April 2008 Independence, Choice & Control Kingston Independent 2 Kingston Independent CONTENTS From the Chair.......................................................................................................................... 3 Removing A-boards from the public highway in Kingston -update .......................................... 4 “Prevention better than cure” – RBK strategy........................................................................... 5 Council Commissioning Strategy for Disabled People ............................................................. 5 Welcome Dan Wilson,Direct Payments Co-ordinator..............................................................6 Angela’s experience of using Direct Payments ........................................................................ 7 About Direct Payments............................................................................................................ 8 RADAR keys for sale................................................................................................................ 8 AGM and Raffle notices ...........................................................................................................8 Rose Theatre Kingston............................................................................................................. 9 Bollywood sparkled at the Rose ............................................................................................. 11 Eyesight and hearing loss seminar......................................................................................... 12 News ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Police Chief seeks KCIL’s views ............................................................................................ 14 Government’s Independent Living Strategy consultation ....................................................... 15 Want to be more involved?..................................................................................................... 16 Who’s Who at KCIL? Staff name Title Telephone Email Lisa Nichols Chief Executive 020 8481 1444 lisa.nichols@kcil.org.uk Robert Reilly Office Administrator 020 8546 9603 robert.reilly@kcil.org.uk Veronica Attah BME Disability Officer 020 8481 1442 veronica.attah@kcil.org.uk Dan Wilson Direct Payments / Support Services Coordinator 020 8481 1448 dan.wilson@kcil.org.uk Anne Frayda DP Information Officer 020 8481 1449 anne.frayda@kcil.org.uk Sheila McLeod DP Assistant (monitoring) 020 8481 1440 sheila@kcil.org.uk Thu Ha Direct Payments Support & Outreach worker 020 8481 1445 thu.ha@kcil.org.uk John Morris DP Assistant 020 8481 1447 john.morris@kcil.org.uk John Raitt Book-Keeper Via KCIL office Via KCIL office Board of Trustees: Anna Kavanagh – Chair Margaret Mattingly - Joint Vice-Chair Gwen Symonds Malcolm Johnson - Joint Vice-Chair Nigel Tarrant Lawrie Lee – Treasurer Asta Latim Cllr Penny Shelton/Cllr Sue Baker (RBK appointees) Cover picture: ©Ketan Suchak, K & S Art Studio – Dancers at the Bollywood Sparkles event (see page 11). Kingston Independent 3 From the Chair Hello readers. I would like to thank you for all your feedback on the last edition of the Kingston Independent – readers said they liked the photos we included and the “who’s who” on staff and trustees of KCIL as it’s nice to put a name to a face! There was positive feedback on the A-boards article and we have an update on this. All your comments will be passed on so please tell us your views on any of our articles as it is all about you, the members of KCIL and the community. If you hear of anything that you think might interest others, let us know. I would like to introduce and welcome two new members of staff who started in the Direct Payments team; John Morris who joined us in February as a part time assistant and to Dan Wilson who started in March as the new Direct Payments / Support Services Coordinator. We also have two Trustees taking on a joint Vice-Chair role, Margaret Mattingly and Malcolm Johnson. We are looking for volunteers to help us to set up an Events Group and an Editorial Team. So if you’re interested and you want to be part of KCIL’s work, get in touch with us at the office, and we look forward to meeting you. We have recently been approached by Angela, who wants to volunteer to be involved in fundraising, organising events and raising awareness – so if you want to join Angela in this – ring the office and let us know. Two dates for your calendar – the first is our Consultation and Information Event on the 15th April 2008 and the AGM on the 14th October 2008. We will confirm who AGM speakers are in the next edition. This year we will have a Raffle drawn at the AGM and we need prizes! So if you have any ideas of companies we could approach or want to donate a new item yourself, please contact the office. The staff and trustees are currently producing a Business Plan for the next year 20082009. During the year we will also be looking at priorities for KCIL over the next three years – we will be