Newsletter for young members
The Key
Summer 2013 Issue 1
THE ADVENTURES OF
Keyman is in a club, partying with his friends - a place full of hopes, dreams and fun...
POW!! Send Doctor Loneliness packing!
MEANWHILE... In his secrect lair, Doctor Loneliness devises a plan to kidnap your confidence, friendships and sense of adventure.
Join The Key!
INTRODUCING
The Key H-Media League
We are a team of creative geniuses who are based in a secret hideout in Hackney. We are all fighting for fun, friendship and the freedom to be ourselves. We have created this newsletter together with our hero Keyman to share opportunities in Hackney for young people. We’re all about access, action and sharing the love. Join us to find out more.
By young people for young people Keyman was born during a three-day media workshop with H-Media League, Mediorite and Poached Creative to plan this newsletter. Keyman is brave, cool and likes to unlock opportunities with his sidekicks and champions. His arch enemy is Doctor Loneliness who likes nothing more than to kidnap the positive feelings and choices young people have. Keyman needs you to join him and the H-Media League to fight Doctor Lonliness and his nasty crew. My champions are:
Chris, Jennifer, Rajan and Toyin!
THE KEY The Key helps children and young people 0-19 living in Hackney with additional needs. There’s something for everyone! This newsletter and some of our events are especially for our 13-19 year old members. Become a Key member to get access to: • Events, trips, workshops and clubs that are running or coming up. • Ideas and information from other Key members, so it will be really fun and exciting. • H-Media League, who tell us what Key members want and helped put together this really cool newsletter. Not a member? Sign up now! Call us on 020 7014 7006/7 or Email: hackneykeyman@gmail.com or find us on social media Facebook: hmedialeague Twitter: @hackneykeyman YouTube: KeymanHackney Web address: www.homerton.nhs.uk/thekey
From our roving reporter... My name is Blessing and during the halfterm I had the pleasure of working with a group of young people in a three day workshop in order to help attract more people to join The Key! It was a positive experience for me. As a member of The Key, I already knew everyone involved and instead of being a group member I was helping to run the workshops. The first day was interesting as the group had to draw up personas of the type of person they would expect to join The Key. We had a wide range of personas, from someone who liked killing zombies, but was scared of clowns, all the way through to someone who was very
artistic and loved to draw. We then had to come up with themes for this newsletter which led to the creation of Keyman! Day two was possibly one of the funniest days I’d ever experienced! Interviews were recorded and everyone came up with their own adverts, which you can find on YouTube. My favourite was the Harlem shake video. The final day was bitter-sweet as it was all coming to a close. So many ideas had come out of the sessions, including a name for the group, H-Media League. The workshop was a learning curve for me as I got to teach my first ever session. My session was on stereotypes, and to
say I was confident beforehand would be a lie! Half an hour standing in front of a group of young people, especially ones you already know, seems like a very long time! However it was a breeze and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Blessing’s workshop session resulted in the creation of Keyman’s Champions to challenge stereotypes. See our inside poster.
Chris the ‘Travel Genius’ wins his place as Keyman’s champion for independence because he’s game to take his wheelchair anywhere. Chris loves travelling everywhere. He won’t be stopped and even made his way to Chinatown. He says, “If you want to be an independent traveller, then you have to concentrate, use proper crossings and check for cars.” He enjoys playing archery and has a passion for music. His favourite artist is Chris Brown. When asked what it felt like to be one of Keyman’s champions he replied “It means everything to me!”
CHRIS INDEPENDENCE
Rajan the ‘Kitchen King’ wins his place as Keyman’s champion due to his passion for food! He loves making pasta dishes, but hates washing up. One of Rajan’s biggest achievements is that he and his classmates at Hackney Community College are in charge of the independent café. He enjoys the fact that they can all share the responsibilities of being a waiter, serving, being on the till and greeting customers. His advice to you about becoming a chef is, “You have to be fully qualified and have the right skills.” It means a lot to him that he is Keyman’s champion, almost like being Keyman’s son.
RAJAN INSPIRATION
Jennifer the ‘Social Queen’ wins her place as Keyman’s champion for being a number one socialiser. She loves working with young people and meeting new people at college and the cinema. Her favourite genre of film is romance. In order to be more social, her advice to you is, “Be yourself and people will love you!” She also loves to sing and recently performed at Hoxton Hall. Jennifer is really pleased and super excited to be one of Keyman’s champions and would love to be Keyman’s wife!
JENNIFER SOCIALISING
‘Dr’ Toyin here wins her place as Keyman’s champion for Health and Fitness! Her favourite healthy meals are Jollof rice, fried rice, mackerel salad and most importantly, fruit and veg! Toyin loves to dance to Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal and TLC’s No Scrubs in order to keep fit. Her advice to maintaining a healthier lifestyle is “Give up bad habits, give up smoking, don’t drink too much alcohol, be tough and promise to never go back to who you were before. Just stay the brand new you.” Her response to being Keyman’s champion was, “It feels fantastic to fight the forces of evil like Doctor Loneliness. I choose to get the party started.”
