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The Young People’s

Development Forum

(Disabled Children & Young People)

Young People’s

Consultation Report

“Barriers to Participation”

March 2013

“New Innovations for working with

Disabled Children & Young People”

Barking & Dagenham Progress Project operate as a

Charitable Company Limited By Guarantee.

The Consortium has a democratically elected Board of Directors / Management

Committee representing partner organisations, disabled children & young

people and the general community which supports our aims :-

Charity Number : 1102465

Company No. : 4574234

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Barking & Dagenham Progress Project

Consultation – “Barriers to Participation” Introduction to Barking and Dagenham Progress Project: B & D Progress Project is a voluntary sector partnership initiated in July 1998 by five local agencies. DABD B & D Crossroads PACT B & D Mencap Society CIIIL The project was established to support disabled children and young people in Barking and Dagenham and any agencies working with them. It attempts to bring together agencies so that resources can be best used and services can be improved. The Consortium has a democratically elected Board of Directors / Management Committee representing partner organisations, disabled children & young people and the general community which supports our aims. Barking & Dagenham Progress Project operate as a Charitable Company Limited by guarantee. Introduction to the Young People’s Development Forum: A key feature of the Progress Project is to involve the young people at every level, which is why the YPD Forum was established. The Forum currently has 23 registered members who meet monthly to discuss different

issues that are relevant to their lives. They may be subjects either that the group have identified as important or that we have been commissioned to gain feedback on. The forum is truly inclusive, and finds innovative ways for disabled young people to give their opinions and express themselves. We also aim to be a model of good practice in that the opinions of the young people and their development are paramount and the process is transparent.

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Introduction to the Barriers to Participation Consultation: After discussions within the Young People’s Development Forum, the group established that many young people with disabilities only feel comfortable attending familiar projects and activities with people that are known to them. Accessing only a few groups in their local area, means that this group of young people can be somewhat limited in what they experience in their local community. Therefore, the group wanted to explore the different barriers young people with disabilities face when accessing other activities, whilst also finding out where they feel safe in their local community. This information would then become available to the local Council and other youth organisations so that they can become empowered in planning and delivering projects and programmes which better engage young people with disabilities. The group were able to access many young people with disabilities during the time of this Consultation, in a variety of different settings. They visited:

An Educational Setting A Children’s Centre A Residential Trip A Youth Group An Open Day

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Structure of the session: The workshop posed had to be translated into a session that would be accessible, relevant and enjoyable for all of the young people involved. To achieve this, we designed 2 different ways of collating the information needed so that as many young people as possible could take part. We designed a questionnaire, which was taken to the Open Day (see appendix 1) We also designed a workshop that was taken to all of the other settings that we visited. This workshop used Puppetry as a platform to enable the young people we worked with to express their opinions about personal safety, likes and dislikes, and personal difficulties they face when going out. The young person was encouraged to make a puppet from provided arts and crafts materials and give the puppet a name – this didn’t have to be a representation of themselves. They were then paired up and asked to answer some questions (see appendix 1) The ‘interview’ took place in a puppet theatre to add to the fun performing experience. Completing the activities in this way enabled all members to have more time to understand the aim of the session and the topics to be discussed.

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Participants Demographic Profile: No. of Participants: 43

Gender: - No. %

Male 20 47

Female 23 53

Male Female Total Age:- No. % No. % No. %

< 10 3 33 6 67 9 21

11-16 5 63 3 38 8 19

17-19 8 47 9 53 17 40

20-25 4 45 5 56 9 21

Ethnic Origin:-

White 15 50 15 50 30 70

Black African 1 100 1 2

Black Caribbean 2 29 5 71 7 16

Mixed – White & Black African

Mixed – White & Black Caribbean 1 100 1 2

Asian 1 100 1 2

Other 2 67 1 33 3 7

Nature of Disability:-

LDD 10 40 15 60 25 58

ASD 7 58 5 42 12 28

Wheelchair User 1 100 1 2

Epilepsy 1 33 2 67 3 7

Physical Disability 3 60 2 40 5 12

ADD/ADHD

Deaf

Other 2 100 2 5

Attendance of Other Clubs in LBBD:-

DABD/Ab Phab 12 57 9 43 21 49

Carers 1 100 1 2

Buddy Club 2 100 2 5

PACT 4 50 4 50 8 19

The Heathway 3 38 5 63 8 19

Trinity 1 17 5 83 6 14

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Demographic Analysis (Summary):