asking your views at the AGM but, if you ever want to tell us what you think KCIL should be doing in the future your comments would be welcomed. As you know we were looking to become an Incorporated Company Charity – well, we received confirmation of this on the 11th March 2008 from the Charity Commission – so it’s official! The newsletter can now be received by email and in various formats, if you wish to receive a different version, let Robert in the office know. Receiving the newsletter via email could help reduce our costs as well as being easier for you! The newsletter is now taking adverts and small classified ads, with discounted rates for members. Well readers that’s all for now, I hope you enjoy the read. Anna Kavanagh – Chair of Trustees 4 4 Kingston Independent Some success in removing A-boards Kingston Council’s campaign to liberate the pavements of the Borough from freestanding advertising boards (‘A boards’) has begun. As we reported in the last edition of the Kingston Independent, from January 2008, Council officers are to conduct regular sweeps of the Borough. Businesses found to be placing A boards on the public highway will be sent a letter asking them to remove their A boards and suggesting alternative, less obstructive, ways of promoting their business to passing trade. Any businesses who refuse to remove their A boards within four weeks of receiving the initial letter will be issued with a notice and the A boards will be removed and Before! disposed of by the Council. Veronica Attah from KCIL has been out and about and has taken these photos to show the difference that has already been made – we hope the Borough keep up this initiative as it makes access easier without “A” boards cluttering the streets! For further information, please contact Environmental Services Customer Care Team on 020 8547 5560 or at environment@rbk.kingston.gov.uk. After! Advertisement Suite 13, Claremont House, 22 - 24 Claremont Road, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 4QU Tel: 020 8399 5272 Email: enquiries@mjsol.co.uk Website: www.mjsol.co.uk We are a specialist personal injury practice based in Surbiton that undertakes compensation claims on behalf of children and disabled people. We also act as receivers and trustees for disabled and vulnerable persons. Our principal, Malcolm Johnson is a solicitor with over 14 years’ experience in personal injury. He is a member of the Law Society’s Personal Injury Panel, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers. Our firm also has a licence from the Legal Services Commission to undertake publicly funded work in personal injury. We have the experience and the expertise to provide you with effective and practical help. Contact Malcolm Johnson, Chantal Butler or Rebecca Graham-Taylor for a free initial consultation. Please feel free to telephone, write or email us with any questions that you may have. MALCOLM JOHNSON & CO. SPECIALIST PERSONAL INJURY SOLICITORS 55 Kingston Independent “Prevention is better than cure” – Phil Levick explains That is the principle underlying our Independence and Well-being Plan for the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames over the next three years. Following the recent change to our eligibility criteria, we in Community Care Services will continue to directly support those people who need the most help to stay independent, safe and well, and their carers. To make sure that people with lower level support needs get the information, advice and support they need to stay independent, safe and well, we have been working with our partners to produce an Independence and Well-being Plan. This Plan sets out what we aim to do to support people with lower level support needs to help themselves to keep independent and active. Tell us what you think! We are very keen to 15th April 2-4pm hear from service users, carers, members of United Reformed Church the public, statutory and voluntary Kingston organisations, health and social care colleagues and our Councillors on what they KCIL hosted consultation think of our Plan. Our consultation period & information event runs until the end of April 2008, so please give us your views on our Plan. We have WE need to hear your views and ideas arranged several public meetings for people for future services to have their say. Alternatively, people may prefer to contact us via telephone, letter or Come along, find information & share email (see contact details below). your views! More information and help Our Plan can be downloaded from our website and is available as a full report, a simplified report and an Easy Read version. If people need help to understand our Plan, or need it in a different format, including on audio-tape, in Braille, large print, as a plain text document, or in another language, please contact me. More information on our website: www.kingston.gov.uk/communitycareservices/independence_and_well-being_plan Contact: Phil Levick Kingston Community Care Services, Quality Assurance & Development Team. Hollyfield