A R 2012

Annual Review 2011/12 Supporting people:

• to live independently in their own homes• through day support services • with residential short breaks and respite• through arts, music, drama and outdoor activities • with specialist advice, information and resources

[email protected]

www.sensescotland.org.uk

Fitting around you

32 Sense Scotland Annual Review 2011/2012 Sense Scotland Annual Review 2011/2012

200 words 200 words 200 words

































200 word

Andy Kerr, Chief Executive Officer

150 words 150 words 150 words 150 words 150 words 150

words 150 words 150 words 150 words 150 words 150 words












words 150 words 150 words 150 words

Roy Cox, Chairman

Welcome to Sense Scotland

Andy Kerr, Chief Executive OfficerRoy Cox, Chairman

During the

past year the

fundraising

generated

£2,274,629.


Sense Scotland currently provide

40,000 days of supported living

services each year.

A group of four older gentlemen

with learning disabilities, who

we support to live in Bridge of

Earn, have been exploring their

garden alongside their support

staff and Joe Gibson,

our Outdoor Activities

Co-ordinator. Joe explained:

“Sandy, Raymond and Ivor came

out fairly regularly tending

to their salad while John initially

observed before helping tip

up one of the bags, which

was a big step.”

During the sessions Joe worked

alongside support staff to help

get the men more involved

in the garden.

As well as a learning experience

the sessions proved to be fun

for everyone involved:

“They look forward to talking

about what you would have

with onions or salad and how

to encourage the birds to visit,”

Joe said. “And when they made

the holes for the onions in

planters, they were just throwing

them and fortunately just kept

hitting the hole, it was amazing.”

The Moffat Trust Currently Fund

the post of Outdoor Activities

Co-ordinator.

A year in the life of Sense Scotland is about

a shared journey taken by the people and

families we support and the staff and

volunteers throughout the country.

We’ll reflect on how we support the aspirations

of the people we work with by encouraging

and supporting greater independence, work

and learning opportunities. You’ll hear about

the fantastic creativity and talent of the people

we work with and how we are still working

alongside families and carers to protect their

rights. And throughout this, communication

is at the very heart of all these daily

experiences and relationships.

Growing Together

Bridge of Earn grow to love their garden

Gary Simpson and his wife’s

twin sons Gerard and Martin,

are in their early twenties and

are both blind and have severe

learning difficulties. Initially

through our Family Adviser Pat

Brown, we have been supporting

the twins since they were four

years old through a range of

services and projects. Gerard

and Martin currently use Self

Directed Support (SDS) to pursue

their individual interests and

ambitions through a variety

of Sense Scotland services.

Gary Simpson talked about

the support they receive

through SDS:

“We have a financial package

from Glasgow City Council which

enables us to buy services.

Gerard is at college 3 days

a week. Martin has one day

at college. Martin through

the One Giant Leap project

(which both boys use) has

been given the opportunity

for a work placement.”

Gerard talks about One Giant

Leap, “It’s good to get people

leaving school to go to the

One Giant Leap because it’s

the transition and that’s how

it’s always good to be up with

people and go out the house for

a wee while. I like to spend time

with young people my own age.”

Sense Scotland has always worked flexibly

with disabled people, their families and

carers to ensure that the support they receive

from our services fits around an individual’s

aspirations, needs and budgets. We can

work with disabled people and their families

throughout their lives, and all the changes

life brings. This can include learning to play,

starting school, moving to live independently,

support in employment and taking up new

interests whether it’s arts, music, drama,

socialising or exploring the outdoors.

Fitting around you


“Every time

they’ve gone there

they’ve come up

with something

different to do

and the boys look

forward to it.”

Parent Gary talks about son’s Gerard and Martin using our Helensburgh respite resource.

And how did Sense Scotland

make Self Directed Support work

for the family:

“It worked for them because

they had a view as to how they

wanted Gerard and Martin have

opportunities so we sat down

and listened to them and we

also listened to the boys and

what they wanted to do. It’s not

about grouping people into what

fits into us, it’s what fits around

that young person.”

One Giant Leap is funded

by the Big Lottery Fund.

Gary values “knowing you’re in the safety

of Sense Scotland” and appreciates how

much the twins enjoyed their time at

Helensburgh Respite.

Pat Brown, Family Advisor for Sense Scotland

“The over-riding principles of Self Directed

Support are excellent but it’s how that works

in practice. They can buy into arts, drama,

going for walks, to parks to whatever it really,

it doesn’t matter.”

Gerard Simpson talks about Ardlui respite,

“I think it was good memories coming over here at weekends.”


