Goodbye and Welcome - Dacorum Mencap · To celebrate Easter Vicky organised a chocolate themed afternoon tea at St Mary's Church Hall. They had chocolate cake, biscuits and lovely

Dacorum Mencap does not endorse and accepts no responsibility for the goods and services described in this newsletter

JULY NEWSLETTER 2016

Our Address: 48 High Street Hemel Hempstead Herts. HP1 3AF

Email: [email protected] Website: www.dacorummencap.org.uk

Dacorum Mencap

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Our AGM is being held on Tuesday 11th October 2016

at St Mary’s Church Hall, High Street, Hemel Hempstead. HP1 3AE

12.15pm

We have a guest speaker coming from Electric Umbrella.

Electric Umbrella is an all-encompassing music project for adults with learning disabilities

(followed by a light lunch)

Come and meet our committee members and staff

Everyone welcome but it would be helpful if you would let us know if you are coming by ringing Tracy on 01442 247675

Goodbye and Welcome

It is with great regret that Maureen Stanley our wonderful Treasurer for the past 8 years is leaving the Executive Committee of Dacorum Mencap. Maureen set up a new banking system, made sure our small savings received a good interest, took on the payroll and worked with Tracy to produce our annual financial report. Thank you Maureen for bringing our finances into the electronic world and for looking after us so well.

After receiving the news of Maureen wishing to leave us we were fortunate to be introduced to Dawn Milne who is

experienced in dealing with finances and payroll and she agreed to be our new Treasurer. Dawn has been working with Maureen and Tracy over the past few months to understand our systems.

Dawn will be officially elected to the Executive Committee at our Annual Meeting in October but in the meantime we all welcome Dawn and look forward to working with her.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.dacorummencap.org.uk



Dacorum Mencap Annual Spring Party 2016 Dacorum Mencap’s Spring Party was a great success again this year it was enjoyed by around 150 people at John F Kennedy School on the 16th April. The afternoon started at 3.30pm with our dedicated team of volunteers, staff and friends from Osborne all helping to prepare the food, and hall ready for the party. Thank you very much for your help.

This year we had a live band and a disco supplying us with music throughout the evening. We also had a raffle, the first prize was a hamper which was made up in a Harrods basket that Bev had given us, we filled it with goodies, mainly from Asda, with the £50 donation that Osborne’s gave us. On entry everyone was given one free raffle ticket with a chance to buy some more if they wanted to. The gentleman that won

the hamper was very pleased with his win.

The buffet went down very well, as usual, with everyone tucking in and enjoying the food.

Hannah and Neal from Osborne put their special touch to the party again this year by bringing funny glasses and sparkly wigs for people to wear.



R.O.A.R Recreational Opportunities Allowing Respite

ROAR have been very busy over the last few months with some different activities mixed in with the regular ones that are always very popular.

To celebrate Easter Vicky organised a chocolate themed afternoon tea at St Mary's Church Hall. They had chocolate cake, biscuits and lovely sandwiches. There was a chocolate themed quiz and chocolate tasting. It was very well attended and everyone enjoyed it. ROAR joined in the celebrations when the Queen visited Berkhamsted on the 6th May. Luckily Elaine was given a tip off of the Queen’s movements, and got the group a good spot opposite the back door of the church, where she came out. They had a great view and got some fantastic photos. What a lovely atmosphere in the town. After, they all went to the Crown for a drink as it was a very warm day.



A small group went to Haresfoot Brewery in Berkhamsted to listen to live music played by local bands and some even tried the beer. This was the first time we have been to this venue but it was very good and we will be going back again.

We also had a visit to Tring brewery where we went on a tour, we learnt how beer is made; we smelt the hops and the different malts and tried a few different beers. The lads certainly enjoyed themselves.

We have also spent many evenings in different pubs throughout Hemel, Berkhamsted and Tring as pub meets are very popular, it won’t be long before we have tried them all out. There are also all the regular monthly activities that we enjoy, Olly’s bar, Mode nightclub, Swan and Berkhamsted football club so all in all ROAR have a varied and fun time together. Hopefully we have something on the programme to suit everyone.



