In this issue Introduction Special introduction by Gerraint Jones-Griffiths. Youth Work Week 2012 Connecting Cultures young people write about their experiences of sport and the Olympic games. Film Review Caerphilly young people try their hand at film reviewing. Residential 2012 Overview of the Real Opportunities residential 2012. 3 Organisations Every Young Person Should Know About A look at MEIC, NYAS and CLIC Online. Just for Fun... Some games and puzzles just for fun! Training & Events A list of upcoming project training and events.
Regional SEN Transition to Employment Project Newsletter
October2012 Welcome to the new special edition of the Real Opportunities newsletter. My name is Gerraint Jones-Griffiths and I am here to write to all the public about the Real Opportunities project. The Real Opportunities project benefits all young people who live or go to school in Bridgend, Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire, Merthyr, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Swansea and Torfaen county boroughs. I have attended some of the Real Opportunities courses through the Caerphilly hub team, which range from understanding your disability to understanding sexual relationships. From my point of view Real Opportunities has benefitted me a lot because of what they have done for me. In October 2011 the Real Opportunities project introduced me to the Caerphilly Youth Forum. At the time it was the Caerphilly Youth Forum’s annual conference and the Youth Forum had major speakers, including the Chief Executive of the Caerphilly County Borough Council at the event. Three months after this event with help and support from the Caerphilly hub team I was elected onto the cabinet as Environment Representative, which is why I love and adore the work that the Real Opportunities project does for young people. This new special edition of the Real Opportunities project newsletter has been prepared by young people from the project to celebrate Youth Work Week on 5-11 November. So please I ask you to read these inspirational stories from young people. On the 24th and 25th October 2012 young people from the nine Real Opportunities county councils in South Wales took part in a fun-packed two day residential at Goytre Valley in Port Talbot. During the two days young people went Gorge Walking, met and learned about different animals with Tropical Inc and went to a fancy dress disco! The residential was a great opportunity for young people to meet new friends and members of staff were all really friendly. You can find out more about what we got up on page 5. I hope you enjoy reading the newsletter. Gerraint Jones-Griffiths Project Participant.
YOuth work week 2012 This month’s edition of the Real Opportunities newsletter has been largely written by young people from the project to celebrate National Youth Work Week 2012. This year’s theme for youth work week, which is coordinated by the National Youth Agency is “Connecting Cultures”. This summer Britain hosted the world at the Olympic and Paralympic games , what better way to connect cultures! Here, 3 project participants tell us about their experiences of the games and how they’ve become involved in sport thanks to support from the Real Opportunities project. Janet
the classes and I decided I would like to attend.
My name is Janet Lawrence. I am 20 years old, I have a learning disability and I go to Ystrad Mynach College.
Going along to Taekwondo with the Youth Inclusion Worker has given me the confidence to do things independently and meet new people. I have made good friends since starting the class and the Youth Inclusion Worker has helped me along the way. I now go alone, pay for it myself and mix with others at the class without any support.
Before joining the Taekwondo classes at Nelson Community Centre I had little to do during the evenings and would often spend the time watching TV or on my laptop. I was referred to the Real Opportunities Project because I wanted to do more. A Youth Inclusion Worker came to visit me and carried out a home visit and an initial assessment. She also carried out individual wishes and a community mapping session with me, to identify my wishes and help to identify what activities were available in my local area. The Youth Inclusion Worker researched possible activities that would interest me and from the list of what was available I chose Taekwondo. I visited Taekwondo sessions to decide if I liked the look of
After seven sessions I did my first grading. It was very exciting but I was quite nervous. Receiving my certificate has given me the confidence and the encouragement to keep attending the club. I hope that I can keep doing this and pass more grading’s to get to a higher belt.
Jack and Shawn We received free tickets for the Paralympics from our friends at Llantrisant Primary School and were very grateful for their donation. We went to the Paralympics on the 6th September and departed from school at 7:00am on the train. We walked to Ystrad train station at 7:00am to catch a train from Cardiff at 9.00am. When we were in Cardiff we had breakfast in a restaurant and then we went to catch our train. On the train we saw lots of sights and Jack fell asleep!!! When we got to London, we went on the Tube and walked around. We went to Hamleys toy shop which was fun and we had an ice cream there. After that we went into the Ferrari shop and saw a Ferrari. The Ferrari was awesome and we didn’t want to leave the shop.
