Pathways, Short Breaks, Sailing & a Listening Bus 20th May 2015
Dear All Meetings, events (almost in date order) and more… please note the Kingston parents’ event on 4th June @ Harts Boatyard, more details below. Pathways – what do you make of this? A ‘pathway’ is a route to a service and/or support. The mental health professionals & commissioners have invested a lot of time clarifying and writing pathways for autism, adhd, self-harm, eating disorder and depression. Now they have to make sense to us! Below is a simplified ‘generic’ pathway. Please could you offer honest feedback, ask honest (however daft) questions and offer any other thoughts for making this easier to read. I’m sure there will be some design work done on these, but do we need all the boxes… all of the words…? What do you think? Please reply by Sunday 24th May. Or, if you would prefer to talk with the professionals, ADHD Richmond are holding a parents meeting to discuss these Pathways. Please contact info@adhdrichmond.org to let them know you are coming. Details are: Friday 29th May - 10 to 12 at Richmond Royal CAMHS, Kew Foot Road, Richmond, Surrey Have you tried Sailing? “Come to an evening with amazing disabled teen sailor Natasha Lambert on June 2nd and find out about a brand new sailing adventure for disabled kids Natasha Lambert is one of the most inspirational young sailors in the UK today (she is 17). Despite having quadriplegic cerebral palsy she has become an accomplished sailor, skippering her sip and puff boats, Miss Isle and Miss Isle too across the channel and last year taking on a “Sea and Summit” challenge of sailing from Cowes to Swansea and then climbing a mountain in her walking frame. Natasha and her parents have now opened up access to her amazing adapted Artemis 20 keelboat to allow other disabled children to experience the exhilaration of a ride in a carbon raceboat. Natasha is sailing from Cowes to London at the end of May to raise awareness of disabled sailing and to raise money for her unique sip / puff sailing school. On her arrival at St Katherine’s Dock in London we are hosting a drinks reception to help her raise money for the charity. We would like the event not only to be a fundraiser but also an opportunity for families who might want to use the sailing school to come and find out more and to meet Natasha - as it is a one off chance to meet her and see the specially adapted boat in London. Normally the tickets to the drinks reception are £50.00 per head - but for families of disabled children we will make some tickets available at a much reduced rate. At the reception we will be raffling a family day out at the sailing school as well as the chance to win a day on a wheelchair adapted yacht for up to 8 people (with skipper and catering).
The Reception will at the Riverlounge in St Katherine’s Dock, E1W 1LA, on: Tuesday June 2nd from 6:00 pm– 9:00 pm …for drinks and canapes in the sunshine in a maritime atmosphere. Natasha and family (and her boat) will all be there. It is a ticketed event and places are limited so if you would like to come along please send an email to Penny at webphb@btinternet.com. NB: the venue is (regrettably) not wheelchair accessible (! oh the irony !) More about Natasha at http://www.missisle.com “ A message for Kingston parents… Kingston L.E.A.D (the official parent carer forum in Kingston) would like to invite ALL Kingston parents/carers of children or young people with SEND, to an extraordinary meeting to discuss the future. Kingston L.E.A.D = Listen Engage Advocate for Disability. Harts Boatyard, Kingston - Thursday 4th June at 8pm As a result of Kingston and Richmond Boroughs merging for their provision of Children's Services across the two boroughs, Kingston L.E.A.D, as a parent group has also been working closely with another parent group in Richmond. This has proved to be a very positive and productive relationship, with the pooling of parents' opinions, ideas, resources and skills in a very effective way. Jointly enabling us to access more information, to be involved in decision and planning of services for our children and young people with all professionals. A recent example is the Open Meetings with Achieving for Children. Kingston L.E.A.D would now like to propose formalising teamwork between the Kingston and Richmond parent groups, to provide an even more united front with one strong parental voice that AfC must listen to. Please come along to this informal 'extraordinary' meeting and be involved in this important discussion. If you are unable to attend we really welcome your views and opinions on this matter so please reply to this e-mail and all enquiries will be forwarded. Short Breaks & Aiming High Recent changes to these services, the funding and eligibility criteria have prompted a steady stream of queries to RSFV. Therefore, it’s our pleasure to support this invitation from Caroline Jager: “Dear Parents and Carers, Would you like to find out more about the short break services available in Kingston and Richmond? Caroline Baxter, Head of Integrated Services for Disabled Children, Jodi Williams/David Arrow, Inclusion Development Officers and myself have arranged some dates to meet with you to talk about the changes in short break services. The dates are: Kingston - Moor Lane Centre Wed 3rd June: 12.30pm-2pm and the same evening from 6.30pm-8pm Richmond Wed 10th June: 6.30-8pm in The Terrace Room, York House Wed 17th June: 12.30pm-2pm in the Training Room, Croft Centre If you have questions regarding short breaks, please send them to richmondsendfamilyvoice@outlook.com and this will ensure we answer as many of your questions as we can.
I look forward to meeting you all. Best wishes, Caroline Short Breaks & Aiming High manager“ NDCS Listening Bus is coming to Hounslow The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) Listening Bus is coming to Heart of Hounslow. This is a free educational service raising awareness and bringing information to deaf children and young people across the UK. The bus travels around the UK and will be at the Heart of Hounslow on: Saturday 13th June 10am - 3pm Nicola Staines, Chair of Traphic (Twickenham and Richmond area for Hearing Impaired Children local support group) will be there, along with Hounslow and Richmond professionals and NDCS. Please follow the links to find out more: http://www.hrch.nhs.uk/news/press-releases/the-listening-bus-heart-of-hounslow/ http://www.ndcs.org.uk/family_support/how_ndcs_can_help/information_roadshow_the_liste ning_bus/listening_bus.html Please do come along to find out more. The NDCS poster is also below. Learning Disabilities Awareness week… This runs from 13th to 20th June and the theme is Hear My Voice. There are lots of events going on across both boroughs and below is the poster and activities sheet from Richmond Mencap. The key event for the week (for Richmond borough) is at Langdon Down Centre, Teddington on Friday 19th June. The day includes bingo, stories, music, lunch by the CanDo Crew, Garden Gang plant sales and an afternoon market. And more… EnhanceAble are extending their children’s activities into Richmond (venues tbc). For more information, please contact Hannah Brice at: hannah.brice@enhanceable.org or: 020 8547 3014 As ever, if you have any queries at all, please ask and I'll do my best to find an answer. With best wishes, Romany RSFV phone: 07469 746 145