Providing RealOpportunities forYoung People inthe Transition to

Adulthood

Regional SEN Transition To Employment Project Newsletter

July2012In this issueIntroductionProject conferences,offical website launch andnew Breaks for Carersregulations.

Hub Team NewsDriving experience dayfor Alex in Caerphillyand Disability Awarenesstraining for Bridgend PeerMentors.

Families with DisabledChildren and ChildPovertyNew research fromContact a Family andFamily Fund showworrying figures.

Benefits Adviser ServiceNew service from MencapCymru for support aroundbenefits.

Training & EventsUpcoming project trainingand events.

Welcome to the July edition of the Real Opportunities Project newsletter! This month Real Opportunities hosted its annual dissemination conference at Future Inn, Cardiff Bay. Over 100 delegates from a variety of sectors attended the conference along with staff and young people from the project. Over the course of the day representatives from education, employment, research and Welsh Government discussed how the project fitted within their respective sectors, but the young people who delivered presentations on the day totally stole the show by sharing their inspirational stories from the project.

We also officially launched our project website at the conference, which you can access by going to www.realopportunities.org.uk (www.cyfleoeddgwirioneddol.org.uk for Welsh language version). From the website you can also access the project toolkit. The toolkit contains forms, guidance and tools used throughout the project to support young people with person centred planning and transition work, youth inclusion, independent living skills and psychology support. This is still under development, but you will be able to access the tools as we continue to update and upload them. Please contact myself on 01792 817224 or at laura.davies@learningdisabilitywales.org.uk for a username and password.

As of 28 June the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children (Wales) Regulations 2012 came into force. Section 25 of the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 requires local authorities in Wales to assist the person caring for the disabled child to continue to care, by giving them breaks from caring. For more information about this and to access the full document detailing the regulations, have a look on our Facebook page and website in the news section.

Laura DaviesProject Information Officer

Car CrazyAlex from Caerphilly is a young man who enjoys riding his bike, playing snooker and being outdoors. Alex was uncertain of the future so herequested support to develop a person centred plan.Person centred planning sessions were facilitated to establish the things that are important to Alex and how he would like his future to look. Using person centred planning tools we identified that Alex has many hopes for the future, including going to college and getting job. His dream is to learn to drive.After establishing that Alex was passionate about learning to drive, Person Centred Planning worker Joe Harper contacted South Wales Police Driver Training Unit who were happy to host Alex and support him to access a driving simulator. Alex participated in a driving lesson, during which he learned about safety, the controls of a vehicle and appropriate speed. He had the opportunity to drive a mini cooper in a simulated environment, encountering different situations and roads. Alex’s confidence increased throughout the session and successfully drove the car through a town, city and motorway scenario. Following the session Alex commented: “It was better than I thought it would be. I had a brilliant time. I can’t wait to learn to drive”. A huge thank you to Gareth Morgan at the South Wales Police Driver Training Unit for enabling Alex to have a positive experience and encouraging him to follow his dreams.

For more information about supporting young people with a learning disability learn to drive, take a look at our ‘Learning to Drive’ article in

Hub Team NeWSJoe Harper from Caerphilly tells us about car crazy Alex while Tanya Pound from Bridgend has been busy training Peer Mentors!

the September edition of the Real Opportunities newsletter. It’s available on our website www. realopportunities.org.uk or you can also request a copy from the training and information team by getting in touch with Laura (laura.davies@ learningdisabilitywales.org.uk) .Useful Contacts:Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee www.dptac.independent.gov.ukBlue Badge Network www.bluebadgenetwork.orgDisabled Motorists Federationwww.dmfed.org.ukMobilisewww.disabledmotoring.orgMotabilitywww.motability.co.ukDisability AwarenessDuring Whitsun Half term, Tanya Pound Youth Inclusion worker and Peer Mentor Coordinator from the Bridgend Hub took 31 young people aged 14 to 15 years from Bryntirion Comprehensive School to Dan-Y-Coed House in West Cross, Swansea for a residential course. The course allowed the young people to have some relaxation time before the start of their GCSE exams and also to take part in a Level 2 Agored Cymru Disability Awareness Course called RESPECT Disability Awareness Youth Training, as part of their Peer Mentoring skills.The young people covered topics such as:

Understanding disability issues – What • does disability mean, identifying types of disability etc.Recognising the effects of disability • discrimination – do young people with disabilities miss out on fun? Recognising how language, behaviour and • actions can achieve inclusion – appropriate/inappropriate language regarding disability, helping people to feel confident to join in Understanding the concept of inclusion • and how to encourage it” – how to include disabled people in trips and games, discussing the importance of including people.

Tanya said “It was really well received and helped them to understand a little of how it feels to be excluded and how they can prevent this from happening to other people. It also explains about different types of disability,

which helps to eliminate the fears surrounding ‘disabled people’.”

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Alex in the driving simulator.

