Annual Report 2009

Transcription

Annual Report 2009

Annual Report 2009
Registered Company Number: 4567984
Registered Office Address:
Second Floor, Maybrook House, Queen’s Gardens, Dover, Kent,
CT17 9AH
Skillnet Group CIC
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www.skillnetgroup.co.uk March 2009
Annual Report 2009
Who are we?
Skillnet Group Community Interest
Company is a social enterprise (not-forprofit organisation) working with people
with learning difficulties.
Skillnet Group was set up in 2002,
following the success of the original company, Skillnet Swale, which we
established in 2001.
We became a Community Interest Company in April 2008.
Our Mission:
Our mission is to support people with a learning difficulty to speak up,
make choices, be heard and taken seriously.
We support people with and without learning difficulties to work
together equally to develop projects and support networks and to
change attitudes about disability in society generally.
We support people to develop opportunities and become more
independent in all aspects of life, including; learning, work, housing,
health, money, transport, leisure and relationships.
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We focus on making links within local communities
and building up strong local knowledge. This is so
that people with a learning difficulty have an equal
place as citizens within mainstream society and are
not segregated.
We are a grass roots organisation with a strong ethical focus. We
support people to play an active part within their local communities so
that they become powerful. We also support people to take
responsibility for what they do, to think about how they act and how
that affects the rest of the world: including humans all over the world,
non-human animals and the environment.
What do we do?
 Support people to have as good a life as
anyone else.
 Develop projects to enable people to
move into work and become more
independent.
 Campaign and promote human rights.
 Develop courses and provide training and
consultancy.
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What have we achieved since our last Annual Report?
Supporting people to have as good a life as anyone else:
Life Choices Project: This project supports
people living at home with older carers. It is based
on person-centred planning and supports people to
build their plan and then put it into action. At the
moment we are supporting 7 people as part of this
project.
We are supporting 3 people to move on to independent living.
1 person is now having support through this project using a direct
payment and 1 more person is waiting for her direct payment to start
at the end of April.
2 people are now accessing their local gym through the G.P. referral
scheme.
We are in contact with different organisations that can
support people to access shared ownership schemes and
we promote this to the people we support.
People are also accessing a lot more in their local
communities and are now going to college, local clubs and
gaining the confidence to be ready to move on to
independence.
Housing and Support: We support people individually and in groups to
develop skills to live independently. We support people to think about
all their options so that they can make a real choice about where they
want to live.
Self-Directed Support: We support people to
have control over their funding and support.
Since our last Annual Report in March 2008, we
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have supported 26 people individually to build, develop and implement
their person-centred plans or support plans. This is focusing on the
support at the moment as people are not yet able to access personal or
individual budgets in Kent. These will be introduced later in the year.
Direct Payments Team: The Direct
Payments Team has been working
together since January 2007 to provide
support and information about Direct
Direct Payments
Payments for people with learning
difficulties.
Presented by:
So far the team has supported more
Skillnet Group Direct Payments
Team.
than 150 people to find out about
Direct Payments. The Team has also
supported many people to access Direct Payments, including 31 people
who currently receive direct payments to pay for their own support
from the Skillnet Group.
The team has been working on delivering its training and information
workshop during 2008. This has been a chance for training while
developing skills and the project has opened up opportunities for people
with learning difficulties to have paid work. People have become
experts by experience.
Brokerage: Brokerage is about supporting
people to get what they want out of life,
including who they want to support them and
how. Brokerage is part of self-directed
support and is needed to help people manage
their individual budgets.
We have been providing some parts of
brokerage for some years now. We are developing our service to make
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it stand alone from the rest of the Skillnet Group. This is so that it is
clearly independent from the other support that we provide and we can
support people with their own money. This will also build on the work of
our Direct Payments Team.
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Developing projects to enable people to move into work and
become more independent:
Media and Promotion:
West Track Studios:
In September 2008 we opened our own recording studio in the centre
of Canterbury. This was built especially for us and is fully accessible
for people who use wheelchairs. This will be run by the Skillnet Group
as community resource and social firm. We are planning on having a big
launch event in May.
People with High Support Needs: We are developing workshops with
people with high support needs. These will support people to develop
plans and use music and art to express their views. We are also
developing more performing arts and sensory workshops with people
with high support needs. Some of this work is in partnership with East
Kent Mencap. We are also working together with residential homes to
develop this work.
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Fearless Photography: In July 2008 people’s
photographs were part of a mainstream art
exhibition at Bankside Gallery in London.