In total we consulted with 43 young people with disabilities who collectively represent 6 youth clubs within LBBD

The boy/girl split was approximately 50/50, and the age range with the greatest number

of participants was 17-19 years

The young people consulted were mainly White British

Most young people we spoke with classified themselves as either having a Learning Difficulty or as having an Autistic Spectrum Disorder

DABD/AbPhab is the most represented youth group in this Consultation, but it is

apparent that many young people also attend other specialist groups in LBBD

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Feedback Gained :

What are your favourite things?

Going Out Trinity Going to clubs x 2 I like to see Steps Holidays Shopping Cinema x 2 Youth work Work – volunteer Arts & Crafts Puppets Drawing x 2 Painting x 2 Being messy Making things Friends / Relationships Socialise with friends x 2 Meeting mates Kissing Having relationships Technology Watching TV x 3 Xbox Playing computer games Listening to music x 5 Sports Dancing x 2 Swimming pool Games Playing football x 3 Sports x 2 Dance x 2 Gymnastics Climbing trees and helping my dad on the farm Skiing on the snow Ice skating Walking

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Food & Drink Curry Cleaning/Washing up Ice cream Chocolate cake Eat Relaxing Reading x 3 Singing Playing the drums Toys Playing Looking After Myself Make up x 2 Sleeping x 2

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Where do you feel safe? Why? Home because I have 5 dogs In my house as I know the people around me Home Home Home because I know what I am doing At Home At home Safe at home with my family At home Family houses In my house because I am with my family At home because my parents are there with me My house and my friends’ houses At home because there is no one there to bully me Home At home - because of family Around friends and family because they are safe At home At home Home because of mummy Home because of Mum/Dad At home Youth Clubs Progress Project Near my area In my community as it is well policed With friends Public places as there is always help when needed At college because of mates around me School School - because no one pushes or fights me Trinity - people help me At School Trinity – it’s a safe place Holiday Anywhere Auntie’s house because it isn’t in LBBD Don’t like going out on my own

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Where do you like to go in Barking & Dagenham? Why? Cinema x 3 Restaurants Snooker Club Bowling x 3 Pub College School x 3 Volunteering Youth Clubs – PACT AbPhab Drama Library Leisure Centre - Gym Swimming Pool Work Shopping - Barking Lakeside x 2 Ilford Romford x 4 Food Tuc Shop Park x 5 Stubbers x 2 (so I can stay away from my brothers) Holidays Southend x 2 Ride bikes Where don’t you like going?

For long walks and boring places Long walks because it hurts my legs Abseiling School - because of bullies

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What places outside Barking & Dagenham do you really like? Why? I don’t Romford x 6 Park Cinema Lakeside x 3 Ilford Shops Entertainment Going to Leyton Orient FC London- Restaurants to eat spaghetti Going on trains Thorpe Park Auntie’s house because it is safe Countryside because it is nice Swimming Bowling Abroad The beach The seaside The Aquarium On holiday at the caravan I like the Zoo because I like snakes To the sea and rollercoasters and the beach - I like it hot Theme park in London I stay in Barking & Dagenham

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What places do you normally go to? (i.e. schools, shops, youth clubs etc)

Snooker Shopping Concerts Carers The Vibe Abphab Asda Buddy Club Progress Project Swimming Friend’s house The park PACT youth club x 2 College Volunteering School x 8 Cinema x 2 Pub x 2 PACT Ford Road Children’s Centre Dagenham Shopping Centre Youth clubs x 5 Home Football Bowling x 2 Walking to London Climbing The gym Shopping x 4 The train Sports centres Trinity Drama Club Progress Project BAD Youth Forum Lakeside

