Over the last few months we have become increasingly aware of the number of micro enterprises using social media to tell people about their work and to gain peer support from others fighting the same battles. With this in mind we have decided (from a starting point of almost total ignorance) to set up a twitter chat group for micro enterprise tweeps and users and anyone else with an interest in diverse and imaginative care services.

The first chat will take place on the 17th February at 3pm and the starting topic for discussion is “what can micro services offer to people who need care and support to live their lives”. You don’t have to do anything to join the twitter group except have a twitter account in the first place. The hashtag for the group is #microsc. When you go into your twitter account type #microsc and click on it and you will see all the things that people are saying . Then feel free to jump in and comment to anything that takes your fancy remembering of course to always write #microsc at the end of whatever you write so that everyone else can keep track.

We’ve never done this before so have no idea how it will go (or even if we are doing it right!) but we really really hope you will join us next Friday. If it is a success and people think we should establish it as a regular feature we can take it from there. I would be really grateful if anyone has any suggestions for future chat topics too.

Thanks to Shirley Ayres for all her advice on this and here is a great guide to twitter chats she sent to get us going that you might find useful if (like us) this is all a bit scarily new! http://bit.ly/ArP3sI

This participative  and interactive event will enable you to:

    * learn more about the Innovation programme and ask questions

    * find out about the Bursary application process

    * hear about examples of personalised and co productive approaches from around the country

    * participate in workshops and networking opportunities

    * learn more about the Innovation Network and how you can get involved

    * get thinking about an innovative idea for your service developme

Places are going fast so book on as soon as possible via the following link: http://unlockinginnovation.eventbrite.co.uk/

The two charities we would like to raise money for mean a lot to me and I hope you value as equally worthy causes:
Breast Cancer Campaign: This national charity works by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure. Like so many, my family has been affected by this disease, I was fortunate enough that my grandma survived breast cancer and I would love to use this opportunity to help raise money to enable the reasearch to be done to help create more happy endings.
Birmingham Dogs’ Home: The charity has bases in Birmingham and Wolverhampton and does amazing work to ensure these wonderful and adorable animals can have a second chance at life and be brought back to good health after some have been brought to the home after experience awful cruelty. I have two rescue dogs and would advocate that people give these wonderful animals a wonderful life.

If you could spare 50p, £5 or even £50 you would be making a fantastic difference to the work these wonderful charities do. Ideally if you could split your donation between these causes, that would be fantastic, or if you’d rather donate to one particular cause, that’s also brilliant, as they say, every penny helps!
I am raising money through the website justgiving.com, and it is possible to donate money securely to either charity through these pages; see the link http://www.justgiving.com/teams/amyclimbskilimanjaro for more information.’

Liam Black from Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen (http://www.guardian.co.uk/prius/partthree/story/0,,1322048,00.html ) was there to talk about social enterprise and to award the prizes – Jill’s prize is a day with Liam for support and mentoring!!

Jill, Jess and Andrea were all overwhelmed by having won their awards – but despite the surprise Jill and Andrea both gave eloquent and inspiring acceptance speeches.
Jill talked about how Pulp Friction was born out of necessity as there was nothing else for Jess who has learning disabilities and had wanted to work in a ‘posh’ restaurant. She described the opportunities that Pulp Friction has provided for the people who work there, as paid staff and as volunteers. Pulp Friction has provided work experience and training for a number of young people with learning disabilities – but it has as importantly provided people with a really rich social life. Jill passionately believes that young people with learning disabilities need opportunities in their lives to make friends without having to pay someone to make this possible – Pulp Friction provides a great way for people to meet and make friends and have fun together.
Andrene thanked the people who believed in her and especially the people who use her service for allowing her to treat them as guinea pigs because it was all so new and developing! She thanked her husband and family for putting up with her whilst she was developing Break Barriers and for the time she has spent away from them. Andrene says there is no reverse gear in the Break Barriers car ‘it’s been taken out – we only go in a forward movement!!!’

As Rebecca said when she broke the news: It was a great afternoon and so great to see these new micro enterprises win an award…WELL DONE!!! I did a lot of cheering!!!!

All of us at Community Catalysts believe that the availability of local micro care and support services are essential if people who need support are to have real choice.

We know from our experiences that many micro-providers face difficulties and challenges and that they often feel very isolated.  To try and tackle these issues, we have been asked by Devon County Council to help support the development of a peer support network for local micro-providers, which will enable micro providers to be a resource and support for one another.

A rainy morning somewhere in the depths of rural Devon last Thursday saw the first meeting of this peer support network when 8 micro-providers met one another for the first time. A further 18 micro-providers have asked for feedback, so the early signs are that there is a lot of interest in this new initiative.

