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Changing Our Lives Newsletter November 2012

Inside…

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Spotlight 2012

Guardian Public Service Award

Andy Howell crowned winner Spotlight 2012

How fantastic was Spotlight 2012 on Friday 9th November! Everyone enjoyed a fabulous evening of entertainment, which showcased the often hidden talents of people with disabilities and their achievements, as well as celebrating ten years of Changing Our Lives. The show began in style with a drinks reception by the red carpet before our comperes the unstoppable Janice Connolly and our very own Gemma Caffrey introduced opening music from West Bromwich Operatic Society. The finalist's hard work was clear to see as each and everyone delivered an amazing performance. We are proud of them all. John Watson impressed with his classical keyboard piece, David Westbury brought a touch of Moulin Rouge glamour to the theatre in top hat and tails and Matt Doleman had everyone giggling with an excellent comedy routine and original punch lines.

Gemma at Take Over Day

8Samee at Take Over Day

Siraaj at All Party Group Parliamentary Meeting

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Even the interval was a continuation of the show, with some amazing performances from special guests throughout the building including rock 'n' roll dancing along the ramp, a thirty strong police choir above the pink tank, solo artists amongst our guests and an acoustic guitar set. Dohl drummers rounded the audience back to their theatre seats, where Born to be Different continued the show with their unique take on a Pet Shop Boys song and Harriett Pooler looked and sounded like a true star as she sang Florence and The Machine. The judges had to make a touch decision. Steve Dugmore – trustee, Sandwell Councillor Anne Shackleton, Sandwell Councillor Bob Piper and Bainzy – radio presenter at RAAJ FM retired to a quiet private room to think things over whilst Dudley Din entertained. Wolverhampton Councillor Steve Evans did an excellent job presenting as tension mounted and everyone awaited news of the Spotlight 2012 winner on the edge of their seats... Congratulations to Andy Howell! His dedication and commitment this year to Open Mic and rehearsals were rewarded. It was an emotional moment as he heard he had won. Clearly overwhelmed, he took to the stage to receive his accolade as winner and close the evening with his superb rendition of Elbow's 'One Day Like This'. Congratulations also to Born to Be Different as this year's splendid runner up. You can see all the photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/changingourlives/sets/72157631988500485/

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We couldn't stage such a great event as Spotlight without the support of a host of volunteers who give their time, expertise and commitment to Changing Our Lives and the people we work with. So, a big thank you goes out to: • Our excellent comperes Janice Connolly and our very own Gemma Caffrey for providing true entertainment and ensuring everything flowed smoothly. • Our Judges on the big night - Steve Dugmore – trustee, Sandwell Councillor Anne Shackleton, Sandwell Councillor Bob Piper and Bainzy – radio presenter at RAAJ FM. Their comments after each finalist performance were excellent. • Wolverhampton Councillor Steve Evans for keeping the tension mounting and announcing Andy Howell as the Spotlight 2012 winner. • Dudley Council Chief Executive John Polychronakis for presenting the Frances Painter Award to Katie Hale and the judging panel for the award Walsall Councillor Paul Davis and John Garrett. • Karen Dowman, Chief Executive BCPFT for presenting the Darren Selman Award to Nick Bishop and the judging panel for the award Sarah Norman, Andrea Pope-Smith and Councillor Steve Waltho. • Lissa Mabley, for presenting the very first Love and Laughter award to Aimee Smallman and Louise Swinfen for their volunteer work and the judging panel Gary Burgess, Gary Bowman, Bonnie Mabley and Yvonne Davis.

A big, big ‘Thank you!’

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• Sandwell Deputy Mayor – Councillor Vic Slyvester. • Dudley Deputy Mayor – Councillor Alan Finch. • Dudley Din, led by Andrea Pope-Smith, Director of Adults, Community and Housing, for entertaining everyone whilst we awaited the judges' decision. • The artistic buddies for the advice they gave to develop each finalist to achieve their best possible performance – Lorna Harris, Danny Hudson, Ellis Wilde, Beki Challoner, Amelia Faye and Phil Sayer. • The artists whose performances made the interval an integral part of the show – Broadway Dance Crew (especially Frances Dawson), Dreamz, the Thin Blue Chorus Line, West Bromwich Operatic Society, Marcia, Diamond Lil and the dohl drummers. • Oh, and last but not least, our 'Eye Candy' Gilbert Pomell.