Janet at her Taekwondo Class
2
The next day we set off from Rotherhithe and went to the Olympic Park. We were really excited. On the 7th September we had breakfast and went to the Tube. We arrived at the Olympic Park, it was amazing. When we go through frightening, inside and amazing. Jack and Shawn at the gates of Buckingham Palace. We couldn’t believe how big London was!
arrived we had to security and it was but when we were sitting down it was
We saw the Olympic Flame, and lots of events. The events we saw were Javelin, Sprints, Long Jump
We went and had food in Benkles. Shawn had Lasagne and Jack had a burger. We then went and looked at an old Church and toured around and saw interesting facts about London. When we left, we went to the Tube and went to Buckingham Palace. We had lots of photos and saw the Queens Guards. After that we went to relax at Hyde Park. We then went to the Hostel in Rotherhithe. In the Hostel we made friends with boys and girls from Chile. We played Foosball together and watched the football on the Television together.
Jack and Shawn at the Olympic Park. and Long Distance. Our favourite event was the visually impaired Long Jump because it looked really hard and the crowd supported them by being quiet. The events were amazing. After the events we went and had a look around London and bought presents for our parents. We really enjoyed the trip and can’t believe we have been to the Paralympics.
Jack and Shawn watching the Paralympic athletcis. 3
film review On the 15th of October a group of young people from Caerphilly went to watch Hotel Transylvania, here is our review. Hotel Transylvania is a comedy horror film that we would recommend to anyone. The film is set in a hotel for monsters, run by Dracula himself. He is throwing a birthday party for his daughter who is 118. She wants to explore the world but Dracula wants to protect her from humans. Then suddenly there is a knock at the door – a human has stumbled across the hotel! Before Dracula can get rid of his unwanted guest, his daughter has fallen in love! We thought the film was really funny and managed to combine horror, a love story, tragedy and comedy all in one. We think the film is suitable for all ages both kids and adults will love it. We liked all the main characters but Dracula’s voice was getting annoying by the end! We thought the casting for the film was brilliant and all of the characters made us laugh. If we could change anything about the film we would like more songs and we would have liked a battle between the monsters and the humans. We would highly recommend this film for all the family, it’s awesome! We give Hotel Transylvania 5/5
On the 18th of October 2012, the documentary film ‘Mission to Lars’ was shown at the Chapel Arts Centre in Cardiff. The training and information team went along to check it out! The film is about Tom Spicer who has Fragile X Syndrome on his quest to meet his hero Lars Ulrich, the drummer for one of the biggest rock bands ever…. Metallica. It is a brilliant, emotional and inspiring film which reduced pretty much all of us to tears! The film is as much about Tom’s dream to meet Lars as it is about the challenges of his condition and his brother and sister’s journey to better understanding his disability. The film is beautifully put together from start to finish helped along by Tom’s perfect comic timing and the suspense of not knowing whether or not Tom’s dream will actually come true! You can see the film at special screenings throughout the UK; proceeds from the film go to Mencap. To find out when the film is on near you go to missiontolars.com or check out their Facebook page. This film is a must watch, it is doing a brilliant job of increasing awareness of Fragile X Syndrome and Learning Disabilities and if nothing else, it’s entertaining! 5/5! 4
Residential 2012 On the 24th to the 25th of October, Real Opportunities hosted a Young Person’s residential at Goytre Valley in Neath Port Talbot to celebrate the achievements of all the young people on the project, and to get feedback on how they feel the project is going so far. Over the course of the two days the young people had the opportunity to meet and learn about different types of beautiful and unusual animals with Tropical Inc, ventured down rivers, over rocks and through caves whilst Gorge Walking with Liquid Friction and party the night away at the fancy dress disco! The residential took place at Goytre Valley Holiday Park, and young people had the opportunity to meet new friends and mix with young people from all of the counties involved with the project. Zoe from the training and information team held a feedback session, during which young people took part in a variety of fun activities to discuss hopes and aspirations for the future and to gauge young people’s opinions on the Real Opportunities project as a whole. The results of the feedback sessions will be placed on our project website in due course, but overall the young people were very positive about the support they’ve Fancy dress at the disco! received.
Bob the snake with young people from Neath from the project, for a fun day to say thank you for all their hard work. The peer mentors went Gorge Walking in chilly temperatures (having fun never the less!) and then took part in a workshop run by the Research Team who are currently conducting a study into the peer mentor aspect of the Real Opportunities project. The peer mentors provided valuable feedback which will be fed into the study, the results of which will be promulgated on our project website when ready!
Young people left the residential with a sense of achievement and lots of new friendships. Feedback for the residential included “phenomenal, I’ve had an amazing time and I don’t want to go home. I don’t want to go home!!” and “Awesome, everything has been amazing and I’ve met loads of new friends”. Thank you to Hannah from the training and information team for organising the whole thing! Next year we will be running another residential before the end of the project.
