“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

helen.allen@communitycatalysts.co.uk

www.communitycatalysts.co.uk

Follow us on twitter @CommCats

Thank you and any questions?