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.

The consequences of cuts to services often go way beyond the obvious, and have devastating affects on families. The loss of community prevention services in Birmingham will only make things worse in the future. That is why Midland Mencap continue to say #SaveOurSupport

Learn More in this BBC article

We recently attended a disability equality event with Birmingham MP for Yardley Jess Phillips. We joined with Jess in saying to the Government unfair and unjust #NoPIPcuts. At Midland Mencap we remain totally opposed to any cuts in services or welfare benefits that undermine the health, well-being and right to a life for people with a learning disability and all vulnerable citizens affected.

Find out more on the twitter hashtag #NoPIPcuts

There are major problems in funding, recruitment and the capacity of care providers to make ends meet, more evidence that the chronic under-funding of social care will only rebound on vulnerable citizens and good providers, we’re no longer shaping a market, we’re watching it implode.

Read more in this BBC article

Birmingham City Council would like to encourage parents and carers to complete this questionnaire for your children. Your views and feedback are essential to finding new ways to shape and plan future Short Breaks services. The closing date to complete this questionnaire is Thursday 13th April 2017, please find the questionnaire below and have your say!

Short Breaks Questionnaire PDF
Short Breaks Questionnaire Word Document

RETURNING THE QUESTIONNAIRE:

PAPER COPIES:
PLEASE COMPLETE AND RETURN TO YOUR DISTRIBUTOR / PROVIDER.

ELECTRONIC COPIES:
RETURN YOUR COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE TO THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ADDRESS:
debbie.harmitt@birmingham.gov.uk

Midland Mencap can help with all kinds of housing issues, from finding the right place to live to ensuring you get the right care and support to meet your daily needs. For more info contact 0121 442 2944 or email info@midlandmencap.org.uk

Guardian article on disability housing

Midland Mencap Response to How Budget Cuts Will Affect Services in Birmingham

Last Tuesday BCC confirmed its budget for 2017/18. As you may know Midland Mencap has been extremely active in the #saveoursupport campaign arguing there should be no cuts to vital support services to vulnerable citizens. Though the Council say they listened to the campaign they still voted through £5m of cuts to the Supporting People programme and Third Sector grant funded services. In 2017/18 they need to cut £3.2m from these budgets with the remaining £1.8m the following year.

Last Friday we were informed by the Council as to how these cuts will be applied. As of 30th September 2017 all Third Sector Grant funded services in Birmingham will be decommissioned. The Council have said these are non-statutory services and therefore they are not legally obliged to fund them. This will ‘save’ the Council £2.4m per annum. The remaining cuts in 2017/18 are expected to be a combination of efficiency savings, claw-back of under utilised SP grant, savings from non-commissioned services & some further decommissioning. Starting on Friday 10th March the Council will commence a 60 day consultation which we, and the #saveoursupport campaign, will actively contribute to. We would urge all those affected by the cuts to complete the consultation which will be on the Council’s website on the Be Heard page, the Council need to hear how these cuts will affect individuals and family careers.

We want to reassure everyone who uses a Midland Mencap service that though this is a devastating decision for vulnerable people in Birmingham we have been working on our plans in anticipation of this decision. All of our existing services will continue to run as they are for now as we look at different ways of ensuring people retain access to vital support.

We will keep everyone updated over the coming months about services, where they are, and how you can use them. Keep in touch with our Facebook page and website, midlandmencap.org.uk, for all the details

Thank you

Dispatches, Under lock and Key:

Following last nights screening of Under Lock and Key we think it’s very important to say things can be different. We absolutely believe that person and family centred approaches to housing, care and support can deliver high quality local outcomes that mean individuals do not need to be in hospitals, alone and separated from their family. We will continue to pursue with commissioners from both the NHS and Social Care opportunities to devise and deliver, in partnership with families, better outcomes for everyone. Millions of pounds per annum could be reinvested in this approach that would offer the individual dignity and choice and save stressed statutory budgets a small fortune over years to come.

To see how we already know things can be different watch the video on our website