House, 22 Hollyfield Road, Surbiton, KT5 9AL. Tel: 020 8547 6103. Fax: 020 8547 6100. Email: philip.levick@rbk.kingston.gov.uk. Council Commissioning Strategy for Disabled People The Council are asking for feedback on their draft plan for services for Disabled People and People with Sensory Impairments from 18th April for three months. For copies of this important plan which will govern future services in the borough for years ahead contact Phil Levick (contact details given in the article above). We understand these will be discussed at a future meeting which will be open to the public. KCIL has responded already, but we welcome your views, concerns and ideas on this plan. 6 6 Kingston Independent Welcome Dan Wilson I am very excited to be joining the team at KCIL as the Direct Payments / Support Services Coordinator. It presents an excellent opportunity to put my background in local government finance, social care and the voluntary sector to use. I have just completed 6 months with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, my first large national charity. Having grown up in Guernsey in the Channel Islands, I had never experienced an organisation with such a large reach. However I was always keen to return to a small local organisation, where it is much easier to make personal connections. I have previously worked for the civil service in Guernsey in a range of financial roles including as an internal auditor, but only really felt I’d found my niche when I moved to the Guernsey Board of Health, Learning Disability Services. I had an opportunity to use the skills I had gained to support adults with learning disabilities. During this period I was saving money to go to university so I was doing extra shifts as a support worker in various residential settings on the island. This allowed me to gain experience of hands on service provision, adding extra depth to the knowledge I’d gained at a financial/administrative level. I became friends with several activist nurses who educated me about the social model and independent living, this then became an area of great interest to me. I went on to set up a Service User in Staff Selection Policy – whereby service users sat on the interview panel for staff members. I also chaired our Parents and Carers group and Service Users Committee meetings – I am committed to empowering service users through involvement as I believe this is the most effective means of challenging exclusion. I went to University, recently (June 07) completing a BA (hons) in Politics. I carried my interest in Disability issues through to my dissertation - written on the topic of employment for people with the learning disability label – for which I gained a first. I enjoy running, completing the London Marathon for Save the Children in 2004. I’ve let this lapse but am planning to start training again this summer. I’m also a keen DJ, in my younger days I played lots of very loud drum and bass, but these days I have mellowed playing Soul and Motown. Although I’ve only played a few times in nightclubs/bars I’ve really enjoyed it and am keen to continue. I look forward to working for a user-led independent organisation such as KCIL. My experiences have taught me the value of independence, I’ve met many people who are not achieving all they could because years of paternal, overly risk averse service have robbed them of their self esteem and confidence. I have also seen many people regain these given the opportunity with the appropriate support. I look forward to being a small part of this liberating process. Kingston Independent 7 Angela talks about her experience of Direct Payments Tell us a little about yourself: Well, I’m 43 and live independently. I’m disabled and in a wheelchair, but I’m always out and about in my electric wheelchair. I moved back to this area in 2006 from Southampton to be nearer my family. I live life to the full, am strong willed but easy going and don’t let things bother me. I’m sporty, enjoying football, darts, and snooker – but mainly watching them now, although I used to run a football team in a Sunday league. I have my second rescue dog, Millie, who goes everywhere with me. How did you hear about Direct Payments? From a lady on the bus! I already had an Angela with Millie, her dog, on a visit to KCIL’s offices Occupational Therapist visit arranged to give me advice and she said who to speak to. I rang Social Services. Then KCIL contacted me and the Direct Payments Coordinator came out to see me and we took it from there. What difference does a Direct Payment make to you? Incredible difference! Before, I used to get in a state getting dressed as it was difficult because I cannot lift my left arm and shoulder very high. Sometimes I didn’t get dressed as it was too much hassle. I would have to ring my family to come and help. With Direct Payments I employ someone to help me get dressed every day and it’s changed my life as I’m independent again. I go out and walk Millie in the park daily and go into Kingston on the bus