Peer Mentors
Five days after the residential we returned to Goytre Valley Holiday Park with Peer Mentors
Young people from Torfaen and Swansea after Gorge Walkng! 5
3 Organisations every
young person
should know about...
Back in August the Real Opportunities Training and Information Team went to the Eisteddfod in the Vale of Glamorgan where we learned about 3 great organisations that are useful for every young person to know about!
1. CLIC
•
What is it?
• • • •
Online channel and printed zine offering information, news and advice for all young people aged 11 to 25 in Wales on a wide range of subjects and issues.
•
Not having the contact with your family that you want Homeless A vulnerable adult who is disabled A carer Experiencing the separation or divorce of your parents Not feeling safe
If you are a child or young person, or you’re acting on behalf of a child, young person or vulnerable adult and need help contact NYAS on the helpline on FREEPHONE 0300 330 3131 or send an email to help@nyas.net.
CLIConline is made up of various different sites from different counties across Wales; each county has or will have one of these sites which gives you area specific information on things like education, sport and leisure, health and local events and happenings!
Best for: Legal advice and advocacy services if you find yourself in a tricky situation.
Check it out at: www.nyas.net
Best for: Getting information about services
and activities in your area
3. Meic
Check it out at: www.cliconline.co.uk
What is it?
2. NYAS
MEIC is a new helpline service for children and young people up to the age of 25 in Wales.
What is it? NYAS provides specialist legal advice and assistance. They offer information, advice, advocacy and legal representation to children, young people and vulnerable adults through a network of dedicated paid workers and volunteers throughout England and Wales.
From finding out what’s going on in your local area to help dealing with a tricky situation, MEIC will listen when no-one else will. MEIC can give you quality information, useful advice and the support you need to make a change. You can contact MEIC in Welsh or English – it’s up to you! They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can contact MEIC by phone, email, SMS text and instant messaging. MEIC is confidential, anonymous, free, and just for you. Phone: 080880 23456 SMS txt: 84001
NYAS offer independent and confidential services (as long as you are safe), and can help if you are: • Not being listened to • In need of some advice • In need of help to talk to Social Services • Not being treated fairly • Being told you have to move • Having difficulties about school
Best for: A helping hand or ear to listen when
you most need one.
Check it out at: www.MEICcymru.org 6
Just for fun... Find the words listed that are all connected to the Real Opportunities project in the grid below!
word search
Bridgend Caerphilly Carmarthen Elite Employment Inclusion Independence Mencap Merthyr Neath Port Talbot Pembrokeshire Remploy Rhondda Cynon Taf Swansea Torfaen
SUDOKu
Maze Mayhem
Riddle me this 1. What is it the more you take, the more you leave behind? 2. What gets wetter as it dries? 3. A man looks at a photograph and says “brothers and sisters I have none, but this man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is in the photo? 4. What begins with P, ends with E, and has a 1,000 letters? 5. A father and son were in a car accident. The father died, and the son was taken to the hospital. The doctor said, “I cannot operate on this boy. He is my son.” How is this possible? Answers: 1. Footsteps 2. A Towel 3. Himself 4. The Post Office 5. The Doctor is his mother. 7
Training & Events To book onto any of the following training events or seminars contact the information and training team at realopportunities@learningdisabilitywales.org.uk for a booking form. For further information regarding the events listed please contact Hannah at Hannah.cox@ learningdisabilitywales.org.uk.
Employment Network
Date: 23rd November 2012 Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm Venue: Forge Fach Community Resource Centre For: Transition Workers and Supported Employment
Five Day PCP, Day 5
Date: 27th November 2012 Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm Venue: Waterfront Church, Swansea For: Course attendees plus young people.
Inclusion Network
Date: 5th December 2012 Time: 10am – 1pm Venue: Forge Fach Community Resource Centre For: Youth Inclusion, Peer Mentor and Psychology
Planning for the Future Network
Date: 15th January 2013 Time: 10am – 1pm Venue: Forge Fach Community Resource Centre For: PCP/Family Liaison and Independent Living Skills.
Introduction to PCP
Date: 24th January 2013 Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm Venue: Lolfa Cynin, St Clears For: Swansea, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire
Introduction to PCP
Date: 21st February 2013 Time: 10am – 4pm Venue: Central South Consortium (Formerly ESIS) For: Caerphilly, RCT and Torfaen.
To get your story in the newsletter, or for more information contact Laura on 01639 635650 or at laura.griffiths@learningdisabilitywales.org.uk 8