The 8 micro-providers at the meeting delivered or were planning to deliver a diverse range of services. From residential care, personal care at home, shopping and other practical support, escorted transport, community enabling and support, and support to people with osteoporosis on maintaining independence with good bone health and avoiding trips and falls.

It was during the introductions around the room that the magic started, with shared experiences, tips and ideas spilling from every quarter.

It very quickly became clear that while the services delivered by the people there were different from one another, there was a wealth of common ground in terms of shared experiences and shared values, as well as a real appetite for creative and innovative new ways of working to offer the best service that they could.  

Community Catalysts has learned that the basic things that a group like this needs are mutual trust and respect, generosity and collaboration – and all of these things were in great abundance that morning.

We went on to explore what the group might be able to do together, sharing the experience of a similar group in Oldham and this generated a real buzz around the room, as people started to realise what could be possible.  One of the micro providers there was an avid tweeter, giving Twitter- followers a running commentary of how things were going.

Later on in the meeting, we were joined by someone from Devon County Council who was very happy to take part in a question and answer session and who left the meeting feeling very engaged and enthused.

I was totally blown away and inspired by the wonderful things that each of the providers there are doing or have planned and by how very quickly they gelled together as a group.    Let’s wish them well in their journey – from the energy and enthusiasm in the room that morning, they will achieve a lot together!

The government launched a three month ‘discussion’ in September called Caring for our Future: Shared ambitions for care and support. The discussion aims to engage a very wide range of people in identifying priorities for action across six areas central to the reform of social care. One of those key areas is the big one of personalisation.

Personal budgets have been the major tool introduced by government to achieve personalisation. The theory is that giving people control of their money will allow them to be in control of their services and recent reports by the National Audit Office and Think Local Act Personal have shown that personal budgets have indeed had a transformative effect for many people. The devil though is in the bureaucratic detail. People who take their personal budget as a direct payment rather than a managed budget (managed by the local authority or a provider organisation) are much more likely to achieve positive outcomes – but of the 340,000 people with personal budgets in March 2011 only a third took this as a direct payment. And the National Audit Office report found in addition that in many areas there is little choice of services and even where there is choice, people with personal budgets can find it difficult to find out about good providers offering services that they might like to buy.

The government’s three-month discussion on personalisation is focusing then on what gets in the way of people having choice and control. Community Catalysts has a place on the reference group and we want to use that opportunity to identify the main barriers and find solutions.

We passionately share the vision of personalisation but want that vision to be achieved for everyone who needs support to live their lives – and being a highly practical organisation we know that will only be possible if every single barrier to personalisation (some big, some small) is identified and tackled.

SO….. we are launching a new campaign called Tackling the Hard Stuff and plan to work with other passionately practical organisations and people over the next few months to identify barriers and to find solutions – and we want to hear from you.

This newsletter focuses on the work we are doing with others to turn government policy from rhetoric to reality – this is never easy, but we are not afraid to tackle the hard stuff head on!

We hope you enjoy reading about the inspiring people we work with, and we encourage you to share this newsletter with anyone else you think might be interested in our work.

Click here for the newsletter.

As Directors of Adult Social Care, thought leaders and politicians gather for the annual National Children and Adults Social Care Conference (19-21 October) with its theme of Tough Times, Good Decisions, a key question for delegates is ‘why is there still very little access to such options?’ Whilst exciting models and examples do exist these are few and far between, and for many older people these options are not considered in the first place, largely due to the negative perceptions and attitudes of professionals towards “the frail elderly”. Those involved in this research have asserted that people want to continue to contribute as they get older and have assets which are often wasted.

The models and stories shared in this interim paper will also be of interest to those involved in the national engagement exercise established to channel responses to the Dilnot Commission on the future funding and provision of long term care. A key message from those involved in Not A One Way Street is that policy, legislation and practice developments need to stop focusing only on how to resource more of the same kinds of support. What is needed is a much richer variety of different options, including those that are based on the exchange of (for example) time, accommodation, practical assistance and emotional help.

Helen Bowers from NDTi said “Tough times call for innovative solutions, including those well beyond the comfort zones of professionals and public agencies today. Good decisions, older people tell us, are those based on their priorities and preferences, which take account of their opinions and tap into their experiences, assets and resourcefulness”.

Sian Lockwood from Community Catalysts said “The important thing in all of this is to enable individuals and communities to use their gifts and skills to provide real choice for local people looking for support and services. Where this is happening it’s as a result of unlocking the creativity of local people and staff, turning their ideas into sustainable high quality support that works for everyone”.