Fitting around you

200 children

and adults

receive respite

support from

Sense Scotland

throughout

the year

Blue - C100 M94 Y0 K0 Green - C100 M0 Y31 K23 4 Colour Coated


Millions of BBC 1 viewers watched the National Lottery Awards live

as Pamela Stephenson revealed that Sense Scotland had won the

Health Category of the National Lottery Awards 2011. Matthew Ward,

a talented young musician who uses our services, his mum and staff

were in attendance to accept the award.

A delighted Matthew said: “Thanks to National Lottery Funding,

you’ve really made Sense Scotland a fantastic place to be!”

The Little Theatre in Dundee once again

welcomed Sense Scotland service users,

staff and families as it hosted Sense

Has Got Talent 2. Supported by funding from

the Robertson Trust we have been employing

a drama tutor to work with a creative group

of talented performers from Dundee and

Angus. The show was a mixture of dance, song

and cabaret acts, featured nine performances

from the group and was magnificently hosted

throughout by Ewan Farquharson.

This project is funded by the William S Phillips Fund,

The Russell Trust, Alexander Moncur’s Trust

and The Robertson Trust.

Meeting aspirations

Spencer is getting out and about Matthew leads Award celebrations

“I loved it! I’m going to do it again next year.”

Ian Johnston, performer.


“It was a very successful day, with

fantastic enthusiasm and motivation

from everyone involved. Despite the

typical Scottish summer weather,

we all had a great time!,” Fiona Sharp,

our Music Practitioner and one

of the organisers.

Lochore Meadows Day

The wettest day of August landed

on the day of the Lochore Meadows event,

however, we had a record turnout of over

60 brave people and staff from both East

and North East services. Staff were excellent

at encouraging people to get out, despite

the rain and try the adapted bikes.

Towards the end of the day, our new

chief Executive, Andy Kerr popped along

to meet everyone.


Working lives


8 year old Spencer, who,

is autistic and can find

communication and mixing

with other people difficult and

overwhelming, is supported by

our North Lanarkshire Family

Support service. They help

Spencer and young people like

him to access opportunities

and activities in the wider

community for several hours a

week. Mum Karen knows what

kind of support Spencer needs:

“You have to have a special

feature about you to be able to

deal with Spencer. He knows

if somebody can’t cope with

him and if somebody can’t be

bothered with him.”

Manager of the service Nicola

Collins, helped his support

worker Vicky develop the right

communication approaches:

“Vicky thought about how she

communicated with Spencer,

what she was saying and what

impact it would have on him.

She went to training as well.

So that was the way she’s

changed herself.”

“You think 4 hours isn’t a lot,

but it’s the difference between

climbing the walls,” said Karen.

“It’s an absolute life line, it’s

absolutely vital. When he’s

getting out, he’s meeting new

challenges, meeting new people

and he’s building his interaction.”

“It’s an absolute

life line, it’s absolutely

vital.”

Communication is at the heart of all our work

Spencer is getting out and about


The garden at our respite

resource for adults in Dundee

needed developed, so our

Outdoor Activities Coordinator

Joe Gibson worked with the

respite manager Morag Watson,

to see how Gordon could

contribute. Following a £5,000

donation from BT’s Give As

You Earn scheme, Gordon was

employed as a gardener at the

respite centre, making sure the

garden is clear and accessible.

“The donation enabled the

garden to be a place for people

using respite to enjoy and it

has led to Gordon achieving his

dream of getting a job”, said our

Family Adviser Jackie Reid.

Gordon digs in for Sense Scotland

We’ve supported Gordon to live independently in Dundee for a number of years, having helped him make a well planned transition from a long stay hospital in Inverness. He’s now happy and settled in his own flat, close to his family.

Communication is at the heart of all our work

Over 330

children

young people

and adults

receive

support

throughout

the day across

the country


To make their voices heard, Hammy said:

“We have to make sure that support remains there, because there’s pressure on councils as well to make cuts, to make cuts where they shouldn’t make them.”

Brett talked about his concerns for daughter Ruth:

“I’m really concerned that these cuts that will affect Ruth throughout her life. I think the cuts really are damaging a lot of the progress that’s been made over the years with organisations like Sense Scotland…instead of making progress, my fear is we’re going backwards.”

Involving families and carers“…instead of making progress,

my fear is we’re going backwards.”

Siblings Relate

and Play Day

Brothers and sisters who use

our Parent Enabler Project (PEP)

enjoyed a day exclusively for

themselves. PEP provides support

for families who live with and

care for disabled children up

to the age of 19. The children

talked openly about their brother

or sister and shared information

and advice through fun activities

and discussions. There was also

a blind toy game session and a

balloon land art session.

Here are some of the topics

and responses from the

young people.