‘Reaching families in Wales: mapping familieswith disabled children’ is the first study to concentrate specifically on data from Wales, by comparing data on families helped by the Family Fund with the areas of relative deprivation in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation Child Index (WIMD) 2011. Keith Towler, Children’s Commissioner for Wales, said: “There remains a lot of scepticism and cynicism that child poverty exists in this country. This valuable research from Contact a Family and the Family Fund highlights that it’s a problem that is real, it is raw and it is debilitating.”Findings from the report include:Over a third of families with disabled children helped by the Family Fund in Wales live in WIMD categories 1 and 2 - the two most deprived areas.The highest concentrations of families with disabled children are to be found in the most deprived WIMD areas of Wales. Family Fund are providing vital financial support to families with disabled children living in the most deprived areas of Wales as well as reaching those facing considerable financial difficulties living in rural areas.Conclusions

The Welsh Government’s Tackling Poverty • agenda must address the specific issues of families with disabled children living in urban and rural areas.It is vital for the Families First and Flying Start • programmes to continue to focus on addressing the complex needs of families with disabled children across Wales.The Welsh Government should commission • further research into families with disabled children, child poverty and relative deprivation.

Supporting families with disabled children inWalesLast year the Family Fund helped over 4,300 families with disabled or seriously ill children in Wales. Providing over £2.4 million worth of grants towards items such as washing machines, fridges, bedding and clothing, as well as holidays and equipment. For more information on the Family Fund, how to apply and family stories go to http://www.familyfund.org.uk/grants or contact

Ann Shercliff, Wales Development Manager ash@familyfund.org.uk Contact a Family Wales launches Counting the Costs 2012‘Counting the Costs 2012’ shows that families with disabled children in Wales are going without essentials, such as food, heating and clothing, and getting into debt before the full impact of benefit cuts is felt.• 64 per cent of families fear their financial situation will worsen in the next year - up 15 per cent since 2010.• The majority (77 per cent) cited welfare reforms as the main reason for their fear.• 82 per cent of families with disabled children in Wales have gone without because of lack of money (Food 18%, Heating 25%, Clothes 64%, Days out or holidays 87%, Equipment or adaptations 31%)• 40 per cent have fallen behind with payments (Utility bills 66%, Council tax payments 37%, Mortgage or rent 32%)As a result of this, Contact a Family is calling on the UK government to exempt families with disabled children from cuts to financial support and to target additional support to families through Universal Credit when they publish the detail of the new single monthly payment. The ‘Counting the Costs 2012’ full report is available to view online. You can access it via our Facebook group or the Real Opportunities website now or by going to www.cafamily.org.uk.Contact a Family have launched a campaign to raise awareness of the financial hardship for families with disabled children. They are also calling on the Welsh Government to ensure that the poorest families with disabled children are protected from the 10% cut to council tax benefit.Contact a Family Wales provides information and support to families with disabled children across Wales, with access to specialist welfare rights advisors and a range of information on benefits, tax credits, working, child care and grant giving trusts. Contact the Wales office: wales.office@ cafamily.org.uk or 02920 396624

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Joint research conducted by the Family Fund and Contact a Family in Wales indicates a strong correlation between families with disabled children and child poverty in Wales.

FamilieS WiTH DiSableD CHilDreNCHilD PoverTyaND

5 Day PCPDate: 10th & 11th July 2012 25th & 26th September 27th NovemberTime: 10am – 4pmVenue: Waterfront Church, SwanseaFor: 2 Places per Hub Team

Inclusion NetworkDate: 21st September 2012Time: 10am – 4pmVenue: Forge Fach CRC

Planning for the Future NetworkDate: 19th October 2012Time: 10am – 4pmVenue: Forge Fach CRC

Employment and Opportunities NetworkDate: 23rd November 2012Time: 10am – 1pmVenue: Forge Fach CRCFor: TKW/SEA Reps

Inclusion NetworkDate: 5th December 2012Time: 10am – 4pmVenue: Forge Fach CRC

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To get your story in the newsletter, or for more information contact Laura on 01792 817224or at laura.davies@learningdisabilitywales.org.uk

TraiNiNg&

eveNTSTo book onto any of the following trainingevents or seminars contact the informationand training team at realopportunities@learningdisabilitywales.org.uk for a bookingform. For further information regarding theevents listed please contact Hannah atHannah.cox@learningdisabilitywales.org.uk.

beNeFiTSaDviSer ServiCe

Mencap Cymru offers a telephone benefitsinformation advice and support service aimed at individuals with a learning disability aged 0-25 and their families. People can access the service via the Wales Learning Disability helpline on 0808 808 1111. A quick free call and the benefits adviser will call back.

Melvina Mellin who mans the helpline can provide general benefits information and also a full benefits check. Parents, carers, people with a learning disability and any professionals supporting them, can also access the helpline for general information

and advice. The helpline service is open 365 days a year - Monday to Friday 10am - 6pm and weekends and bank holidays 10am - 4pm. If your query cannot be answered immediately, or if the situation is more complex, there is a team of regional officers spread across Wales who can be brought in to help.

Mencap will also be delivering a series of information sessions on sex, sexuality and relationships across Wales in the autumn. The first session will be in Aberystwyth on 24 October. There will be subsequent sessions in Merthyr Tydfil and North Wales during the same week, dates and locations to be confirmed. You can register your interest and get more information via the helpline.