Philly Hare from JRF said “We’re confident that this work can very helpfully inform current policy and practice debates. There is a real need to draw attention to alternative approaches and options for support when older people need ongoing or ‘long term’ care. Hearing from those of different ages and at different stages of life with experience of reciprocal support will help to shed light on what does and doesn’t work; and the possibilities, challenges and economic implications of extending the scope and scale of models and approaches that currently exist in the UK”.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

Not A One Way Street report was commissioned to inform JRF’s programme ‘A Better Life’ http://www.jrf.org.uk/work/workarea/better-life a 5 year investigation into improving the quality of life for older people with high support needs. This research project focuses on the ways in which this diverse and growing group of people can and do access support based on mutuality and reciprocity i.e. giving and receiving help rather than just being seen and treated as passive recipients of care.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is one of the largest social policy research and development charities in the UK. The JRF and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) work together to understand the root causes of social problems, identify ways of overcoming them, and show how social needs can be met in practice. www.jrf.org.uk. For more information about A Better Life, contact the Programme Manager Philly Hare on Philippa.hare@jrf.org.uk

National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) is a social change organisation that works to achieve a society that is inclusive of all people, where factors like disability and age are not an obstacle to people achieving good life outcomes. Examples of current and recent NDTi work include:

• Working with older people with high support needs to identify their vision for long term care, for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (Older Peoples’ Vision for Long Term Care, Bowers et al, 2009)
• Running a two year change programme to increase the voice, choice and control of older people with high support needs, for the Office of Disability Issues
• Tailored development programmes for local health and social care communities on embedding person centred practices and system change for older people

For more information about NDTi visit the website www.ndti.org.uk, or contact Helen Bowers at Helen.Bowers@ndti.org.uk , phone 01225 789135.

Community Catalysts is a Community Interest Company launched in January 2010 by NAAPS UK, the charity representing Shared Lives and small community services. Community Catalysts and NAAPS work in close partnership to support the development of sustainable local enterprises delivering services that people can buy to live their lives. Their joint aim is to enable individuals and communities to use their gifts and skills to provide real choice of small scale, local, personalised and high quality social care and health services (in the broadest sense) for local people looking for support and services. Community Catalysts is working to support micro enterprise in 22 local authority areas in England and is also working with health trusts in Scotland and Northern Ireland. For more information about Community Catalysts, contact Sian Lockwood at Sian.Lockwood@communitycatalysts.co.uk

With all our slightly damp delegates assembled at Birmingham Voluntary Sector Council, our CEO, Sian Lockwood, introduced the morning by placing the work of Community Catalysts in the national context and explaining why our commitment to providing real choice for people with any level of care or support need is vital to meeting the aims of personalisation. Next, our Director of Operations, Angela Catley, introduced the documents we were launching at this event, Enterprise for all: care or community support services run by people who have experienced them and the report and strategy on Enabling people with support needs to set up social care enterprises. These documents compiled our learning from a recently completed project in Oldham that supported individuals with a support need to develop their own micro services.

We then had a presentation from Jill and Jess, the founders of Pulp Friction, a mobile smoothie bar that offers the chance to learn life and employment skills in a supported environment for individuals with learning disabilities. This was one of the highlights of the day; I cannot recall how many people approached me to say how wonderful and inspirational their story was. The only possible improvement would have been if samples of the smoothies could have been brought with them. Having visited an event where the smoothie bar was in action, I can easily vouch for how delicious they are.

The delegates then split into three separate sessions: An approach to quality, Setting up a micro enterprise: things that get in the way and finally, Making the shift from council service to independent micro service. I began in the Approach to quality session being run by Angela Catley, which started with an introduction from everyone in the room, including one gentleman who had travelled all the way from Hastings to join us. I then moved on to Setting up a micro enterprise, run by Sian and Operations Manager, Helen Allen, which examined the different barriers that face micro providers. This session created a good discussion on whether certain processes, such as the detail needed to tender for council contracts, were actually an effective way of ensuring the best provision of services.

I moved into the third room to see the workshop From council service to independent micro service, where Chris Self from the Oaks projects and a customer called Craig. Supported by Micro Services Co-ordinators Lorna Reid and Rebecca Stanley, they were delivering a question and answer session on the journey Chris, Craig and his customers had made from running or using a council service to a micro one. Craig talked about his experience and the positive impact this change had on his quality of life. For many considering setting up their own service, Chris’ story was a vital confidence boost to show exactly how that vision can become a reality. I finally returned to group one where a lively debate had opened up on the new Quality Mark Community Catalysts has been developing. This led to a wider debate on the value of quality checking with many well expressed and valid opinions for and against.

The whole room was brought together for one last concluding session, followed by lunch and a chance to network. Here I was lucky enough to meet a provider from Wolverhampton who provided counselling and animal therapies for individuals, which just goes to show the fantastic variety of providers there is and why Community Catalysts is so dedicated to ensure the choice is brought to the attention of the people that will benefit the most from these services.