TOYIN HEALTH AND FITNESS
THE KEY
YOUTH SQUAD’S CLUB NIGHT Youth squad are young people aged 14-19 with special needs. In February we planned a club night for teenagers with disabilities in Hackney. Working with The Key and the Transition Team we made decisions about the food and drink, the music, the performances, the decorations and the different activities. On the night we asked the young people how they felt about the club night and what they got out of it. We also asked them how they felt about their lives in Hackney and the services on offer in their local area. “Hackney would be a better place if we could
do this once a month and make this a proper club for local people... People would be happier.” “Tonight has been a social kind of night - it’s brilliant!” “Yes, I haven’t been to a club night before this is my first time. I helped to plan it with Hackney Ark and it’s really wicked - I would love to do this again sometime.” “Some people, like me, haven’t been to a club night before. If they could go to a club night they would know that it’s not all drunk and messy like on TV, but proper, friendly, cool, fun, full of new people, making friends and finding love.”
WE ARE YOUTH SQUAD We talk to people who make decisions about our lives to make sure they make the right ones. We give them our ideas. We attend meetings to talk about inclusion and how we feel about the way things are run. We offer advice to young people to help them to feel proud of themselves and confident about what they do in life. We care about how the government plans to support disabled young people in Hackney, now and in the future. “On the night I felt alive, happy, energetic and like I could do anything. The club night was an inspiration. When I was dancing I felt like I couldn’t do it at first, but when they played the songs that I had chosen it inspired me.”
See more pictures online.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY DVD competition! Register with The Key and receive your free DVD, while stocks last! Open to new members only. 020 7014 7006
Autism-Friendly Screenings at Hackney Picturehouse, Sundays, 11am; The Croods, 2D, 21 July; Epic 2D, 18 August. Box Office: 0871 902 5734
www.londontown.com has a regularly updated event guide listing. Some are FREE.
Forest Road Hub summer activities, rock climbing, wheelchair basketball, sports, music, arts and crafts, movies, drama and more. Call 020 8356 2395.
www.accessibleguide.co.uk a free guide to download The NEW Rough Guide to Accessible Britain, Edition 4. Key Card: Discounts galore, including Kings Hall, Britannia and Clissold leisure centres. Call 020 7014 7006 or 7007.
Are you entitled to Short Breaks? If you are, have you thought about using your short break hours to do the things you like best? Call The Key 020 7014 70007 to find out more.
Y
SUMMER 2013 ...THE END!!
Special thanks to the very talented artist Toyin for creating Doctor Loneliness and sketches of Keyman. Well done he looks great. Lookout for more characters with Dr Toyin’s touch.
Looks like Doctor Loneliness has been defeated for now. Skaters of all ages and abilities put lots of hard work and skating practise in so that they were ready for the Step by Step special needs ice-skating gala on 17 June. Sobell Sports Centre in Islington was the ideal place to be. Everyone who skated had the chance to show what they were made of to an impressed crowd of parents, friends and families. Everyone who took part received a certificate for their efforts. Ice-skating is not just good fun but good for your balance and building some muscles. The young skaters who took part worked really hard and felt proud of their
S U N I O J
There are lots of great reasons you should join The Key. The amazing opportunities in this newsletter, and online, are just a few!
The Key
achievements. At the end of the Gala, skating instructor Gemma thanked everyone for taking part – both pupils and the wonderful team of volunteers. These sessions are a great way to make friends and wonderful memories too! Well done to everyone who took part – you’ve done us proud!
Activities for All
Sunday 8 September 10am – 4pm Stoke Newington West Reservoir, Green Lanes N4 2HA
Here are all the ideas we have come up with: • Computer console • Tennis challenges/tournaments • Accessible bikes • Music • Sailing/canoeing • Food • BBQ • Mocktails – fancy looking • Multi sports drinks, a bit like cocktails • Wheelchair games but better for you • Dance performance • Comic book/animation • BMX workshop • Fishing We asked people who • Jewellery making • Healthy eating have come to A4A • Fabric design • Information stalls events before about • Sewing club • Young Hackney mobile what they think of them • Trainer decorating – you youth bus and what else they’d bring and you paint it – • Cricket like to see. You gave the • Ping pong create a one-off design events a big thumbs • No-contact football up… and you gave us a • Face painting • Tournaments few new ideas. • Glitter tattoos • Football tricks and skills H-Media League has • Computer console games also suggested a few new activities, including A4A is accessible and inclusive. Let us know if you some that might would like to discuss disability access to ensure you encourage older Key have a great day. Come and join us this September! members to come along. For more information call The Key or the Resource Centre on 020 7014 7006 or 7007. H-Media League and The Key are planning the next Activity for All (A4A) event. We’re still finalising the details. This will be a great day out for young people with disability/additional needs, their family and friends.
The Young Ones is a new group for young adults aged 17-25 with disabilities to hang out and make new friends. It’s run BY young people FOR young people.
Every Thursday From: 6-8pm
At: Forest Road Youth Hub, Dalston
To find out more or to join The Young Ones then contact the Transition Team on 020 7014 7169.
JOIN US
If you’re 0-19, live in Hackney and have additional needs, become a member of The Key. Just fill in, cut out, and return this slip or find us online (see page 2).
Name................................................................................................. Date of birth..........................Contact number.................................. I’d like to join The Key because......................................................... ............................................................................................................
Send or drop your completed slip to:
The Key/Hackney Ark Resource Centre Hackney Ark Down’s Park Road E8 2FP