three times a week. Would you recommend a Direct Payment to other people? YES! I even help KCIL by putting up leaflets about their services and if I meet people who could benefit I tell them about my experience of Direct Payments. What has been your experience of support from KCIL with Direct Payments? Really good! I know that if there is a problem, I can ring them up and I don’t have to sit and worry about it. I think the system is pretty easy. Sheila at KCIL helps me to know how to fill out the paperwork each quarter. You want to help KCIL? Yes! I want to give something back to the community because of what I’ve been able to get myself, so more people can benefit. I’ve volunteered to fundraise for KCIL and I’ve loads of ideas including a parachute jump, sponsored dog walk, fashion show and buddy scheme to help newly disabled people get confidence again. I’m sure other people have ideas too so, if you want to join me in arranging events or fundraising – contact Lisa at the KCIL office and leave your details and we will get in touch with you. RACE NIGHT Come and join KCIL for an evening of fun and fundraising. For more information and tickets call Lisa Nichols in the KCIL office. 8 8 Kingston Independent About Direct Payments Under the Direct Payments scheme, RBK Community Care Services provide people with money -a direct payment -to organise their own support service, instead of providing a service, such as Home Care, or a day centre placement. Any person, regardless of age, who is eligible for a Community Care Service in the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames can ask to receive a direct payment. This includes young people from the age of 16 and parent carers of disabled children. A direct payment gives you control and choice over the kind of support that suits you best. “I’d like to tell others that they have everything to gain if they take up a direct payment. That’s been my experience.” Quote from a DP service user If you’d like to learn more about Direct Payments contact the Direct Payments Support Service at KCIL. We’ll be happy to give you the information and support you need to explore how a direct payment might work for you. .  020 8481 1448 If you’d like to find out whether you’re eligible to receive a direct payment, speak to your care manager, social worker or care co-ordinator. If you don’t have a care manager, social worker or care co-ordinator, contact the Community Services Reception and Information Line at RBK. They’ll put you in touch with the Community Care Team that can discuss your support needs with you. .  020 8547 6008 RADAR KEYS AVAILABLE FROM KCIL OFFICE The Radar key scheme offers independent access to disabled people to around 7,000 locked public toilets around the country. KCIL AGM 14th October 2008 See next edition of Kingston Independent for details KCIL Summer “Spectacular” The Radar Key Scheme enables these Raffle toilets to be locked, to prevent vandalism and misuse. With one Radar Key -you Tickets to be issued in July won`t be caught short! To be drawn at the AGM £2.50 from KCIL Office 14th October £3.00 if ordering by post (contact KCIL for an order form). We are looking for donations of new items for the KCIL Summer Tel: 020 8546 9603 Spectacular Raffle We already have an Ingersoll gem set ladies watch, £50 Bentalls voucher and bottles of wine! Help us to make this raffle really spectacular! Tel: 020 8546 9603 Kingston Independent 9 Rose Theatre Kingston by Richard Matthews (Marketing Manager Rose Theatre) Photo of the stage: Chris Pearsall After many years of anticipation, the Rose Theatre, Kingston opened its doors on 16 January with English Touring Theatre’s new production of Uncle Vanya. Since opening, the Rose has welcomed over 40,000 audience members through its doors, for Chekhov, Shakespeare, musical theatre, comedy and Bollywood dance. The Rose is a modern interpretation of an Elizabethan playhouse, with seating in a horse-shoe shape over three levels, a pit area where the audience who can negotiate steps can sit on cushions for only £7, and a lozenge shaped stage in-front. The Rose has level access from street-level into the building, and a total of 10 wheelchair spaces across the stalls and circle levels in the main auditorium. There is lift access to every floor, and accessible toilets on all three floors. There are also wheelchair accessible low counters at the box office and the main foyer bar and café in the stalls. To assist customers who are deaf or hard of hearing, an induction loop is fitted at the box office; this means that people who wear hearing aids can turn their hearing aid to the ‘T’ position and cut out any background noise. An infra-red system operates within the main auditorium. For people who wear hearing aids, a neck-loop can be picked up from the theatre cloakroom – by wearing this loop and switching the hearing aid to the ‘T’ position, all dialogue, whether spoken or sung, will be amplified, and any background noise cut out. For people who do not wear hearing aids, a discreet