INVOLVE ACTIVE

THE INVOLVE WORKSHOP WILL GIVE AN INSIGHT INTO THE ETHOS OF INVOLVE AND HOW OUR SERVICE PROVISION BREAKS DOWN BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION, ISOLATION AND LONELINESS.

W H A T I S I N V O L V E ’ S S E R V I C E O F F E R , H O W W E A R E L E D B Y T H E V O I C E O F O U R S E R V I C E U S E R S A N D W H A T W O R K S , T H E F U T U R E A N D B E Y O N D ! ! !

SO THE BEGINNING!

• BACKGROUND In December 2011 I

was made redundant from a project

that I had developed over five years

and the doors closed to the young

people of Lowestoft.

I felt that those young people did not

need to lose a service, so with over

30years of experience I took a gamble

and put a new service back on the

shelf!

And so.... Involve was born.

Involve started in April 2012 in response to a

questionnaire sent to parent/carers from the

Warren School in Lowestoft. The results

identified a demand for services for young

people with additional needs. Families

identified the following key services which they

felt were needed to support their young people.

Respite activities during school holidays

Afterschool activities

Support through the transition into world of

work

Services that developed independent living

skills

Social events for the whole family and social

opportunities for their young people

INVOLVE IS A NOT FOR PROFIT ORGANISATION THAT SUPPORTS YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES, AGED 5YRS UPWARDS ( AT PRESENT OUR OLDEST SERVICE USER IS 84). WE HAVE A PURPOSE BUILT INVOLVE CENTRE, BASED IN LOWESTOFT WHICH IS BEING USED BY OVER 70 SERVICE USERS AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO ARE SUPPORTED BY 12 STAFF, A BOARD OF 6 TRUSTEES AND TWO GUINEA PIGS!!! WE OFFER ACTIVITIES AND ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMMES WHICH DEVELOP LIFE SKILLS, PREPARE FOR THE WORLD OF WORK AND INCREASE SOCIAL AND COMMUNIT Y ENGAGEMENT.

We welcome people of all abilities

and offer support for daily needs

including personal care and

communication. Due to their

disabilities, including ADHD, Autism,

Global Delay, Sight / Hearing

impairment, Anxiety issues, limited

mobility and mild to moderate

learning disabilities, young people

often have limited access to services

that support social interaction and

independence, and their families find

it hard to maximise such

opportunities without help.

We encourage everyone to get

involved with INVOLVE, either by

volunteering, or accessing our

service as a service user or as a

young carer or sibling having time

out, or as a local community

member to help fund raise, as a

work experience student, or on a

work placement gaining new skills

and confidence.

Everyone is welcome to join our

INVOLVE family.

THE EARLY

DAYS

Involve started by delivering

respite activities in the summer

holidays, in church halls by myself

and a volunteer. After the success

of the first sessions, funding was

found from Activities unlimited to

run a pilot project called

STREETZALOUD.

Feedback was used to develop this

project and respite activities now

run 3 days a week for 5-25yr old.

T H E I N VO LV E

C E N T R E

After the first year it was soon

recognised that we needed a

base to grow INVOLVE from. It

was difficult to find a building

that was fit for purpose in an

area that suited our needs. So I

set about designing and

sourcing a modular build. Land

was secured and a company

found to build our centre.

Funded by Activities Unlimited

and Suffolk County Council

through a capital grant, the

INVOLVE Centre arrived.

O U R S E RV I C E

O F F E R

Aims to break down

barriers to participation,

isolation and loneliness.

All our activities and

programmes are service

user led, they are asked to

help develop new activity

ideas and funding is sourced

to develop their ideas and

aspirations.

MINDING THE GAP Minding The Gap is lottery and ESF funded

project that supports young people aged 16-

25yrs who are NEET or risk of NEET, to

develop employability skills and confidence

to enable increased understanding of the

world of work.

The café club funded by

Suffolk Community

Funding’s rural fund tackles

isolation and loneliness.

Each session brings

together volunteers and

service users through

sharing hobbies and crafts,

in a relaxed friendly

environment

Inspire is a full day of

activities for adults that

includes art and crafts

keeping active, cooking,

singing, gardening and

games. These sessions bring

people together increasing

social opportunities and

breaking down Isolation

and loneliness. Lots of

laughter and fun is had by

all.

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

After School Activities are offered so parent carers can have a full day at work. We pick up from schools and offer a wide selection of activities for young people to take part in. A healthy tea is available and the group all help and eat together. They get picked up at 6pm each evening.

Gameability, footability, bowlability bounceability and chillaxability.

THE VOICE OF OUR SERVICE USERS • The afterschool activities are all based around their

interests.

• Minding the Gap is tailored to individual aspirations building on interests and ideas for the future for the young people. One young girl wants to be a beautician so we set up a nail bar at Involve. One young man enjoys woodwork has built a bird table and now the group are making them to sell.

• They wanted to know how to mend and maintain a bike so they could have a safe means of transport. A mentor is now working with them on this.

• Learning to cook and life skills are embedded in all our sessions. A young man moving into independent living wanted to know how to wash his clothes and cook a meal for his family.

• Travel training and community engagement. We offer one to one in the community through Community buddies programme and young people and adults explore their community and local amenities, such as the gym, cinema local walks and cafes.

THE INVOLVE FAMILY EVERYONE IS WELCOME

We encourage everyone to get

involved with INVOLVE, either by

volunteering, or accessing our

service as a service user or as a

young carer or sibling having time

out, or as a local community member

to help fund raise, as a work

experience student, or on a work

placement gaining new skills and

confidence.

Everyone is welcome to join our

INVOLVE family

Volunteering and giving people the chance to be active

members of society and to be feel valued is key to what

makes INVOLVE work.

Our Volunteers have come from a wide range of referral

organisation. People who are feeling isolated and lonely

due to bereavement, mental illness, unemployment lack of

confidence and skills have all benefited from volunteering

with us, some have gone onto jobs and training. We have

also employed several people from our volunteers.

Aaron is one volunteer. This is his story.

THE PRESENT Involve has grown considerably since 2012, we now have 12 part time staff 10 volunteers, 6 Trustees and over 75 service uses.

• We offer sessions every day 10-6pm

• We have several community groups using our centre

• We are now delivering ASDAN courses to enable career progression

• We have regular social events, discos, quiz nights.

• We have developed the centre and have a vegetable plot, greenhouse and grassed area.

• We have a sensory garden and decking area with decking furniture that the young people have made from pallets.

• We have a workshop for woodwork and bike maintenance, a storage container that has been clad from pallets for all our resources.

• We have expanded our office space and now have a porta cabin with two offices.

• We have working partnerships with many organisations and are developing opportunities for our service users to be more active in the community.

• We recognise that the needs and aspirations of our service users are important. They want to be active members of their communities. They want to be able to work. They want to be included and part of a social network.

www.involve-active.co.uk