One Vision: On the 25th of November 2008 Risky Business staged a
musical called One Vision on at the Theatre Royal, Margate. We had
rave reviews:
‘… I laughed, cried, clapped and cheered along with everyone in the
crowd last night - that was a real moment of proper connection for
everyone in the Theatre - you pulled if off brilliantly.’ Mark (Heart 'n'
Soul, London)
‘… I mean it when I say that I've seen the West End show "We will
rock you", and Risky Business and the Bohemians were better. The
audience loved it, and did they participate!’ Des (Kent County Council)
The show was so successful that we are now taking it on tour. We are
hoping to have 5 dates across Kent and London throughout 2009 and
early 2010. We are applying for different funding to do this, including
the Arts Council.
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ITV Fixers: In May 2008 people from Risky
Business (our performing arts group) worked
with ITV on their Fixers programme. This was
shown on television on the Meridian News. ITV
also came and filmed our musical in Margate in
November 2008.
You can see these films at:
www.itvlocal.com/itvfixers
Shepway Play Strategy: People from Dover and Shepway have been
working with Shepway District Council to develop their play strategy
and make sure disabled children are involved. This has involved putting
on some workshops with young people in Shepway.
In 2008 we worked with Kent Youth Theatre to develop workshops for
young people in Canterbury. We are looking at continuing with a new
Performing Arts Group in Dover or Canterbury.
Way Out: Our band played their first live gig at
the Paradigm conference in Manchester in
January. They have been practicing hard on their
set and it certainly paid off!
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Other Projects:
The Pulse: We are developing a new Meeting Place and
Community Café in Sittingbourne (The Pulse). We are
working with the Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Constituency Labour Party, Swale District Partnership
Group for People with a Learning Disability, Kent
County Council, Swale Borough Council, Kent Police, Swale
Community Forum, Swale Council for Voluntary Service
(CVS), AmicusHorizon, Social Firms UK and other local
organisations and community groups.
We have completed Phase 1 of the building work at the
Labour Hall. We will be developing the whole project as
a centre of excellence for sustainability and the
environment. As well as aiming to make the project as
close to zero waste as possible, we are also applying for
funding for photo-voltaic cells and already have funding
to promote recycling and waste reduction.
The project will be a social enterprise involving the
whole community.
We have been successful with various pots of funding,
including money from the Social Enterprise Investment
Unit and have several other applications in the pipeline.
We are hoping that the whole project will be open by
the autumn.
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The Eco Shed: This is an environmental, ecology and recycling project
and emerging social firm. It is now based within The Pulse. We are now
also working with Social Firms UK and have had some free consultancy
from them as part of their Waste and Resources Action Programme
(WRAP) funding. The Eco Shed will be having a launch day at the new
site in April.
Oasis Club: This is a social club that meets in Canterbury.
We continue to support people to run the club and meet up to
do things together on the first Saturday of every month.
TrADE (Trade Association for Disability Enterprises):
This is a Kent-wide network of organisations and
individuals supporting people who are disadvantaged in
the labour market to make high quality goods and
services to be sold on the open market. Skillnet Group
received funding to develop this network, increase
membership and ensure more disabled people were
involved.
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Campaigning and promoting human rights:
Speaking Up (Self-Advocacy) Groups: We
support 8 groups altogether – in Deal, Faversham,
Folkestone, Dover, Sheppey, Sittingbourne and
two groups in Margate.
These groups focus on talking about people’s
rights and issues affecting people with a learning
difficulty. The groups have done some excellent
campaigning and development work throughout 2008.
This includes:
 Hate Crime – we have worked on role plays and are
making a DVD with Kent Police.
 ITV Fixers – we worked with media students from
Dover Grammar School and South Kent College on our
role plays about hate crime. ITV filmed us and we
were on TV.
 We have been working with the local bus company to
make sure that their routes are accessible and their drivers
understand more about learning disability.
 Working with local restaurants to make their menus easier to
understand.
 Visiting residential homes across East Kent to find out what people’s
issues are and feed them into the District Partnership Groups.
People living in residential homes are often the most excluded people
in our communities. We are also supporting people who live in
residential homes to develop their own speaking up groups and find
out what is available in their local communities. We have made good
links with 19 residential homes so far.
 Speaking to the District Councils about local issues.
 Doing workshops and training people about person-centred
approaches, human rights and self-directed support.
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 Training other people with a learning difficulty to use the Tube.
 Getting involved in local developments
such as the Turner Centre in Margate.