ROAR Holiday 2016 This year we returned to Mill Rythe again for a fun filled, action packed weekend. We went back to Mill Rythe as we couldn’t find anything comparable for the price, but Elaine is looking into a new venue for next year for a change.

Some of the older female volunteers were very excited to see that the highlight of the weekend was The Bay City Rollers performance, whilst others remembered how bad they were in the 70s!

Once again, there was lots to do, and everyone was encouraged to do as much or as little as they wanted for the day. Our members took part in zumba, indoor curling, bingo, quiz, card making, jewellery making, axe throwing, and archery. As well as that, we had daily swimming sessions, flew kites, played pool and darts, and spent the evening on the dance floor, with live entertainment every night.

The food, again was very good, three choices for each course (including a veggie option) plus a help yourself salad bar, an omelette bar where they were made to order with anything you wanted, and a world food bar with more tasty foreign delights.

The accommodation, though basic, was comfortable, and let’s face it, we didn’t spend much time in our rooms!

We all came home exhausted, but with lots of really nice memories. A big Thank You to all the volunteers who gave up their own holidays to make the ROAR holiday such a success, we couldn’t have done it without you, Linda, Sara, Vicky, Simeon, Jamie, Jane, Lynne, Bridgette, Mary and Jodie.

So, who’s coming next year?

(Please note that the holidays are only offered to those who receive a lot of support from unpaid carers, as they are also designed to give unpaid carers a break.)



Epping Forest We had such a fantastic day at Epping Forest, organised for us by park rangers Alison and Hannah. We were greeted at the car park and we made our way through the forest to a camp that they had already set up for us, a circle of logs to sit on under a parachute canopy, and a camp fire with the kettle already boiling ready to make us a cuppa.

They laid on several activities for us, first we got ourselves into two teams, ‘Eeyore’ and ‘Robin Hood’, and made shelters out of branches, twigs and leaves. Eeyore made a small one with a flag on the top and a seat inside, whilst Robin Hood made the party shelter. Next we learnt how to start a fire using just a spark, not an easy thing to do.

Hannah and Alison then prepared a lovely lunch for us, of cheese wraps and venison sausages, cooked on the open fire. After lunch we made our own tribal bracelets out of bull rushes, and then we learnt about the deer that live in the forest, and how to track them. Before heading back to the bus, we made sure that there was not trace that we had been there, and we looked out for signs of the deer as we left.

After we said goodbye to Alison, we visited the gift shop in the visitor centre and had a look at the exhibition all about the forest. Then we visited Queen Elizabeth the First’s hunting lodge next door and dressed as Tudors as we wandered around it.

It was lovely to spend the day in the outdoors, and all that fresh air really tired us out!



Your Letters Anne Skidmore has been out and about to lots of nice places over the last couple of months. She has been to Brighton, Windsor, Woburn Safari Park and Canvey Island.

While she was in Windsor she saw the Queen and Prince Philip as it was the day before the Queens birthday celebrations. She also had her photograph taken with a policeman. During May she went to Brighton with her friend. They went on the pier, had fish and chips and went into the Grand hotel and had her photo taken with the staff.

Anne was very proud to receive a certificate and medal for completing the Big Friendly Read Challenge.

Anne likes to tell us about the days out she has, it would be nice to hear from some of our other members. You could tell us about the holidays you have been on or what you enjoy doing with you friends and families or even tell us about the fun you have had with ROAR.

Healthy Eating Course

Creative Learning funded and organised a 4 week healthy eating course for our ROAR members at Tring school.

Eight members were taught the principles of cooking and we were able to create and enjoy tuna pasta bake, lamb curry and rice, cottage pie and pizzas. All of the group felt they had gained in confidence and skills over the 4 weeks and received a certificate to say the had completed the course and they all had great fun doing it.

Thanks to Paul for being a brilliant teacher and to all the volunteer mums and relatives who stepped in. We would like to repeat this in Hemel.