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Wolverhampton People’s Parliament runners up at

The Guardian public service award

Andy Howell, Wolverhampton MP, set off yesterday, overnight bag in hand, to travel to London for the Guardian Public Service Awards where Wolverhampton People's Parliament were nominated for the community engagement award. Today he return tired but triumphant after a great night. Wolverhampton People's Parliament meet three times a year to decide local priorities; in 2011-12 these were employment and keeping people safe. MPs produce a white paper, outlining key outcomes and deadlines, which they present to the council. The meeting, where each policy partner outlines how they will respond, is filmed; three months later, partners are required to report back on progress to a "select committee". Key achievements this year include a new job role within the council that shapes policy for people with a learning disability and a "Safe Places" logo scheme, where partners such as retailers and leisure centres commit to supporting people in need of help. The parliament's next priority is health. Sarah Norman, strategic director of Wolverhampton council's community directorate, says the project 'puts people with a learning disability in the front seat, doing the driving', adding that it has proved to be 'a very powerful forum.' The Guardian said the 'parliament for has made the city a more inclusive place to live.'

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Gemma at Children’s Take Over Day

This year's Children's Commissioners Take Over day saw over 50,000 children and young people taking over Schools, Parliamentary meetings, Councils and the Police to name a few. One of our young leaders, Gemma Caffrey, had the opportunity to take over the role of Dr Maggie Atkinson, The Children's Commissioner for England. Based in London, Gemma travelled down the morning of Take Over day, arriving at Greycoat Street in London, where she met four other young people who were also involved in the day. A young person called Tom led the day, which started with a fun ice breaker, and an opportunity to meet a new professionals and find out a bit about them and present back to the group. True to form, Gemma did this both professionally and confidently. One of Gemma's first official tasks was to scrutinise the complaint procedure the Children's Commissioners office use. Gemma confidentiality spoke about young people being able to speak up for themselves and challenge things that do not support this or oppressed them. She also stressed the importance of a complaints process being accessible to young people with learning disabilities. Working with the other young people in the group, they established what the procedure might look like. A comic style was the most popular choice!

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Following on from the working group, Gemma was invited join everyone for lunch. Greeted by a waiter, she was seated at an 'French' style restaurant, which had been recreated in the conference room! Over lunch, Gemma and Sue Berelowitz chatted about all the work Changing Young Lives did, and then finished off with a game of 'cheat'. What a perfect way to spend your lunch break! In the afternoon Gemma and another young person Duanja met with Maggie. They would be taking over Maggie's role in the afternoon, which was a meeting at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Curators at the museum had been taken over by a group of 40 students who were designing exhibitions that would entice more young people to visit the museum. Picked up in a private car, and driven to the museum, Gemma thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Gemma chatted with the young people finding out why they had chosen the design for their exhibitions: designs included a live display charting the dance and party movement. This interactive display would have music through the ages and outfits. Another one looked at the evolution of street clothing and music, from Nike and Adidas trainers to Hip hop and dance music. Martin Roth, who is the Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum joined the young people. He also was impressed with ideas they young people had developed and "Could see some of the designs being used in the future". Maggie was very impressed at the great job Gemma did working with both the staff and the young people, saying "She did such as great job, I could have gone off and had a cup of tea and no one would have noticed".

