“Life is a daring adventure
…or nothing at all….”
• Sian Lockwood – Chief Executive , Community
Catalysts
• Jen Blackwell- Entrepreneur
• Helen Allan – Community Catalysts Manager of
Enterprise and Community Innovation and Kirklees
lead
Citizenship
To be a citizen means
contributing to and being
part of life.
The Centre for Welfare
Reform identified Seven
keys to citizenship that
combine to show what a
full life looks like.
• Many people with a learning disability say that relationships are
important to them - yet only 3% of people with a learning disability live
as a couple, compared to 70% of the general adult population. (Mencap)
-Several barriers are make it difficult
• Meeting people is more difficult if you are not out and about
• Social isolation is more common
• The balance between risk and rights when it comes to people with
a learning disability having intimate relationships is often skewed
towards restriction of choice both in the family home and other living
arrangements( Mencap)
- And yet in adult life the people we rely on most to support us are friends ,
partners and family.
Relationships - Love
Employment- Money, Life and
Purpose• Just 1 in 3 people with a learning disability take part in
some form of education or training.( Mencap)
• Less than 6% of people who are known to services are
in paid employment ( Ascof 15/16)
• Many people make lifelong friends and develop
relationships through work or education .
• Having money from working helps people do more
things in the community.
Making a positive change
• Using strengths based approaches are key to valuing what
people can do - rather than focusing on what they can’t
• Support positive risk taking to help growth and learning
• Helping people to be independent, forge real connections
and really live lives has a lot of positive outcomes
• We can do more to challenge thinking AND change the way
we commission support or use our community assets better
• Stop thinking “Serviceland” and start thinking “Real world!”
Escaping from serviceland (and serviceland
thinking)
www.newpossibilities.co.uk
What does Community Catalysts do that is
relevant to people with a learning disability?
• Help people who want to start
their own business
• Help people who want to do
something for their community
• Help people run their own activity
group
• Give people more choice of:
What they do with their life
How they get the help they need to do it
Doing things differently?
Harnessing the power of people and communities
– local people helping other local people
Key messages
• People with a learning disability
or autism have huge talents
• These can be hidden and
undervalued – by the people
themselves, other people and
society as a whole
• Many people with a learning
disability or autism want to
make a difference to their own
lives and the lives of others
Key messages
Community Catalysts can help to unlock all this
potential • We offer coaching and
mentoring and help people
make strong community
connections
• When we get this right it can
challenge the way people see
themselves and how others
see them – creating positive
impact for citizens and society
Do Your Thing in Kirklees
• Funded by Kirklees Council and 2 local
Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)
and run by Community Catalysts
• Supporting people with a learning disability
or autism to use their skills and talents
• Supporting people to think differently
about what they do with their time
• Thinking most about people who are not
using care services (and who might ‘fall
through the net’)
• Helping people to meet other people,
make connections and make a difference
in their community
Learn and Grow
Jamie and Learn and Grow
• Jamie, has a learning disability and loves his allotment
• He wanted to meet new people and make new friends
• Community Catalysts helped him to set up and run his own
gardening group called Learn and Grow
• Jamie has made new friends and gained skills and
confidence in his role as group leader
• Jamie is now developing a second gardening group at a
local café and working there as a volunteer
• A busy local self-employed gardener got in touch. Creating
employment or self-employment possibilities for Jamie and
others in the future
What people said before .
My life is boring. I feel lonely and fed up. I don’t
feel like I’m doing enough
I do most things by myself
I feel depressed and lonely and
that my life lacks meaning and
direction
I’m not using any of my skills which
is really frustrating
Nothing ever changes; things pretty much stay
the same
I don’t do any of the things I used to do and I feel like I will never leave the house again and that things will never improve
What people say now.
My confidence is growing more than ever. I have done a TV interview about setting up my own group, which is something I would NEVER have been confident enough to do before but I have just done one today and it went really well!
It feels really good to be running my own group which is going really well and we have fun doing the activity whilst chatting about
things that matter to us
I am a lot more optimistic about the
future and have learned to stop dwelling on the
past and to keep focusing on the here
and now whilst moving forward
I feel happy that this group was my brainchild and I’ve had fun setting it up and making new friends. I struggle sometimes to understand social situations but …socialising regularly, something, has helped me enormously
Jen Blackwell Dance Syndrome
• Jen dreamed of being a dancer
• Felt her disability stopped her following this dream
• Jen and her Mum set up DanceSyndrome in 2009
• Jen got a personal budget and used it to employ her own staff who help her to run DanceSyndrome
• They run dance groups and train disabled people to lead dance groups
• Believe that everyone has the right to follow their passion
Questions to ask yourself
In my life or work
• What could I do to help
people to be more than
just users of services?
• What could I do to
challenge the way
people see themselves
(and how others see
them)?
A final thought
“…people…are not just passive recipients of social
and health care, but have expertise, gifts,
strengths that can help them achieve their vision
for a good life, contribute to their local communities
and maximise the impact of resources”
Bartnik 2008
For further information
Helen Allen
www.communitycatalysts.co.uk
Follow us on twitter @CommCats
Thank you and any questions?