Midland Mencap’s Family Carers Information Service & Carers Emergency Response Team are pleased to be developing a partnership with the new Rare Disease Centre at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Last thursday we handed over a collection of baby clothes and baby quilts for the Neo-natal Surgical Ward and Rare Disease Centre. These Baby clothes were kindly donated by Boots Mini Club (Birmingham St Andrews Store)and quilts donated by Project Linus UK.

These were handed over by Georgina Gabriel of Midland Mencap’s Family Carers Information Service to Sister Janet Greenley Turberville of Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Rare Disease Centre.

The new centre is a first in Europe and staff from both teams have been working closely with the team at BCH to develop a connection to support families with information, advice and guidance on a range of issues, provide access to short break opportunities and emergency back-up support is amongst the support on offer.

Everyone is exited to develop this partnership throughout 2017 and beyond.

Find out more about the Birmingham Childrens Hospital here

Or find out more about the Family Carers here

This morning thirty people from Midland Mencap took part in a litter pick on Weoley Castle near to our Community Hub in Bottetourt Road. The litter pick was organised to support Birmingham City Council’s #CleanerBrum initiative which encourages local citizens to help the Council by clearing litter and rubbish in their neighbourhood.

Taking part in the litter pick is just one activity from Midland Mencap’s April campaign which is all about promoting good well-being. We wanted to encourage people to think about and better understand that living in safe, clean environments is a very important part of good well-being. We also wanted people with a learning disability to have an opportunity to participate as active citizens within the communities where they live making a positive difference to community life. Everyone who took part saw this as a great opportunity to do something positive for their community, help improve the environment, work together as a team and feel good about what had been achieved.

So armed with litter grabbers, gloves and bin bags we enthusiastically set off in three teams to clear the immediate vicinity of Bottetourt Road. After just one hour we had filled an incredible thirty five refuse sacks of litter which included tin cans, bottles, fast food packaging and some oddities such as boxing gloves, children’s toys and bicycle tyres. We also cleared household refuse and furniture that had been fly-tipped.

By the end of the litter pick we could really notice the difference that had been made but nearly everyone was shocked by the amount of litter collected from a relatively small area. With that in mind nearly everyone said they would like to make the litter pick a regular event to try to keep on top of the litter problem. When we were clearing away a local neighbour came and thanked us for trying to make a difference which was a lovely way for our thirty volunteers to round off a great community activity.

As a consequence of austerity cuts more and more people with a learning disability are becoming socially isolated and risk becoming excluded from society. At Midland Mencap our support services seek to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to be included, to be an active citizen, and enjoy good health and well-being.

Learn more in this BBC article

Mary Hunt uses our Sitting Service. Mary is unable to go out alone, as her anxiety causes her to suffer from panic attacks. When Mary steps outside her door, she likes to be greeted with a friendly face. Mary holds onto the support workers arm for reassurance, when they arrive, but gradually walks around alone, with the support of her walking stick.

Mary is gaining confidence with every visit and is building her confidence to access the community. Mary has been supported to Birmingham Registry Office to obtain a copy of her Birth Certificate, which she lost many years ago. She was supported to complete the relevant forms and is really pleased that she now has her birth certificate to use as ID.

We have also supported Mary to attend her appointments at the Q.E. Hospital. Mary had previously tried to go alone and when she arrived at the hospital she could not face going into the hospital alone, turned around and got straight back into the same taxi. With our support Mary has successfully attended her appointment thus improving her health and well-being.

We halve also supported Mary to travel to Kings Heath to open a bank account so that she can pay her bills easier.

With our support to promote and encourage her confidence and independence Mary know likes to have a chat and a coffee in a café. She also likes to sit in the park and have her lunch and loves to go out looking around the charity shops.

Mary likes using our service, she feels “ It’s good to have someone with me for support and reassurance”, her confidence has increased and she feels more able to access the community on her own.