set of ear-phones can be picked up from the theatre cloakroom, and all spoken or sung dialogue will be amplified through these during the performance, again, cutting out any background noise. The Rose have scheduled, for a wide variety of productions across their spring and summer seasons, STAGETEXT captioned and audio-described performances with touch-tours, to allow people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or blind or visually impaired, to understand and enjoy the piece to its full potential. STAGETEXT captioned performances assist deaf and hard of hearing audience members by converting all spoken or sung dialogue, as well as off-stage noises and sound effects on a subtitle box above the stage. Audio-described performances relay any on-stage action that isn’t conveyed through dialogue, as well as the visual elements of the production, through a discreet set of ear-phones, allowing visually impaired audience members to access the production. Audio-described performances also include a touch-tour in advance of the performance, giving a guided and tactile tour of the set and costumes. Richard Mathews, Lisa Nichols and Alan Kerr (CEO Artsline) outside the Rose Theatre following a visit to find out about accessibility 10 10 Kingston Independent “What a wonderful day we had with you and your staff on Saturday. It was great to be on the stage and look at all the props and costumes...When the play began I could not of course see as far as the stage but having been on it earlier I could see it all in my mind. Thank you so much for your commitment to audio description.” Visually impaired audience member at audio-described performance and Touch-tour for Uncle Vanya, 9 February 2008 “For hard of hearing people captioned performances are the only way to follow the play. I will not see any other.” Hard of hearing audience member at STAGETEXT Captioned performance of Uncle Vanya, 6 February 2008. To be kept informed of future audio-described and STAGETEXT captioned performances as they are scheduled, visit www.rosetheatrekingston.org or email access@rosetheatrekingston.org to sign up to the access mailing list. Spring at the Rose Theatre, Kingston The Rose Theatre announces its next season on 12 April, and several more audio- described and captioned performances will be announced in this season. In addition to the theatre productions at the Rose, the venue will host many of the events for this years’ Readers Festival – including discussions with new Artistic Director Stephen Unwin, Michael Billington and Christopher Rush (the author of Will). The Kingston Readers festival runs from 23 April to 23 May, tickets are on sale through the Rose Theatre box office. George's Marvellous Medicine 15 -19 April Audio Described performance 19 April 2pm. Touch tour 12.30pm. Roald Dahl's amazing story about a young boy who makes a marvellous new medicine to cure his Grandmother of her terrifying temper, presented in a new stage production by acclaimed Birmingham Stage Company. Full of fizztickling fun and wizzpopping magic for the whole family. Tickets £10 for patrons using audio description. Adult tickets £15. Child tickets £10. Family tickets £40 Romeo and Juliet 22 - 26 April Audio Described performance 26 April 2.30pm. Touch tour 1pm Shakespeare's heart-rending story of tragic proportions is presented by award winning company Northern Broadsides, who, with their inimitable warmth, charisma and energy, give a fresh approach to this classic play. The actors perform the play in their native 'northern' accents rather than 'received pronunciation', helping make the text and poetry very accessible, and allowing the audience to hear Shakespeare's language afresh. Tickets £10 for patrons using audio description. Otherwise, tickets range from £7 - £27 For shows in the new season, from May 2008, Disabled patrons and their companion, can book tickets for £10 each for all performances. To book tickets: Website: www.rosetheatrekingston.org. Email: customer.relations@seetickets.com . Phone: 0871 230 1552 or 020 7087 7960. Minicom bookings: 020 7087 7839. Book in person at: Rose Theatre, 24-26 High Street, Kingston KT1 1HL (Box office open 10am-6pm Monday-Saturday). KCIL is now keeping in touch with the Rose Theatre – so if you have any comments about accessibility please let us know. Kingston Independent 11 Bollywood sparkled at the Rose! By Veronica Attah The Rose Theatre Kingston was definitely the place to be in Kingston on Saturday the 8th of March, as Global Arts held its music and dance extravaganza. This was an evening full of colour and spectacle that included performances by local young people from Global Arts’ Sparkle Academy, the Institute of Tamil Culture Fine Arts, Kingston Gujarati School, Sarvoday Hindu Association, Saheli, Kajal’s Bollywood Dance School and more. The distinguished professional choreographer and performer, Rakhi Sood with her sensational TMC dancers dazzled everyone with a variety of dance styles ranging from Kathak and Bollywood to Bhangra (one