Gerraint’s Blog March 2023
January and February were quite quiet for me compared to the period of September to December last year.
On the 11 January 2023 Angela Kenvyn Engage to Change Project Manager and myself met online with Autonome using Microsoft Teams. I first came across Autonome at the Learning Disability Wales Annual Conference last November in both South and North Wales. I thought they would be a good networking contact for Engage to Change, hence why they met online to discuss further networking opportunities. The meeting went very well and I am hoping to spotlight Autonome in one of my future blogs to give you more information about them.
On the 16 January 2023, Jayne Bryant MS (Member of the Senedd) visited Cardiff University with the Engage to Change project. I was there to give my positive experience on how the project has supported me into paid sustainable employment. Jayne met with Project SEARCH Cardiff University interns to see what job they are doing within the university. Jobs included cement making to brick laying.
On the 17 January 2023, Learning Disability Wales had their staff and trustees team day this was looking at what the organisation does currently and what can be done in the future and to improve our work. For me it was great to meet the trustees to understand what their role is as a trustee.
On the 25 January 2023, I was asked to attend an online zoom event to see the work Disability Can Do does in Gwent (South Wales). It was a very informative event and I learnt a lot from it, there were a couple of guest speakers including Chris English (Training Manager from Elite).
On the 21 February, I went to Cardiff University to meet with Dr Elisa Vigna and Andrea Meek who collect data and information from the project to see how well it has been working and what the outcomes are. They are in the middle of going through all of this to make the information more accessible.
Spotlight on Disability Can Do
As a whole, Disability Can Do supports individuals to break down barriers both big and small in their everyday lives.
“One stop” is a service they provide under advice and guidance. Their one-stop advice, guidance and form filling service is only available in the Caerphilly borough at the moment.
Their main project is the WoW project – Working on wellbeing, which is their employability project. They work to break down barriers and get person-centred outcomes to support people on their employment journey. This runs for individuals who identify as having a disability, impairment or condition and live in the Gwent area so this project covers Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, Monmouthshire, Torfaen and Newport.
Disability Can Do offer:
- Information and advice
- Accessible welfare support
- Education for personal development
- Local workplace and career opportunities
- Confidence to set and achieve realistic life goals.
Each person has had help that is tailored to their individual needs, and they are always sensitive to your personal situation.
Further information can be found on their website: www.disabilitycando.org.uk.