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Samee becomes Sandwell CEO at Children’s Take Over Day

Samee Ahmed took over the role of Jan Britton, CEO Sandwell MBC. Samee is 12 and has been going to Young Voices since 2011. He was involved in putting together the Whole of Life standards and believes that everyone should be equal and young people with disabilities should have the same rights as everyone else. His ambition is to be a computer programmer. Samee arrived at the Council House in Oldbury full of excitement about taking over the role of the Chief Executive. He was greeted warmly by Jan who explained the format the day would take which was to include lots of meetings. Pretty much a typical day for a Chief Exec! The morning’s first meeting was to discuss who would receive employee/team of the month. Jan said how important it is that staff are recognised for their achievements. Samee listened intently as the nominations were read out before reaching his final decision, which Jan agreed with. A second meeting took place, followed by a third, which had been called urgently at short notice. Samee soon realised how being a Chief executive means you have to be flexible and change your plans for the day at short notice. Into the fourth meeting and lots of coffee later, Samee and Jan met with the organiser of a forthcoming trade event for local businesses. After a gruelling meeting, Samee declared the conference would, “Encourage businesses from other councils to come over to Sandwell” and was looking forward to hearing how it all went. In between meetings Samee asked Jan lots of probing questions about being the Chief Executive and what Jan’s priorities are for the future, including the Children’s Improvement Plan. The final meeting of the morning was to discuss how the use of new technology would link in with the improvement plan. After an enjoyable but tiring morning Samee and Jan parted company, with Samee adding that he would like to become a Chief Executive!

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On 22nd October four young leaders from the Young Voices Network headed to London. Gemma Caffrey, Isabelle Brant, Sarah Bentley and Gina Patel presented the work they have led on within Changing Young Lives, including the 'Quality Crew' audits, a young people led audit team that check services for young people who have a range of disabilities to ensure they have good quality experiences. Gemma talked to Maggie about the 'Right's Squad' training team, led by young people with learning disabilities, which has delivered training to professionals working in health, education and children's social care. She told Maggie about her experience of working in schools. "It's quite scary at first, but then when people come up to you and say you did a great job or that they learnt something new, you feel proud you have made a difference!" Gina told Maggie about the Quality of Health Principles and why they are so important. "The standards and principles ensure that people with a range of disabilities, mental health issues and older people are having equal lives and positive experiences of health services." Gina continued, "We want the same opportunities as everyone else, this should not be different just because of our disability." Maggie thought the standards were "great", and recognised that children, young people and adults should be seen as people first rather than always with a 'label of disability'. The young leaders had a great time meeting Maggie and said "Maggie is great, she seemed really interested to hear about what young people with disabilities are achieving and doing on a local level."

Young Voices Meet Children’s Commissioner

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On October 23rd Siraaj Nadat, Self-Advocacy Officer with Changing Our Lives, attended the All Party Parliamentary Group (APG) at The Houses of Parliament. All-Party Groups (APGs) are informal cross-party groups that are essentially run by and for Members of the Commons and Lords, although many groups involve individuals and organisations from outside Parliament. Siraaj was invited to attend as part of a panel of experts in their field from The Learning Disability Health Observatory and The Confidential Enquiry into the deaths of people with learning disabilities. This APG was to present the work that they been doing over the last 3 years. Healthcare for All, the report of the Independent Inquiry by Sir Jonathan Michael, that followed Death by Indifference said, "One problem we had was that we didn't know enough about the experience of people with learning disabilities in health services. People with learning disabilities were often not identified in health care systems and were therefore invisible". Sir Jonathan Michael recommended that there should be a Confidential Inquiry into the deaths of people with learning disabilities and a Learning Disabilities Public Health Observatory. The APG was very well attended and Tom Clarke, MP Chaired the meeting. Delegates included Baroness Howe of Idlicote, Parliamentarian and Mark Goldring, CEO Mencap. Siraaj said, "It was amazing to go and speak at The Houses of Parliament. I felt very proud and honoured to have been invited to be part of a meeting at such a prestigious venue. It just took my breath away".

All Party Parliamentary Group Meeting

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Tel: 0121 533 7174 ask@changingourlives.org

www.changingourlives.org www.twitter.com/Positive_Lives

Changing Our Lives November 2012

Next Spotlight Open Mic Night is 25th January 2013

6-8pm

at The Public