dance was a fusion of Bollywood and Irish dancing!) and there were classical south Indian dances from Sadanam Unnikhrishnan. It was fabulous to see the two Muskaan Wheelchair Dancers included in the programme. They were very well received, although they had to explain that they had constantly had to apply their brakes to stop themselves flying off the stage and joining the audience, due to the sloping stage, something they only found out about that afternoon in rehearsals! Photo ©Ketan Suchak, K & S Art Studio Tom Alter, the famous Bollywood star, was our MC for the evening, adding considerable dignity and presence to the proceedings and guests included His Worshipful, The Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Councillor Shiraz Mirza. Also in the audience was our KCIL competition winner and member, Mrs Nawai Mahdi with her daughter, Raghad Alugaily, who works for fellow voluntary organisation, Refugee Action. Mrs Mahadi was thrilled to win the competition and delighted to be at the show. Mrs Mahadi and daughter Require this newsletter in another format? Let the office know if you’d like this newsletter in another format; in large print, plain text, audio, Braille, on disc or via email. Receiving the newsletter via email saves the environment as well as being easier for some readers! Call: 020 8546 9603 or email: robert.reilly@kcil.org.uk For Sale: Electrically Powered Indoor Outdoor Wheelchair Positive Momentum P5 Wheelchair “This chair is practically new and very little used. Bought in April 2007. As new, it would cost £2,500 but I’d accept £1,500 for an immediate sale.” Contact: Mr B. J. Harris Tel: 0208 241 7724 (Teddington) 12 12 Kingston Independent Eyesight and hearing loss seminar by Veronica Attah When Kevin Marrable of the Kingston Information Partnership said, “I recently helped a client to reclaim £10,000 of under-paid benefit” as you might imagine, people sat up and took notice! As part of the City Bridge Trust funded BME Disability project, we held our first health/disability and benefits awareness-raising seminar for BME communities on Thursday 13 March, at the Milaap Multicultural Day Centre. An aim of the project is for us to run seminars where people from BME communities can explore issues of health and disability and find out about welfare benefits that might help them. With visually impaired and D/deaf people often being very isolated, it was decided to use this first seminar to highlight the services and welfare benefits that people experiencing sight or hearing loss and/or their carers might be able to claim. The event was particularly targeted at Arabic, Cantonese and Gujarati speakers so, to make the event as accessible as possible, interpreters were arranged through Kingston Interpreting Service and a BSL (British Sign Language) interpreter was also requested by a D/deaf participant. The four interpreters did an extremely good job on the day, and all those using them were very appreciative of the work they did. The seminar proved very successful, with more than 40 people attending. It was a joint effort by KCIL, RBK’s Sensory Impairment Team and the Kingston Information Partnership. I started things off by talking briefly about the BME Disability Project and its aims of setting up peer support groups in BME communities and looking for disabled people to support with training to join groups, committees and forums, and invited anyone interested to talk to me after the seminar. Carol Barnshaw, Team Leader of the Sensory Impairment Team, then gave a lively talk about the support available to people who are eligible for services. She brought a selection of aids and equipment for people to look at and try out, including a signature guide (used to enable blind and visually impaired people to sign their names within a specially defined space), a talking watch and a large button telephone. Carol talked about the types of equipment available to help deaf people and those experiencing hearing loss, including alerting devices such as flashing or vibrating door bells, clocks and smoke/fire alarms and textphones (also available to people who speak languages other than English). Kevin Marrable explained that he was from the Kingston Information Partnership, a partnership between RBK and the Pension Service that tries to maximise the take-up of benefits for residents over the age of 60 and people under 60 referred by social services. He outlined the main benefits available to visually impaired and D/deaf people and their carers, such as DLA (Disability Living Allowance), AA (Attendance Allowance) 1313 Kingston Independent and Council Tax & Housing Benefit. He received a lot of attention after telling us how he’d recently helped a client to reclaim a great deal of money and, having explained that KIP visits customers at home, checks to see that people are receiving all the benefits they might be entitled to and completes any forms necessary, lots of people wanted to sign up with him! The afternoon ended with an opportunity for people to talk