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What things do you do when you go to these places? Volunteer work x 2 Socialise x 4 Games Ride bike x 2 Watch films Have fun Relax x 3 Buy things x7 Meetings in schools Enjoying hobbies Watch favourite bands

Meet Council people Sits in silence Chat in the house Olympics Play See things Eat food Chat Dance Go on the computer Do puzzles and quizzes Doing school work Work Acting Talk to people and play UNO

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What difficulties do you face when you go out? (unfriendly staff, loud music etc) Making friends Meeting people There might be strangers Unfriendly staff or people Pushing, Bullying, hurting people I don’t like people shouting Being out by myself Staying with my family as I like to walk off Gangs Getting attacked and robbed Being threatened

I don’t like heights Activities like heights

Fear of the unknown Traffic Crossing the road Almost being run over Waiting for public transport Choosing stuff at shopping as there’s lots to choose from Some stuff like sports Pushing off the bus as I almost trip over Going to the bank Cycling it’s a bit tricky Work

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Conclusions: The feedback in this report evidences that once discussions start about unfamiliar topics, the young people are able to think of themselves and others. It proves that when adequate structures are put in place young people whatever their abilities are able to comment on subjects that are relevant to moving on within their lives. In the case of this session those structures involved highly trained support staff that the young people are familiar with, individual and small group work and time allowances for the group to answer questions in their own time. Looking at the results as a whole, they followed 4 main themes:

Favourite Things To Do Young people with disabilities really enjoy going out, socialising with friends, having relationships, food and drink, sports activities, and looking after themselves. They also enjoy relaxing, arts and crafts activities and technology such as; listening to music, watching TV and playing computer games. Young people with disabilities like to belong to group, both for safety and familiarity.

Safety This group of young people feel safest at home with friends and family, but they also feel safe at school and at certain youth clubs within LBBD. They do not feel safe going out on their own.

LBBD & Surrounding Areas Within LBBD, young people with disabilities mostly go to the Park, the Cinema, Bowling and School, but they also enjoy going to restaurants, youth clubs (PACT, AbPhab, Drama Clubs), and the Leisure Centres to use the swimming pool and the gym. They do not go shopping in LBBD, preferring to mainly shop in either Romford or Lakeside. They also like days out to places like the Zoo, the Aquarium, Theme Parks and the countryside and the beach.

Difficulties The main difficulties these young people face when out and about are with other people. They find it difficult when other people are boisterous in the street such as when there is shouting, pushing and bullying going on, and they also find it hard to meet people and make new friends. They are fully aware of the presence of gangs and the threats they pose against young people in LBBD, as they are mindful of the fact that getting attacked/robbed is becoming more commonplace. To make sure this fear isn’t overwhelming for them, more specialist education around gangs and attacks/robberies is certainly needed in schools, the home and in community groups as this group of young people feel vulnerable.

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This conclusion will be extremely helpful in planning and improving the current provision of inclusive groups for both mainstream and disabled young people, as it is now apparent what disabled young people find as a barrier to participation. Recommendations: More education around Building Relationships and Personal Safety to make

young people with disabilities become more confident Young people to be supported in accessing inclusive groups to build confidence

around meeting new people. This needs to be a very gradual process, whilst being supported by people who are familiar to them

Education around Personal Finance is needed

Road Safety workshops will help young people with disabilities feel more able to

go out independently Anti-Bullying Workshops need to be available to young people through the

routes of the Education Sector and Voluntary and Community Groups NB: We found that by using puppetry as a platform to expression, it meant that young people felt able to disclose information to the interviewer that they might not otherwise would have talked about. Disclosures were dealt with by following our organisations’ Child Protection and Vulnerable Adults Policies.

Contact Details: Carron Beckwith (Participation Officer) Barking and Dagenham Progress Project 42-48 Parsloes Avenue Dagenham Essex RM9 5NU Telephone: (07506) 783 037 (020) 8215 9762 Email: c_beckwithpp@btconnect.com