Hemel Hempstead Gateway Club

April club night was spent making Easter bonnets everyone got really creative so some smashing bonnets were made. During May we had a lovely movie night. We welcomed Ian a new volunteer who is so excited to join us each month. An evening filled with laughter, watching Home Alone and eating snacks. Hoping for a nice summer evening an outdoor picnic was planned for the June club night and we were lucky with the weather. Nearly everyone went outside where we played Swing Ball and Bowles. Frisbees were flying all over the place and everyone had a lot of fun and exercise. The ladies that stayed inside had their nails painted and played cards so they enjoyed themselves too.



How Dacorum Mencap can help you to stay safe We hope that nothing will happen to you whilst you go about your normal business, but occasionally things do go wrong, and we can give you a couple of things to help you if they do.

Key rings:

These come unassembled, you write your emergency contact numbers on the card, and put it all together. Put your keys on it, and take it everywhere you go. You will then always have emergency numbers on you even if your mobile phone dies or you have no signal.

Cards:

These are laminated and will fit in your wallet or purse, so can go everywhere with you.

This one is for members, on one side, put your emergency contacts, and on the other side your medications. So if you are attended to by paramedics for any reason, they have some information about you to hand, and can get in contact with those who care for you.

This one is for parents/carers, to alert the emergency services that someone is depending on you, so if you have an accident whether the person you care for is with you, or not, someone can be alerted to take care of that person. I can also do a version for PAs to use whilst working with individuals, should something happen to the PA whilst they are with that person.

If you would like any of these, please ask us at the office (01442 247675) they are free.

If you want a card, please give us the details you would like included.

Write it on a piece of paper and give it to us, or email [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



Vicky’s Skydive for Dacorum Mencap and Woodfield School.

On 24th August Vicky is doing a tandem skydive to fundraise for 2 charities. Dacorum Mencap and Woodfield School, a school for children aged 3-19 with severe learning disabilities who are fundraising to build a new hydrotherapy pool. Vicky works for both organisations. Her fundraising will be evenly split between the 2 charities. Please support her if you can, follow the link to donate on line. Thank you in advance for your support.

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/vickywilliams2

New Changing Places

(UK) Toilet Map Changing Places toilets have a bench to change pads on and a hoist to transfer a person from a wheelchair to the toilet. They are very difficult to find

Visit the new Changing Paces Toilet Map website at:

http://changingplaces.uktoiletmap.org

At the website you can find a Changing Places toilet quickly and easily by entering the city, town, village, street or postcode and pressing the FIND button to search for a Changing Places toilet close to that location.

If you want to plan a journey the Changing Places map will quickly show you all the Changing Places locations along the route.

To find out find out more about Changing places, you can visit www.changing-places.org

The Housing and Support Alliance

The Housing and Support Alliance is a national charity that provides a free information advice and support service to people with learning disabilities, families, advocates and member organisations about housing issues. The service operates 5 days a week.

Contact them by phone or email

Tele: 0300 2010 455, email

[email protected]

or have a look on their website.

www.housingandsupport.org.uk

SNAP are running Summer Playschemes for young people with a learning difficulty in Hemel Hempstead at The Collett School, between 1st August – 26th August 2016

For more information have a look on their

website: www.stalbansmencap.org.uk or call

Stacey Smith, SNAP Senior Manager: 07979 612363

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/vickywilliams2

http://www.stalbansmencap.org.uk/



The Wellbeing Service

The Wellbeing Service offers psychological help and practical support for people (aged 16+) experiencing a wide range of common mental health

problems such as worry, low mood, insomnia and stress. These services are available to all those registered with GP practices in Hertfordshire.

We offer rapid access, via self-referral or GP/ health care professional, to a range of short term interventions. Experienced mental health professionals work in the team and will offer help and advice for those with a mild to moderate mental problem.

The types of help offered are:

one-to-one individual sessions (approximately 12 sessions)

psycho-educational group sessions

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

Computerized Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CCBT)

signposting to community resources

guided self-help

books on self-help

self-help information

We are currently trying to raise awareness of our service within the local community among those with learning disabilities, should they be in need of additional support for their mental health.

