Providing Real Opportunities for Young People in the Transition to

Adulthood

Regional SEN Transition to Employment Project Newsletter

July 2013In this issueIntroductionWelcome to our July newsletter.

Real Opportunities, Real Results Conference 2013An overview of our annual dissemination conference.

Training & EventsA list of upcoming project training and events.

Hi ReadersSummer is upon us as I sit in a hot office in Neath. Teams have told us about their great plans for the Summer with trips away, trips nearer home, courses and activities happening across all nine hub areas. Make sure you take lots of photos and let us know through our Twitter and Facebook pages how much fun you are having. Hannah is getting ready to go to Thorpe Park with the Caerphilly team and is really excited to spend the day with young people having some serious fun. She is really ‘keen’ to try out ‘SAW’ the most terrifying rollercoaster. Let us know about all the thrills and spills of the Summer. Hopefully by next newsletter we will have some news of Laura’s new arrival but as of 11.12am on 22nd July we are still waiting Zoe Richards

Real Opportunities hosted its annual dissemination conference ‘Real Opportunities, Real Results’ this year on Tuesday 25 June at the Swansea Marriott Hotel. The day was kicked off by Jack Cox and Rebecca Smith, two young people from the project who animatedly chaired the entire day and kept delegates thoroughly engaged and entertained.

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Real OppORtunities Real Results 2013

Young PeopleThe aim of the day was to share the good work the project has been doing for young people over the past 3 years, and what better way than to hear from the young people t hemse lves . We had a team of 22 young people who contributed to the day, some formed part of the admin team, and others were table hosts who

lead discussions around our delegateS’ tables. We also had a number of young people who delivered presentations about their experiences and the impact Real Opportunities has had for them and some who assisted staff with the delivery of workshops. Young people received some wonderful feedback from delegates who were all impressed with the way the conducted themselves and contributed throughout the day. one delegate, Karenza Cassidy, wrote:

I'm a parent of a child with autism who's currently going through transition. I found the day very useful and inspiring. I was particularly impressed at the young people who participated on every level and the support they were offered in doing so. It was very hard not to be excited about the two presenters - Rebecca and Jack.

Their presenting and communication skills were quite something! Standing beautifully relaxed, breathing, pausing, smiling, sharing themselves with jokes too!! I thought they engaged the audience well and were not afraid to ask for

help and interact. All the young people remained professional and helpful throughout the day. The speakers were brave and skilled in their deliveries. Bravo and many thanks for a wonderful day!

Parent ExperienceWe also had the opportunity to hear from the wonderful Julia Cox, a mum to two boys with autism, both of whom are engaged with the project. Julia spoke openly and passionately about the difficulties she and her family faced as the boys grew up, and described how leaving school was like “walking off a cliff” in terms of not knowing where to go next. Julia went on to describe how her two sons became involved with the project and how since that day their lives have been totally turned around.ALN Reform

Richard Mulcahy, Head of ALN Reform for the Welsh Government, delivered a presentation discussing the need for the reform and the importance of person-centred planning and partnership working in order to reduce the ‘battle’ that parents felt the previous statutory assessment process had become. Richard stated that Welsh Government are currently working on plans to roll out person-centred planning across Wales, developing a Quality Assurance system to share information and were discussing other important factors such as what changes to the law need to be made. Richard also made reference to the good example Real Opportunities is setting in this field and the similarities between the Real Opportunities model and the Individual Development Plan (IDP).

Jack Cox and Rebecca Smith, Conference Chairs.

Julia Cox sharing her story from a parent’s perspective

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Project Evaluation

Dr Stephen Beyer, Deputy Director of the Welsh Centre for Learning Disabilities based at Cardiff University, gave conference attendees an update on the evaluation being conducted by his team into the outcomes of the Real Opportunities project. He started off by reminding us all how unique the project is and went on to say that the project recognises in its services many of the barriers to successful transition identified in past research. Steve mainly discussed the findings from the family follow-up study, in which his team are interviewing a target of 120 families about the services they’ve received, their experiences and where their young people are now. Quite promisingly, half way through this study Steve reported that 72% of families believed that overall the Real Opportunities project has had a positive impact for them. He also touched on the positive impact the Supported Employment element of the project is having on young people, families and employers.