to each of the speakers about any concerns they had over a cup of tea or coffee. Delicious refreshments which included Indian snacks, baklava and Arabic cakes, Chinese cakes and biscuits, all kindly produced by the kitchen at Milaap, Exotic Tagine and Mavis Cheng, a member of Kingston Chinese Association. NEWS! Assisted Waste & Recycling Collection Service One service all residents use is the collection of waste and recycling from our homes. However, you may not be aware that disabled and older people can apply for an assisted collection service if they have difficulties in using the service – for example, they are not able to move their waste and recycling boxes to where they need to be collected from. If you have difficulty in using the usual waste and recycling collection service because of your disability, call 020 8547 5560 to ask about an assisted collection service. Stay Independent Factsheets Brief factsheets on: accessible transport options, Blue Badge scheme, Complaining about NHS services, Finding an NHS dentist, Holidays and Holiday Grants, Social Activities and Finding an accessible home can be downloaded at: www.kingston.gov.uk/stayindependentfactsheets. These have been written by the InfoProject team, of which KCIL is an active part. ILF Funding Change There are changes to the Independent Living Fund criteria which may make it more difficult for people to access ILF. From this April the weekly sum that a local authority has to pay before a person can receive ILF will rise from £200 to £320 and the ILF are to prioritise people on income support, jobseekers allowance and pension credit, and those who work 16+ hours a week. Backdating claims for extra funding will also stop. (Source: Disability Now) Tolworth Community Gardening Club This club is looking for more members. Operating from a relocated plot, with raised areas and all-weather surrounds, and social activities – they are looking for keen gardeners or novices with an interest in gardening. Call: Joseph Xavier 020 8399 1618. We are always looking for acticles, news and information of interest to disabled people living, working or studying in Kingston upon Thames. Copy deadline for next issue: 15th June 2008 14 14 Kingston Independent Police Chief Superintendent Laura Nicholson wants KCIL’s views My first contact with KCIL was at the last Annual General Meeting when I focussed on the accessibility and quality of policing services. I have recently met with Lisa Nichols, your CEO, and agreed that there will be a senior level single point of contact for KCIL with Kingston Police to ensure we identify and respond to the views of members on general policing issues. I look forward to developing the ongoing relationships with KCIL and to that end I would encourage you all to engage with your local ward teams either on a personal contact basis or by getting involved in community ward panel meetings. These decide your local ward priorities and hold us to account for the outcomes. We work with our local authority and other partners to try and solve problems rather than just move them on. Alternatively you can raise general policing issues through KCIL and they will be passed on to us for a response. (This KCIL link is not for emergency police issues nor if a crime has been committed when you should contact the police direct as usual – but it is a way for KCIL members to share your views on general policing issues – Ed). Kingston borough has 16 dedicated Safer Neighbourhood Teams and our Safer Transport Teams set up to concentrate on all areas of Kingston including our transports hubs. We have recently launched our online services in order to contact these teams around the clock to express the concerns and issues of people by filling in an online survey/questionnaire that gets emailed to the specific team. To use this facility log onto: http://www.met.police.uk/saferneighbourhoods/survey.htm. Kingston’s Safer Transport Team: 0208 721 5849 Safer Neighbourhood Team Phone Number Email Address Alexandra Team 0208 721 2516 Alexander.SNT@met.police.uk Berrylands Team 0208 721 2002 Berrylands.SNT@met.police.uk Beverley Team 0208 721 2750 Beverley.SNT@met.police.uk Canbury Team 0208 721 5882 Canbury.SNT@met.police.uk Chessington North Team 0208 721 2001 Chessington.SNT@met.police.uk Chessington South Team 0208 721 2596 ChessingtonSouth.SNT@met.police.uk Coombe Hill Team 0208 721 2804 Coombe.Hill.SNT@met.police.uk Coombe Vale Team 0208 721 2515 CommbeVale.SNT@met.police.uk Grove Team 0208 721 2588 Grove.SNT@met.police.uk Norbiton Team 0208 721 2000 Norbiton.SNT@met.police.uk Old Malden Team 0208 721 2517 OldMalden.SNT@met.police.uk St. James Team 0208 721 2595 StJames.SNT@met.police.uk St. Marks Team 0208 721 2044 StMarks.SNT@met.police.uk Surbiton Hill Team 0208 721 2518 Surbiton.SNT@met.police.uk Tolworth Team 0208 721 2045 Tolworth.SNT@met.police.uk Tudor Team 0208 721 2580 Tudor.SNT@met.police.uk 1515 Kingston Independent The new “Independent Living Strategy” by Ann Macfarlane The Independent Living Strategy, launched