Tag Archives: Learning Disability

Winter Wellbeing Project

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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Welsh Ambulance Service

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On Thursday 20th February, Ffion Poole, Hannah Thomas and Christy Taylor went to Swansea where they gave a presentation to Mandy, Leanne and Matthew from the Welsh Ambulance Service.  The presentation was of the training Caerphilly People First provides to medical students, and was filmed in order to publicise the working relationship between the Welsh Ambulance Service and people with learning disabilities.

The  possibility of Hannah becoming a Learning Disability Community Champion for the Ambulance Service was also discussed.  Ffion is already a Champion, and the role involves talking to groups of people with learning disabilities about the work ambulance staff do.

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Gwent Police – Mate Crime

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We were recently visited by two officers from Gwent Police who talked to us about Mate Crime.  Mate Crime is a form of hate crime that is defined as abuse or theft being carried out by someone who claims to be a friend.  This can include financial abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or emotional abuse.  People with learning disabilities are often the target of mate crime.

The Crime and Disorder Reduction Officer and Community Support officer who visited us told us that the police take these crimes very seriously and they want people to REPORT IT!  They acknowledged that this can be scary but there is always someone that will look after you and support you. They said that you can call them on 101, or contact them via Crimestoppers or Facebook.  If a crime is in the process of being committed you can call 999.

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National Council Meeting

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On the 27th and 28th January Ffion Poole and Christy Taylor attended the first All Wales People First National Council meeting of 2020, which was held in Flint, North Wales.

During the two days the group spoke about what they like and don’t like about National Council meetings and how they can be improved in the future. Other items up for discussion included bus passes (some members are still waiting for their new ones), if people are happy with the term learning disabilities, and whether All Wales should campaign to have the Welsh Assembly appoint a learning disability commissioner. 100% of members voted yes to this question. The group also discussed appointing a patron to All Wales People First. This is usually a famous person who is able to create media interest and encourage donations.

Also during the meeting, the Chair of All Wales People First, Joe Powell, gave a presentation on the ‘Five Giants’ strategy. Joe explained that this strategy aims to solve the problems with self-advocacy in Wales. The five giants refer to five big problems in self-advocacy, which are: IPA Contracts (which state that local authorities must fund advocacy), Funding Cuts, Mission Drift (moving away from core work), Competition (sometimes with other People First groups), and Lack of Funding.

The next meeting of the group will be held in South Wales in May 2020.

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Hospital Passport

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At the beginning of February Stacey and Edward from the University of South Wales visited Caerphilly People First to get our views on what information should be included on hospital passports for people with learning disabilities.

A hospital passport is designed to give hospital staff helpful imformation about you which will help them make your stay in hospital more comfortable.  During the meeting Ffion, Hannah and Amy were asked to decide which ten pieces of information they thought the passport should include, and then rank those ten pieces of information in order of importance.