What is a disability?

The word ‘disability’ can

be really hard to define

but the group had some

great explanations:

‘Find it difficult to understand

things’ and ‘Sometimes

they need help’.

Me and my family

A lot of the young people’s

brothers and sisters have similar

disabilities. They thought that

it was helpful to know that they

are not the only ones with

that kind of disability.

What did the children

think about their day:

“I’m not the only one

with a sister with a

disability.” “I will help

mum push my brother’s

chair.” “Even when I’m

older, I won’t forget

about my sister.”

What is communication?

The group tried to understand

how difficult it can be to

communicate if you can’t use

your voices.

Gordon digs in for Sense Scotland

Sense Scotland is involved with the Hardest Hit

campaign which opposes changes to welfare

which means that most disabled people

and their families will lose income. This is at

a time when many are already struggling to

cope financially and the campaign believes

these changes will affect disabled people

disproportionally. During a day of action,

including a rally in Edinburgh, parents Hammy

Kirkwood and Brett Millett, whose daughters

uses our services, joined staff including our

CEO Andy Kerr at the rally alongside nearly

1000 people.


The event gave people the

freedom to successfully use their

imagination and free expression

to create experimental artworks.

Participants successfully

marked out their identity with

fingerprints and created other

inspirational drawings with light,

food and themselves, such as

iced hand and footprints.

“It shows how art sessions can

bring together groups of people

who may not usually work

alongside each other, while

offering opportunities to make

friends.” Mhari.

The Big Draw

Visual arts tutors Mhari and Audrey engaged

with children and young people we support

as part of the Big Draw festival, the world’s

biggest celebration of drawing. Tailoring

the sessions around the needs of the young

people the sessions were a creative mix of

sensory experiences across a variety of sensory

canvases using icing sugar, sculptural work

and painting with light and sound.

Mhari Baxter, Visual Arts Tutor said:

“People signed in with their fingertips, went

on a scavenger hunt, took part in sugar dusting

ceremony, painted with natural pigments

and discovered drawing with light.”

Gerard Simpson:

“Really enjoyed

taking part as

a team in the

scavenger hunt…

we should

organise one for

Christmas.”

Last year, over

5000 visual

arts, drama

and music

sessions took

place across

Scotland

Creativity and expression


A film in which a visually impaired woman reads aloud extracts from a Braille edition of Playboy magazine, won our 9th Helen International Award. Created by artist Caroline Douglas, an MFA Graduate from Glasgow School of Art . Judges felt the 5 minute film ‘worked on a number of levels and had the greatest impact’. Isobel MacRae, our Arts Development Officer, curated the exhibition and talked about the variety of work:

“This time we’ve received

a really wide range of entries

in different mediums, including

film, sculpture, painting and

performance. It’s so interesting

to see how each artist has

approached the brief and

responded to it in a unique way.”

The judges were Francis McKee (Director of CCA), John Shankie (Artist), and Monica Callaghan (Head of Education, Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery). We have supported runner up David Frame since his teens and he regularly attends our visual arts sessions. His work Colours was a digital image of a group of pencils.

Winner: Playboy Entertainment for Men, Braille Edition June 1996 (film) – by Caroline Douglas from Scotland

Highly commended: Whistling Man (film) – by Yael Schmidt from Israel

Highly commended: Colours (Digital Image) – by David Frame, Scotland

Highly commended: Guidedog Amber (Painting) – by Marianne Angela Fennymore from England

Playboy Braille film wins

Helen Keller International Award

Equalities project

Looking Forward Thank yous

During the past year the

shops generated £1,130,000.

1,593 new Gift Aid donors

were signed up

To find out more about Sense Scotland:email: [email protected] or visit: www.sensescotland.org.uk

Head Office, West Region and Children and Family Services contact:

TouchBase: Sense Scotland 43 Middlesex Street Glasgow G41 1EE

Phone: 0141 429 0294 Fax: 0141 429 0295 Text: 0141 418 7170

Sense Scotland North East Region:The Gatehouse Quarry Road Northfield Industrial Estate Aberdeen AB16 5UU

Phone: 01224 695510 Fax: 01224 789945

Sense Scotland East Region:11 Edison House Fullerton Road Queensway Industrial Estate Glenrothes KY7 5QR

Phone/text: 01592 752005 Fax: 01592 751121

Designed by strutdesign.co.uk | Photography by Sense Scotland | This publication is available in various formats on request.

Blue - C100 M94 Y0 K0 Green - C100 M0 Y31 K23 4 Colour Coated

Colours by David Frame

Date post:	19-Mar-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	matthew-boyle
View:	213 times
Download:	0 times

A R 2012

Documents