Archives for 2014

A new scheme will launch in Banbury next month aimed at making the town a safer environment for vulnerable people.

Safe Places is a national scheme but will be launched in Banbury for the first time on the 5th December 2014

It is hoped local shops, businesses and facilities – such as libraries, museums and leisure centres – will sign up to provide a safe place if someone is feeling lost, worried or threatened.

The project aims to help vulnerable groups of people, such as elderly people with dementia, or people with learning disabilities and mental health needs.

The launch event will take place at the Banbury Museum Education Resource Centre in Castle Quays Shopping Centre on 5 December. There will be a presentation at 11am from Hannah O’Neill, from the Milton Keynes Anti Hate Crime Group and a role play to show why Safe Places are necessary by self advocates with learning disabilities from My Life My Choice.

Businesses that take part in the scheme will be identified with a distinctive logo in the window (see attached), which will be issued with the approval of local Thames Valley Police officers and periodically checked by Safe Places volunteers.

Those who might benefit from the scheme will be issued with a contact card, providing a named person to contact if they are in need of help.

If someone shows the card in a Safe Place, the business or shop will contact the helper named on the card and keep the vulnerable person safe until their supporter arrives.

Thames Valley Police, Oxfordshire County Council, Cherwell District Council, Oxfordshire Family Support Network, My Life My Choice, and the management of the Castle Quays Shopping Centre and Styleacre have come together to set up the project.

Recently, The Mid-Counties Cooperative Society has also joined the partnership and is keen to roll out Safe Places across the region because they have a network of local shops that are open in the evenings.

Maria Breen who’s son has Aspergers Syndrome said:

“Launching Safe Places is wonderful news for vulnerable people like my son who is 19 and has a learning disability. He has been bullied in the past by strangers in town and felt he had nowhere to turn to. He badly wants to be independent and Safe Places will enable him to go out with the confidence he will have somewhere to go if he feels he is at risk whilst out in the community.”

Superintendent Katharine Lowe, Area Commander for Cherwell and West Oxfordshire, said:

“This initiative is a really simple but effective idea to help people who may need a little extra support when they are out, should they get confused or anxious. It is really great that businesses and organisations feel they want to and are able to support this scheme and my thanks to them for this support.”

Bee Maidlow, who works in Oxfordshire County Council Community Connecting Team, said:

“Oxfordshire County Council wants to enable more people with learning disabilities to be present and take an active part in the community. It is important that everyone is safe while out and about. The Safe Places scheme is a way in which Banbury people can support vulnerable people in their community and help them feel safe.”

Karen McNeill, communities co-ordinator from the Mid-Counties Cooperative, said:

“Our stores are at the heart of many local communities across Oxfordshire and have a strong commitment to support local people in lots of different ways. We’re very pleased that our stores in the area will extend the Safe Places network and increase awareness and visibility of the scheme.”

Jan Sunman, from Oxfordshire Family Support Network, said:

“This scheme came about in Oxfordshire because local older family carers had said that they wanted the peace of mind of knowing that there were people who would look out for their relatives with a learning disability, whilst out in their local communities.  The scheme offers support to all vulnerable groups of people. Please join us for a cup of coffee and to find out more at the Banbury Museum   on 5 December.”

For more information, contact Oxfordshire Family Support Network
info@oxfsn.org.uk or use our contact form.

Verita who are conducting an independent investigation at the request of NHS England, into Southern Health Services including the supported living services at TQ21, will be holding two days of interviews in Oxford. If you have experiences of Southern Health Services that you want to share – positve or negative.

Please email info@oxfsn.org.uk to obtain details in order to set up interview times on Tuesday 25th and Wed 26th November 2014.

NHS England publication.

Getting it right for people with learning disabilities
Going into hospital because of mental health difficulties or challenging behaviours:
What families need to know.

Please click on the link to view NHS England’s PDF document:

•  NHS England: Getting it right for people with learning disabilities

OxFSN’s Jan Sunman shared her experiences of supporting two children with a learning disability at the Oxford Trust’s first Support Worker Conference.

Click on the link to read the article as printed in June 2014 edition of the:

•  British Journal of Healthcare Assistants

26/06/2014

Oxfordshire Family Support Network (OxFSN).
When asked why they are supporting #107days and #JusticeforLB they said this:

Oxfordshire Family Support Network (OxFSN) is a (very) small charity that provides independent information, advice and support by families for families of people with learning disabilities. Set up by family carers who wanted to use their experience to help others in the same situation we strive to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities and their families.

‘We wanted to be part of the #107 days because like so many others we were shocked and saddened by what has happened to Connor and his family. Our aim as a charity is to inform, inspire and involve families of people with learning disabilities. We practice and promote person centred thinking and practice, delivering training and workshops to parents and professionals who work with our relatives and we attempted to support Connor, Sara and her family during his time in the unit. At Sara’s request we facilitated a person centred CPA meeting with Sara and staff at STATT (evidenced in the independent report into his preventable death)

Since Connor’s death we have been beavering away behind the scenes on projects we feel could make a difference to other families’.

Today OxFSN, together with Healthwatch Oxfordshire, launch their new report, A Local Experience of National Concern, dedicated to LB’s memory.

This report, funded by Healthwatch Oxfordshire forms part of a scoping process for further work which we hope will ultimately help other families around the country as well as those closer to home.

The report highlights the failures in respect of the current system in Oxfordshire and calls on local commissioners to work with families and people who use services to create services which meet their needs by working with them as ‘experts by experience’.

It has also identified a range of issues that require further scrutiny, including the following:

• The problems associated with the transition between children’s and adult services;
• The frequent failures to provide information and support to enable families to make informed choices about which services to use;
• A proposal to undertake scoping work on developing a peer-to-peer network of support and advocacy for families, with the suggestion that Oxfordshire could be a potential pilot area to test out a peer advocacy and support model;
• The importance of services and commissioners working with families to seek solutions rather than perceiving families as part of the problem.

Jan Sunman, author of the report and project worker for OxFSN said:

‘Our purpose in writing this report was to give a voice to a very hidden group of families, and to show how they struggle with fragile support systems that need to radically change in order that they and their relatives can have a basic quality of life that the rest of us take for granted.  Families are isolated and desperate for good support and advice. They often have a poor understanding of the rights of their relatives’.