 Making sure that the voices of people
with a learning difficulty are heard at
local forums such as Crime and Disorder
Reduction partnerships, Adult Strategic
Partnerships, Local Strategic
Partnerships, Citizens’ Panels, Local Involvement Networks in Health
and Social Care (LINks) and Community Involvement Forums.
 Supporting people to know about Valuing People Now and other big
plans that affect them.
 We are also hoping to start new speaking up groups working with
people with learning difficulties who have also used acute mental
health services.
We have also continued to support people at the DropIn in Margate. This is in partnership with several
other organisations including Kent County Council.
District Partnership Group Support: We support 5 districts: Thanet,
Canterbury, Swale, Dover and Shepway. This involves supporting the
Joint Chairs with a learning difficulty to take the
lead as well as ensuring that the planning groups
and speaking up groups link with the District
Partnership Groups. This also involves supporting
people with a learning difficulty to be involved in
the Kent Partnership Board.
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Being Seen Being Heard: This project is about raising awareness of
the everyday problems people with a learning difficulty have when they
visit the doctors’ surgery or go into hospital. We have a Being Seen
Being Heard group in Thanet, which has been running since 2004. We
are also developing groups in Dover and Canterbury. People with and
without a learning difficulty work together equally and are paid for the
work that we do.
Since the beginning of the project people have performed the role
plays that they developed and delivered training at more than 20
health centres.
During 2008 people have delivered workshops at 5 health centres
across Thanet. The group were also involved in performing in ‘One
Vision’ and got the message across about people being listened to by
their Doctor.
Being Seen Being Heard is also a member of the Kent Good Health
Group and will soon be supporting a mystery shopping project on behalf
of that group.
Information Sharing Forums:
We continue to co-ordinate Information
Sharing Forums in Thanet and Dover. These
have become very successful forums for people
with a learning difficulty to find out what is
available in their local area and for
professionals to share ideas and good practice.
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During 2008 we have held two Forums in Dover/Deal and three in
Thanet. These involve lots of different specialist and mainstream
organisations. We ask different organisations to host each forum. Each
forum has attracted between 50-70 people. Some people have started
doing new things as a result of these forums.
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Developing courses and providing training and consultancy:
Courses and Training:
We are accredited with the Open College Network.
People with and without learning difficulties work
together to design our courses.
People have developed two new media courses – Music Production and
Media Studies. People are also working on a Healthy Living course, a
Cookery/Catering course and a Performing Arts course.
We supported 33 people to complete their ASDAN Certificate in Life
Skills course during 2008.
We have supported 33 different people to begin a Music Production or
Media Studies course.
Workforce Development:
We have supported more people to gain paid
work within the Skillnet Group. We now have 9
people with a learning difficulty employed in the
Skillnet Group. This is out of a total of 30
employees. There are also about 35 other
people who have paid sessional work with us. We
are supporting these people to think about doing more work and having
contracts of employment too.
We have developed our own Induction course as part of the Learning
Disability Qualification. We have accredited this with the Open College
Network. Everyone employed by the Skillnet Group who does not
already have a social care or teaching qualification is doing this course.
We chair the Kent Training Group, which reports
to the Kent Partnership Board for People with a
Learning Disability.
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We have supported 11 people to move on to other paid work outside of
the Skillnet Group.
We have been offering placements for social work students from
Christchurch University College, Canterbury. Last year we offered one
placement. This year we have two students working with us for 33
weeks.
Last year, we worked in partnership with the Home Office to support
18 people to have work experience in their local Passport office in
Dover. People gained certificates for this work and it was reported in
the local press.
Person-Centred Planning and Approaches:
We have the contract to provide all the training around person-centred
planning as part of the Learning Disability Qualification for Kent. The
contract is coordinated by South Kent College. We deliver the training
mainly to staff working in residential homes.
Criminal Justice System – Training:
We have been working with KeyRing to provide training
about learning disability to people working in prisons. It is
estimated that between 20% and 30% of people in prison
have a learning difficulty/disability. (Prison Reform Trust
report: No-One Knows, 2007)
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We won the tender to the Department of Health in
2007 and have been working with the Prison Reform
Trust.
We piloted the training in the South East region and
now it is being taken all over the country. We are
hoping that we will also take the training to other
parts of the criminal justice system – such as youth offending,
probation, courts and the police.
Jobs Action Network:
We still have the secondment to the Valuing
People Team to lead a Jobs Action Network for
the South East Region. We are currently
visiting all the different Partnership Board
areas across the South East to see what work
people are doing and review the work of the
Jobs Action Network. We are planning to set up a core campaigning and
work group of people with a learning difficulty as well as having a big
event in the autumn.