on 3rd March 2008, sets out the government’s commitments to enable disabled people to have choice and control over the support they receive and to have the opportunities others take for granted. The Strategy brings together recent Government initiatives on employment, housing and social care to remove barriers and to improve access to services and makes a series of new commitments including: • Demonstrating how to move resources from professional assessment and care management to user-led support, advocacy and brokerage to ensure people get the right support to make decisions for themselves. • A regional initiative to develop independent living opportunities for older disabled people with high levels of support needs. • A national strategy to enable people to remain in employment when they acquire impairment or their condition worsens. • An awareness campaign aimed at practitioners (in social work, the NHS and elsewhere) and disabled people themselves to ensure that health, social care and other services are delivered in ways which enable disabled people to have choice and control over how their needs are met. • A new toolkit to assist the development of local independent living strategies for and with older disabled people. • Good practice guidance to enable people to have choice and control over their continuing health care. The Office of Disability Issues will monitor with disabled people whether this Strategy is making a real and measurable improvement to the lives of disabled people. They have clearly stated that they will consider what further action is needed if progress is too slow. Delivering the commitments in this Strategy aims to bring the goal of equality closer for disabled people by 2025. Baroness Jane Campbell, a Kingston disabled resident, played a leading role in bringing the Independent Living Strategy to fruition. Baroness Jane Campbell says, ‘This was not just about consultation on already agreed proposals, but disabled people developing the ideas and how they can be implemented.’ The Office of Disability Issues would welcome your views on implementing the Independent Living Strategy and involving disabled people. They are inviting written responses to the questions asked in the Strategy and any other points you would like to make. The consultation on the Independent Living Strategy runs until 20th June, please see the Office for Disability Issues website for further details. Details of planned consultation events, and copies of the consultation documents can also be found in the consultations section at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2008/. The Strategy is available in Easy Read, audio, Braille, PDF and RTF formats and online at www.officefordisability.gov.uk. For the Executive Summary or the Strategy in another format please contact the Office for Disability Issues at: Independent Living Strategy, Office for Disability Issues, 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT. Telephone: 020 7712 2845, Textphone: 020 7712 2032, Fax: 0207 962 8096, Email: Independent-livingreview@ dwp.gsi.gov.uk. 16 16 Kingston Independent KCIL is celebrating 40 years! Kingston Centre for Independent Living turns forty this year (in 2008), and we’d like your ideas on how KCIL and all its members can celebrate throughout the year with a variety of events or initiatives. So – how would you have us commemorate the vision of our founding members, and the achievements of forty years’ committed work? Send your ideas to Lisa Nichols at KCIL, or email: lisa.nichols@kcil.org.uk. Want to be more involved? There are lots of ways you can help KCIL contiue its work: Want to join our new events and fundraising team? Think you can do a better job editing or presenting this newsletter? Great - join the editorial team! Do you have views on KCIL membership or charging for membership – let us know what you think! Interested in access issues – want to be part of an access interest group? Want to donate towards the costs of KCIL publishing this newsletter so we can ensure it reaches more people? We hope to hear from YOU! Contact Lisa Nichols at KCIL. The Kingston Independent is the quarterly newsletter of Kingston Centre for Independent Living (KCIL), River Reach, 31-35 High Street, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 1LF. Tel: 020 8546 9603 Fax: 020 8546 7947 Web: www.kcil.org.uk Charity number: 1123063. Company number: 06240260. Articles, letters, news items, photographs are welcome and will be published at the discretion of the editorial team. The publishers, authors and printers cannot accept liability for errors or omissions. Any transparencies, prints or artwork will be accepted at owners’ risk. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reported in any form without written permission of the copyright holder and publisher. The views expressed are not necessarily those of KCIL. Publication of an advertisement does not imply that approval has been given to goods and services. Printed by PDC Copyprint. © KCIL 2008.