Work that we are involved with includes:
Person-Centred Planning facilitation and Individual Support, including working with people with high support needs and people living with older family carers.
Self-Directed Support – training, awareness-raising and support – including our own Direct Payments Team.
Speaking Up (Self-Advocacy) Groups and support about rights and independence. Groups in Deal, Faversham and Folkestone, Dover, Sheppey, Sittingbourne and Margate.
We support people at the Drop-In in Margate. We are also taking the lead with East Kent Mencap to support people to set up a new resource/social enterprise in Ramsgate.
Oasis (Social) Club in Canterbury.
District Partnership Group Support – we support 5 districts: Thanet, Canterbury, Swale, Dover and Shepway. Support to people with a learning difficulty to be involved in the Kent Partnership Board for People with a Learning Disability.
Independent Living Skills and support with housing options.
Group learning – this includes Skillnet Group courses (including courses developed by people with a learning difficulty that are accredited with the Open College Network) and ASDAN (in partnership with Canterbury and Thanet Colleges).
New courses have started in Dover – Media Studies and Music Production. These also started in Canterbury in September. People are also working on a Performing Arts course.
We are developing a new Meeting Place and Community Café in Sittingbourne. We are working with the Labour Party, Kent County Council, Swale Borough Council, Kent Police, Swale Council for Voluntary Service (CVS), AmicusHorizon and other local organisations and community groups.
Paid Work Opportunities for people with a learning difficulty within the Skillnet Group - Research, Consultancy, Training, Support, Music and Arts and Publicity.
Support to find and move into work – in partnership with Kent Supported Employment (as well as other supported employment agencies).
Eco-Shed – a Recycling Project and emerging Social Firm – in partnership with the AmicusHorizon Group.
Music and Arts Project – an emerging social firm and travelling company focusing on DJing, events, performing arts and live performances:
- Supporting the development of ‘Fearless Photography’ – a new social firm. People were recently part of a mainstream art exhibition at Bankside Gallery in London.
We have just had a new recording studio built in Canterbury. This will be run by the Skillnet Group as community resource.- People staged a musical (25th November) at the Theatre Royal.
- Working with Shepway District Council to develop their play strategy and make sure disabled children are involved.
- Working with Kent Youth Theatre to develop workshops for young people in Canterbury.
Consultancy, Research and Training including:
- A secondment to the Valuing People Support Team (to develop a Jobs Action Network for the South East Region).
- Taking the lead for developing some of the Valuing People (Now) Focus and Implementation Groups in Kent.
A national project (in partnership with KeyRing and the Prison Reform Trust) commissioned by the Department of Health to develop training about learning disability for prison officers and other staff in the criminal justice system.- We are part of the South East Getting a Life Project Board.
- Tube Training – commissioned by Transport for London to provide 2 pilot training sessions for people with a learning difficulty and an evaluation of the project
- Providing work placements for social work students for Canterbury Christ Church University.
- We hold the contract to provide all the training around person-centred planning as part of the Learning Disability Qualification for Kent. This is being co-ordinated by South Kent College.
- Research about people that have used acute mental health services.
- Making information easy to understand – we are regularly commissioned to do this work by various organisations and are developing this as a social firm.
