for my family and personal items for my home. This was all done with my sister involved, and she was happy with everything laid out in the plan.” The financial plan also helped Malcolm to look at how he could spend money in the future. Lots of places have gone cashless, and as many of the people supported by mirus don’t have a bank card, this limited their choice of venues they could visit, and activities they could get involved in. The
Mike and Malcolm on an open top bus in Bath
finance team gave Mike a list of companies that offer pre-paid Mastercards, so that together he and Malcolm could look at the options available and find the one that is best suited. Mike said: “We decided to apply for a Mi-Spend card. This company specialises in providing cards to people with appointees, and the application was easy and fast.” Within 2 weeks Malcolm had received his card and set up a standing order to have money transferred from his bank account on to the card every week. Mike has taught Malcolm how to use his bank card to make contactless payments in shops, and he is now able to visit any venue, restaurant, and activity centre he would like. Since receiving the card Malcolm has been able to book a holiday and buy train tickets online without having to get it approved, because the cost has already been budgeted for in the financial support plan. Malcolm said:
“Being able to book quickly meant I was able to get the best deals before they sold out!” Thanks to the successful pilot, even more people in mirus will soon be able to have better access to their money, giving them more choice and control in the things that they do.
People from Cardiff cheering our winners at the mirus stars awards
Celebrating the achievements of our stars We held a mirus stars awards event to celebrate the fantastic achievements and great things that the people we support and our staff had accomplished. People connected with mirus used our mirus moments form to nominate others throughout the year, based on achievements that matched our values; Together, Respectful, Responsible, Empowering and Courageous. Our mirus reps from each region then had the difficult task of selecting 40 of the very best nominations out of a total of 192, and those people became our mirus stars semi-finalists. At our mirus stars pre-awards parties, held in Cardiff and Swansea City Stadiums, we read out the nominations of our 40 semi-finalists, and encouraged everyone to vote for their favourite using electronic voting pads. Each category had 4 people selected to go forward to the final stage as mirus stars finalists, which were chosen by our Trustees. The mirus stars awards event itself was a fabulous celebration, with Alex who is supported by mirus,
and staff member Jamie dressed as the greatest showmen to introduce the event and get the crowd cheering. Everyone was so excited to see who the winners for the events were, and to celebrate their success with them. Our mirus stars winners were:
Together – Beth Broad, supported in Powys Respectful – Allan Ramsahoi, staff member in Cardiff Responsible - Sophie Scheeres, supported in Cardiff Empowering - Andrea Romanga, supported in Swansea Courageous – Matthew Clarke, supported in Neath Port Talbot
Sophie performing as Miss Shade B****
House of Deviant provided fabulous entertainment
To end the event, the fabulous drag collective ‘House of Deviant’ took to the stage, and lip synced, danced and encouraged the audience to take part in challenges.
Our Greatest Showmen introducing the ceremony
House of Deviant is Wales’ first inclusive drag troupe for people with learning disabilities, and Sophie Scheeres, who is supported by mirus in Cardiff, performs as Miss Shade B****. They are fierce, sassy, and incredible performers, and their passion and excitement on the day of the event was contagious! We received a heartfelt nomination for Allan Ramsahoi who is a mirus staff member in Cardiff. Allan went on to win the award for ‘Respectful, and his nomination read:
Allan accompanied a person supported to hospital when they were admitted suddenly. He provided emotional support to the person, and ensured that their favourite music was playing to help keep them calm. Allan helped the person to communicate with hospital staff, which relieved the person’s anxiety. Allan remained calm, despite an emotional situation, and made sure the person’s end of life was peaceful.
The incredible mirus stars winners celebrating on stage
Cardiff mirus stars winner Allan collecting his award
We love reading about the achievements and courageousness of people connected with mirus, and we can’t wait to see what amazing nominations next year’s awards brings.
The whole crowd were up and celebrating
HEAD OFFICE
mirus Unit 5 Cleeve House Lambourne Crescent Llanishen Business Park Cardiff, CF14 5GP 02920 236 216 admin@mirus-wales.org.uk Social media: @miruswales
mirus-wales.org.uk