Please follow this link to our webiste and online referral form-

http://www.hpft.nhs.uk/our-services/community-services/enhanced-primary-mental-health-services/

Referrals are accepted via GP or SELF REFERRAL to the Single Point of Access:

Tel: 0300 777 0707

Fax: 0300 777 0808

Please contact us for any further information:

Tel: 01442 233199





BERKHAMSTED & TRING ALL SAINTS GATEWAY CLUB

“The small and friendly Club with a big heart”

We meet every other Thursday evening between 7.30 to 9.00pm in the All Saints Church Hall, Shrublands Road, Berkhamsted.

Upcoming events include an Observation Trail, Picnic at Ashridge, Bangers & Beans Supper, Ten-Pin bowling and a Bingo evening.

For more information please call either Wendy on 01442-874438 or Angela on 01442-874563

New Members always welcome!

(PS: - We hope you like the photographs of our recent ‘Outdoor Games Evening’)



Herts Learning Disability Games

Another very successful games day at Jarmans Park—Sportspace Athletics Track on Saturday 23rd July. Around 10 teams from organisations around Hertfordshire took part on a very warm and sunny day. It started with team games in the morning and then the track races were after lunch. Sportspace provided the t-shirts in team colours and they gave out medals to the winners. The winning team on the day were Rush Judo—well done to Rush Judo

The Dacorum Mencap team done well thank you for all turning up and taking part .and thank you to all the volunteers that helped out on the day supporting our members and serving the refreshments.



THERESA MANFIELD Theresa Manfied sadly passed away on the 29th March 2016. Theresa served on our committee for several years and carried out a lot of volunteering for Dacorum Mencap. Barbara Bradley has written the following in memory of Theresa. Theresa made a huge contribution to the learning disability community. Apart from her work managing day centres she, and Colin were valuable and dedicated volunteers for Dacorum Mencap. Theresa always appeared calm, organised and in control, making everything she did look effortless . She could also be assertive but in a quiet diplomatic way. It was these skills that Theresa brought to a Mencap holiday that I organised in the early 90's. We took 10 children and 10 volunteers for a sea-side holiday in Great Yarmouth. Theresa and Colin volunteered to be our catering staff for the week. We would arrive home after our days out to a delicious hot meal delivered to our caravan and our cupboards would be stocked for breakfast and lunches the next day. All done without fuss or panic, and cooking for 20 in a caravan was a challenge. Theresa made a difference to the lives of so many people with a learning disability and their families and for that she will always be remembered with grateful thanks . Barbara

Thank you to Vicky for organising such fun and imaginative craft sessions



Mencap gives back Charities often make the news when they have been helped and supported by the local community. Dacorum Mencap however have been able to give a little back to local residents of Dacorum.

Service users have recently been helping Osborne Property Services deliver their Community Investment activity. The Osborne team have built a positive relationship with Dacorum Mencap over the past two years, supporting a number of activities, from social Christmas events, creative get togethers and staying healthy initiatives.

They recently decided to join forces and host a coffee morning at Pond Close in Tring to celebrate the recently completed Planned Works at the sheltered housing scheme.

At their social evening in Berkhamsted where members can come and socialise in a safe environment, the adults with learning disabilities worked with Osborne to design and decorate some bespoke mugs which they would give as gifts and be used at the coffee morning. Together, they then hosted the morning where they were able to meet the residents, serve refreshments and hand out their marvellous mugs!

Community Investment Co-Ordinator at Osborne, Hannah Bailey, said “We were so grateful to have Mencap on board for this project; they really helped us deliver a special morning for our residents who we had got to know so well during the Planned Maintenance Works at Pond Close. Giving back to the communities we work in is central to our business so to have the support of people who also have so much to give has been extremely effective.”

Support from the Local Community




Hemel Hempstead Explorers The Hemel Hempstead Explorers hosted another fun evening for us. This time it was campfires at Phasel’s Wood. Elaine and Vicky took a group up to Phasel’s Wood in a minibus where they met the Hemel Explorers. They had already lit fires for us, and we cooked bread twists with jam, chocolate bananas and the disgustingly sounding armpit fudge! . It was all a bit messy but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.