Valuing People Innovation work in Kent: We continue to take the lead
for developing some of the Valuing People (Now) Focus and
Implementation Groups in Kent. This includes chairing the Jobs Action
Group and the Kent Training Group.
We have also been doing a lot of consultancy work for the Kent Housing
Group. Being Seen Being Heard is part of the Kent Good Health Group.
We are part of the South East ‘Getting a Life’ Project
Board. This is a cross-government project to pilot
personalised approaches (especially around people
getting real jobs) with young people coming through
transition. We are taking the lead on ensuring people
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with a learning difficulty and families are really involved in this
project.
Transition: As well as being part of the Getting a Life
Project Board, we have been a key partner in the Thanet
Transition Group. We have been working with Christchurch
University in Broadstairs and other organisations to put
together a Transition website and information booklet. We
are looking to launch the website and booklet in June.
We have also received some Learning Disability Development Funding to
develop a Transition Project in Swale. This will link closely to selfdirected support and incorporate brokerage and support planning. We
will be starting this soon.
Kent Probation: We have been doing more work with Kent
Probation around their Diversity Project and helping them
to make some of their information easier to understand.
Tube Training: In the summer of 2008 we were
commissioned by Transport for London to
develop and provide 2 pilot training sessions for
people with a learning difficulty. The sessions
were to support people to build their confidence
in using the Tube. We received very positive
feedback about the sessions and we hope to work
with Transport for London again in the future.
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Jargon Busters: We are regularly asked to make
information easier to understand by various
organisations. We are now developing this work
into a new social firm called Jargon Busters.
Accessible A to Z Book:
People in Sittingbourne decided to produce an
accessible A to Z book to help other people with
learning difficulties to read and write. It is made
by adults with a learning difficulty for other
adults. The only other books are for children. In
this book we are using pictures and words for
things that adults like doing to stay healthy.
We have produced this book in partnership with Kent Libraries and
Archives to celebrate the National Year of Reading 2008. The book will
be published and we are having a launch in June.
Website: In March 2009 we have launched our
new look website.
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How were we funded?
This is where our money came from between April 2007 and March
2008:
Skillnet Group Income for April 2007 to March 2008
Learning Disability Development Fund
13%
Other
20%
Kent Adult Social Services
10%
3%
8%
Direct Payments and people who self
fund
Money from Residential Homes
Supporting People (Casa support)
22%
Learning and Skills Council - Thanet
College
Learning and Skills Council Canterbury College
13%
4%
Grants
7%
Who did the money come from?
How Much
Learning Disability Development Fund
£112,964.30
Other
£18,575.61
Kent Adult Social Services
£124,767.23
Direct Payments and people who self fund
£41,109.41
Money from Residential Homes
£20,817.83
Supporting People (Casa Support)
£73,640.88
Grants
£46,984.00
Learning and Skills Council - Thanet College
£55,086.16
Learning and Skills Council - Canterbury College £75,192.58
£569,138.00
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How did we spend our money?
This is what we spent our money on from April 2007 to March 2008:
Skillnet Group Outgoings for April 2007 to March
2008
2%
1%
1%
1%
1%
Support costs
3% 1%
Rent
Insurance
5%
Electricity and Gas
Room Hire
Other premises costs
Telephone and Internet
Stationery and equipment
Other running costs
85%
How did we spend our money?
Support costs
£513,528.00
Rent
£32,632.00
Insurance
£8,682.00
Electricity and Gas
£1,791.00
Room Hire
£2,268.00
Other premises costs
£2,446.00
Telephone and Internet
£12,899.00
Stationery and equipment
£17,063.00
Other running costs
£9,803.00
Total
Skillnet Group CIC
£601,112.00
22
What do we want to do in 2009 and 2010?
We will continue to develop projects and support that ensure that
people are treated fairly and equally and are truly part of their
communities.
Our priorities for 2009 – 2010 include:
 Continuing to develop and expand our
Speaking Up Group work and
campaigning around human rights.
 Taking our musical ‘One Vision’ on tour
around Kent and London.
 Continuing and expanding our work
with the Criminal Justice System –
consultancy, advice and training.
 Having a big conference (probably in the autumn) for Kent about
criminal justice.
 Continuing to develop our recording studio in Canterbury into a
resource used by the whole community.
 Moving on to Phase 2 of the building work at
The Pulse. Developing the project as a social
firm from the beginning – employing people
from different sections of the community,
including people with a learning difficulty.
