Yesterday, Ffion spent the morning with Torfaen People First, delivering an engaging Relationship Training session. The group had fantastic discussions about:
What makes a good boyfriend or girlfriend? What makes a good or bad friend? How to handle arguments in a healthy way.
Everyone got involved in fun games, watched educational videos, and shared their thoughts — giving brilliant feedback and learning something new. Next week’s session is all about “Understanding Your Body & My Body” — we can’t wait to see you all again!
Ffion Poole and Amy Jones recently delivered ‘Learning Disability Awareness and Health Care’ training to people from Shared Lives, the Caerphilly Learning Disability Social Worker team, and representatives from Care in the Community. The aim of this course is for people to gain a greater understanding of people with learning disabilities. The feedback we received was great, with comments including “the session was presented very well and information was given clearly”, “very informative, with lots of opportunities to ask questions”, “information given will help me to be a better social worker”, and “it was great that it was being led by people with experience of having learning difficulties”.
Well done to our amazing volunteers Gethin and Morgan for attending the Brushcutters and Trimmers training this week! A big thank you to Richard for delivering the training, and to James for providing the PPE. They had a fantastic time, and Gethin especially enjoyed using the strimmer! Huge thanks to Theresa and Dave for hosting us up at Ynys Hywel Farm.
Last week our executive assistant Ffion Poole delivered training on relationships, friendships, and online safety to the members of “Our Voice, Our Choice” in Ceredigion.
The sessions were provided to two different group over 2 days, and it was great to see everyone sharing their thoughts, having meaningful conversations, and learning together. Both groups were so welcoming, and interacted really well throughout the sessions.
The sessions kicked off with the Skittles icebreaker, then we dived into discussions about friendships and relationships. The first part of the session was all about relationships, and the group talked about what makes a good girlfriend or boyfriend. Other topics covered during the training included: what makes a good or bad friend, how to handle arguments, and online safety tips.
Here is some of the feedback we received from the people who took part in the sessions:
Harriett: “It’s been good, I’ve learned to be careful and really enjoyed it.”
Sue: “I enjoyed it and it was nice hearing everyone’s experiences.”
Tom: “The presentation was great, I learned a lot about relationships.”
Melissa: “I loved it! A great place to learn about friendships and relationships—I could relate to so much.”
Ian: “It was interesting, the tutor made it fun, and I really enjoyed it.”
Here is what we are up to this week. We still have a few spaces for Chair Yoga on Tuesday if you’d like to join us – members loved last week’s session!
Amazing day at the University of South Wales on Friday! Caerphilly People First TRAC volunteers teamed up with third-year student nurses for a hands-on simulation session. Nat rocked her fake wound makeup, and Ffion’s acting as a patient with severe abdominal pain was spot on! The nurses handled the pressure like pros, showing just how valuable these real-life practice scenarios are. Huge thanks to everyone involved — what a fantastic learning experience!
Last week Ffion Poole delivered the final part of her relationship course at Oxford House. The last session focused on human rights. We discussed the barriers people face when it comes to relationships, our right to have relationships, and we also talked about fairness, equality, and respect. Well done to everyone who attended the sessions. Your input and views were great to hear, and we’ve all learned something new over the past few weeks.
Congratulations to member and Executive Assistant Ffion Poole for winning the MIRROR Rights Award at last week’s All Wales People First AdFest conference, for running her relationship courses for adults with learning disabilities. During the past year Ffion has delivered her training to over 50 people, covering topics such as:
What makes a good friend and a bad friend. How to make friends and avoid arguments. What makes a good boyfriend/girlfriend, and how you might begin a relationship. Understanding your body. ‘My body, my choice’. Sex education. LGBTQIA+. The rights you should have in a relationship.
Some of the feedback she has received as a result of these sessions include:
‘I’ve learned how to go about making friends, and now I know the signs of a bad friendship’. ‘I know about safe sex now, and I also understand my body more’. ‘I have learned what makes a good friend and I will try to be a better friend in the future’.
Ffion has done an amazing job informing people of their rights, and her work has been really important and helpful to people with learning disabilities.
Last week, our volunteers/TRAC members, Ffion Poole, Gethin Chamberlain, and Natalie King, worked at the University of South Wales. They role-played patients who had been admitted to the hospital with various health conditions in order to help the third-year student nurses with their training. Well done to all the students; you will all make fantastic nurses. It was great to see the knowledge you have about learning disabilities and the adjustments that need to be made when someone is admitted to hospital.
Last week Ffion, supported by Christy, travelled to Aberystwyth to deliver her relationship course to Mencap Ceredigion and Our Voice Our Choice. We kicked off by playing the Skittles game, which we use to get to know each other and make everyone feel comfortable. During the course, which Ffion provided for the two groups over two days, she covered friendships, how to make friends, how to deal with arguments, what makes a good boyfriend and girlfriend, online safety, then finished off with a game of relationship Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Thank you to Anita and Carl for the lovely flowers and thank you card, and also for making friendship bracelets for the group.
The Our Voice Our Choice group said this about the training:
Excellent turn out and very informative about safety online when making friends, online dating, what is a good friend, what is a bad friend, how to make friends and so much more. A massive thank you to Ffion and Christy.