Interact Club at Astley Cooper School

As I mentioned in the March Newsletter the Interact Club at Astley Cooper School which is a small charitable group for young people who

want to join together to tackle the issues in their community that they care about, supported by The Rotary Club. They chose Dacorum Mencap as their charity for 2015/2016 academic year and have been fundraising for us.

They gave us a cheque for £133.66 earlier this year which was the money they raised at their Christmas Fayre and Quiz night.

On the 2nd July Vicky and some of the members went to the schools summer carnival which was a fundraising event for us and Billy’s Wish. Vicky ran a games table with two games, Hoop La and Play Your Cards Right, she managed to raise £30 with the help of some of the members and volunteers.

On Tuesday 19th July I went to their assembly and was presented with a cheque for a further £1000 as the year has now come to an end.

We are very grateful to the Interact Club at Astley Cooper School for supporting us and for all their hard work they have put into raising these funds for us.


https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj0iciN-MfLAhUEFg8KHfXWCJUQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fastley_cooper&psig=AFQjCNFFpG7ofOH1595-tHIun4QYTvpKQg&ust=1458311556982075



Adeyfield School Prom Adeyfield School year 8 citizenship group hosted another prom for us this year. The theme was “Alice in Wonderland”. Around 30 members dressed to impress either in their best clothes or according to theme but everyone made a big effort. The students had decorated the hall in an “Alice in Wonderland” theme with some fantastic big hats and hearts galore. There was music, dancing, face painting and party food, everyone had a great time.

We are grateful to Adeyfield School for hosting these proms for us it is really great for our members and their students to mix and socialise as all too often, both are frightened of each other.




We had a very informative talk from Gareth Williams from the Money Advice Unit, and he managed to allay our fears over PIP. In fact, many families felt that their family member may qualify for a higher award than they are getting currently through DLA. This is because the difference between higher rate care and middle for DLA is whether you need to attend to that person through the night, with PIP, there is no distinction between the two. They will now be assessed on 10 criteria according to the level of help required. These include such things as preparing food, personal care, communication, and budgeting. There are two criteria for the mobility component, one about actual physical mobility, and the other about being able to make a journey unaided. All the criteria are judged against whether the person can complete the tasks in a reasonable timescale, safely and to an acceptable standard.

All current DLA claimants will have to apply for PIP

sometime in the near future, you will receive a letter and if you do not claim, your benefits will stop, DLA claims will not be automatically moved over to PIP. The first thing you will need to do to claim is to make a phone call. Appointees can do this on behalf of the individual. Have basic information to hand at this time, including the NI number of the person concerned, address, date of birth and doctor’s details.

You will then receive a form to fill in through the post, which is similar to the old DLA one. As you know it can be tricky to fill in the forms in the right way, and if you are struggling the Money Advice Unit will help you to fill this in over the phone, just give them a call, but don’t leave it until the last minute. They have also produced handy fact sheets about how to fill the form in, and about PIP in general, they can be downloaded from the Hertfordshire website.

You are wise to include evidence from professionals about the individual to back

up your claim, if you are struggling to find enough evidence, and we know the individual, we are happy to write a letter on your behalf. Some people may be invited to attend an interview as part of their assessment, but not everyone will.

So the general advice is, don’t panic, give yourself plenty of time and include some evidence from other sources if you can.

Money Advice Unit –

01438 843 456 – ask for a carer’s referral

Helpful leaflets available from:

www.hertsdirect.org/benefits

On the left hand menu choose ‘factsheets and leaflets’

On the next page on the left menu again choose ‘what to claim if you are ill or disabled’

The leaflets are ‘Personal Indpendence Payment’; ‘Guide to completing the Personal Independence Payment Claim’ and if you get called for an interview ‘Guide to PIP Assessments’

PIP – Personal Independence Payment

http://www.hertsdirect.org/benefits

http://www.hertsdirect.org/benefits

Documents

Goodbye and Welcome - Dacorum Mencap · To celebrate Easter Vicky organised a chocolate themed afternoon tea at St Mary's Church Hall. They had chocolate cake, biscuits and lovely