We would like to be able to open the site to
the public by the autumn. This is dependant on getting the rest of
the funding that we need to do the work.
 Continuing to support the District Partnership Groups in East Kent
and the Kent Partnership Board for People with a Learning Disability.
We would like to see these groups become the really powerful voice
of people with a learning difficulty, their families and local
communities.
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 Further developing our brokerage service to provide support to
people with and people without a learning difficulty by working
closely in partnership with other organisations providing different
types of services.
 Making more information easy to understand for/with other
organisations.
 Continuing to develop and promote the Getting a Life Project and,
especially making sure that young people and families are involved in
the project and are part of making decisions.
 Increasingly working with people with high support needs – especially
around supporting people to be part of their communities.
 Making sure that Valuing People Now happens for everyone,
especially around more people getting jobs and having better choices
about where they live.
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Who makes the decisions in the Skillnet Group?
Decision Team:
Our Decision Team is like a management
committee but more interesting! It is made
up of people with and people without
learning difficulties. People represent all
the main areas and projects in the Skillnet
Group. The Decision Team makes all the big
decisions about work we are doing and what
we would like to do. We then feed all this information to the Board of
Directors. The Board checks that we are working within the law and
spending our money on the right things.
Decision Team Members will soon also be Company Members.
Current Decision Team Members are:
Alan Jones
Birgitte Perdios
Chris Jennings
David Robinson
Debbie Jewsbury
Delyse Hayward
Gez Norton
Skillnet Group CIC
Gillian Emans
Jamie Forrester
Jo Kidd
John Garland
Laura Maude
Louise Jones
Michelle Huggins
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Michelle Thorne
Neil Fullilove
Peter Bland
Tom Blakesley
Zoe Davis
Skillnet Group Board of Directors:
Annie Metcalfe
Paul Thirkettle
Alaine Bunce
Peter Calcutt
Sylvia Scott
Jo Kidd (Chief Executive)
Company Secretary: Venetia Carpenter, Mersham, Ashford.
Administrator: Gillian Emans
Accountant: Chris Geary, Geary & Co, Chartered
Accountants, Elmstone, Canterbury.
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Other people that work with us:
Payroll: Stephen Parsons,
Socran, Petham, Canterbury.
Information Technology (IT)
and Skillnet Group website:
Echo Computers, Sandgate.
Property Services and
Development Consultants:
Terry Thompson - Comco
Properties, Canterbury.
Sound and Production Engineer:
Clive Austen, Electron Soul,
Maidstone.
West Track Studios website:
Adam Parsonage, Hot Coconut,
Maidstone.
Chief Executive Supervision:
Annie Metcalfe, Aim2Aim,
Whitstable.
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Human Resources Consultant:
Clifford Roseweir, Ascentium HR
Consulting, Shirley, Croydon.
Insurance Consultant:
John Cox, Argyll Insurance,
Herne Bay.
Buildings Surveyors and
Architects:
Avenue Consultancy, Ashford.
Education Consultant:
Malcolm Trotter, Stelling
Minnis, Canterbury.
Bank: The Co-operative Bank
PLC, P.O. Box 101, 1 Balloon
Street, Manchester, M60 4EP.
Funders and Sponsors:
We have received funding and support from the following people since
January 2008. We would like to thank all of those people.
Awards for All
Canterbury City Council
Canterbury College
Canterbury District Partnership Group
Canterbury Christchurch University
College
Casa Support
Centre for Inclusive Futures
Church in the Hall
Department for Business Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform (Low Carbon Buildings
Programme)
Department of Health
Dover District Council
Dover District Partnership Group
Eastern and Coastal Kent Primary Care
Trust
Heart ‘n’ Soul
Kent 2012 Games Campaign
Kent County Council
Kent Partnership Board for People with a
Learning Disability
Kent Police
Kent Probation Service
Kent Waste Partnership – Kent
Community Waste Action Fund
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Learning and Skills Council
MCCH
Ministry of Justice - National Offender
Management Service
Segen Microgeneration
Shepway District Council
Shepway District Partnership Group
Social Enterprise Investment Unit
Social Firms UK
South Kent College
Swale Borough Council
Swale Community Forum
Swale District Partnership Group
Swale Housing Association AmicusHorizon
Swale Local Strategic Partnership
(Health and Wellbeing Partnership fund)
Thanet College
Thanet District Council
Thanet District Partnership Group
Train2Gain
Transport for London
Valuing People Support Team

Annual Report 2009

Transcription

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