Category Archives: Uncategorized

Human Rights Act Reform

Posted on by

Ffion and Natalie recently attended a workshop run by the British Institute of Human Rights where people discussed the changes the UK government has proposed making to the Human Rights Act.  They want to change the laws that were in place in the UK when we were part of the European Union.  Caerphilly People First is one of the many organisations concerned by this because we believe that it will lead to people in the United Kingdom having their rights weakened.  The UK government have opened a consultation to get the views of people on the proposed changes, but unfortunately this isn’t available in an easy-read format.  This consultation is available until 8th March at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/human-rights-act-reform-a-modern-bill-of-rights

Our Chairperson Ffion says: We are worried about this as we have not had a say or had any easy read documents explaining why and how they are going to change things.  We feel like we are invisible as people with learning disabilities.

Winter Wellbeing Week 3

Posted on by

For week 3 of our Winter Wellbeing course, the Tuesday Focus Group discussed the benefits of Vitamin C and Vitamin D, and compared foods to see which foods contain the most sugar and fat, and which healthier foods you can replace the unhealthy ones with.  After this discussion, the group took part in a healthy eating quiz prepared by Carmarthenshire People First, following which the group made healthy carrot and coriander soup.

Cardiff People First Winter Wellbeing Project

Posted on by

As part of Cardiff People First’s Winter Wellbeing programme, they held a period party event at the Grange Pavilion in Cardiff, which was attended by Caerphilly People First members, Ffion Poole, Natalie King and Hannah Thomas. They also invited the Cheeky Pants company to attend via Zoom, to answer any questions people had about their products, and also to advise them on how to make their information accessible for people with Learning Disabilities. There were lots of brilliant ideas and questions during this discussion. It was great to see everyone face- face after a very long, challenging time, and we’d like to thank Cardiff People First for the invite.

Winter Wellbeing Project

Posted on by

For week 2 of our Winter Wellbeing project the group mixed flower seeds into compost, then headed to Bargoed Woodland Park to throw them into the woods. We’ll go back and visit where we left them in late Spring to see if they have grown. The group was joined by All Wales People First, Chief Executive Joe Powell and Natasha Hirst from the Through our Eyes Photography Project who took some fantastic photos. It was a great session and the group feedback was excellent. We’d like to thank All Wales People First for funding the project, Carmarthenshire People First for providing training materials, and Fusion Torfaen & Caerphilly for the wild flower seeds.

Online Health Check Workshop

Posted on by

Caerphilly People First members recently connected to Conwy Connect’s Health Check Workshop.  We learned what a health check is and how important it is that people have one every year. You can book your annual health check by calling your GP.  The health champions who ran the workshop did a fantastic job and the event was very informative and fun.

Doctor Appointments

Posted on by

We have been working with members to access GP appointments.  As doctors in most surgeries are still not offering face-to-face appointments, they are recommending that people fill out an online form which asks about your symptoms, and also asks people to upload pictures if the issue is a rash etc.  One of our members, Tracey, who went through the process, found some of the questions complicated and hard to understand, but was thankful that the follow up from the GP was quick.

Gwent Citizens’ Panel

Posted on by

At the beginning of March, Amy Jones, Cyril Luke and Christy Taylor attended the Gwent Citizens’ Panel meeting.  The first speaker was Matthew from MIND Monmouthshire, a mental health charity. He spoke about the project and all that they do to help people with mental health issues.  The next speakers were Sian and Grant from Aneurin Health Board talking about building stronger communities together.  They also spoke about the Health Board giving physiotherapists and other health workers work experience in doctors’ surgeries.

Student Nurse Training

Posted on by

On the 2nd March, Ffion Poole and Amy Jones—supported by Christy Taylor—attended the University of South Wales to talk to the student nurses about what it’s like living with a learning disability and how difficult it can be.

As part of the training, everyone watched a video about how nurses should interact with people with learning disabilities.  We then went into groups with the students and discussed our lives and what things are difficult for us.  The students will use this information to design a poster which will be marked by us at the end of May.

Picture1