Supported EmploymentAndrea Wayman, Director of Elite Supported Employment Agency and Treasurer of the Wales Association of Supported Employment Agencies, delivered a presentation representing the impact of the supported employment services provided by Elite, Mencap, Remploy and the National Autistic Society throughout the Real Opportunities project. In particular, Andrea looked at achievements in terms of the number of participants engaged in supported employment services, employers engaged to supply opportunities, work experience delivered, qualifications gained, paid employment obtained and parent/employer sessions delivered across the 9 project Local Authorities in comparison with figures from last year. Andrea reported that 790 work experiences had been delivered over the course of the project, and 30 young people were currently in paid employment, a figure that was non-existent before the project.

You can view all the statistics and information from Andrea, Steve and Richard’s presentations on our website at www.realopportunities.org.uk/news/real-opportunities-real-results-2013

where you will also find the transcript from Julia Cox’s presentation.

Practical WorkshopsProject staff also delivered 5 workshops based on the ‘5 pathways’ to independent living:

Independent Living• Employment• Relationships• Leisure Opportunities• Lifelong Learning•

The workshops were interactive and designed to give delegates practical tools and ideas about how Real Opportunities supports young people in these different areas of life. Young people assisted in the delivery of some of the workshops and were able to demonstrate how the support had benefitted them. Some feedback from the workshops included:

I really enjoyed doing the relationships workshop. It was nice to hear how many people were helped, how well they have done and how far they have come on.

Excellent taster of the life skills training that Real Opps provides.

The workshop was interesting as it let us hear what some service users felt and also some of their own experiences.

Presentations from the workshops are also available online via the link above. Resources developed by staff from the project are also available for free via our online toolkit which can be found in the ‘Resources’ section of our website: www.realopportunities.org.uk/professionals/resources

Thank you to all the young people, staff and speakers who made the conference the success it was. If you would like any further information about the conference, any of the presentations, the workshops or free resources please get in touch with Zoe Richards or Hannah Cox from the training and information team on 01639 635650 or at realopportunities.org.uk

Scott ‘Scotty’ Roberts delivering a presentation with support from Ian Broad, RCT Hub Team.

Dr Steve Beyer discussing the project evaluation

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To get your story in the newsletter, or for more information contact Hannah Cox or Zoe Richards on 01639 635650 or at realopportunities@learningdisabilitywales.org.uk. Submissions may be edited. Opinions expressed in the Real Opportunities newsletter are not necessarily supported by the project. Printed by 4 Colour Digital Print.

Training & EvEnTs

To book onto any of the following training events or seminars or for more information contact the training and information team at realopportunities@learningdisabilitywales.org.uk or on 01639 635650.

Carers Rights MasterclassForge Fach CRC, ClydachTuesday 30th July – 10:00-1:002x places per hub team

Bullying MasterclassWed 7th August – 9:30-1:002x places per hub team

Employment and Opportunities NetworkForge Fach CRC, ClydachWed 21st Aug – 10:00-1:00For Transition Key Workers, Social Enterprise Co-ordinators, Supported Employment Agency Representatives

Planning for the Future NetworkThurs 12th Sept – 10:00-1:00For PCP Workers, Family Liaison Workers, Independent Living Skills Workers

Introduction to PCPForge Fach CRC, ClydachTues 17th Sept – 10:00-4:00Anyone working alongside the project or interested in PCP

Inclusion NetworkForge Fach CRC, ClydachWed 25th Sept – 10:00-1:00Youth Inclusion Workers, Peer Mentor Trainers, Psychology Support Workers

Introduction to PCPCentral South Consortium, NantgarwThurs 3rd Oct – 10:00-4:00Anyone working alongside the project or interested in PCP