Review of 2005

In the usual Chainreaction manner, Alan was presented with a card, cake and a photo book. The group enjoyed the day Alan spent with them. Nicole was treated to a buffet lunch, cake, card and photo book.

During the summer, participants organised trips out. Many decided to go somewhere local; the cricketers for lunch or a drink, or to go shopping. Some decided to venture to the beach. There was a trip to Legoland in Windsor. From the photo’s they bought back they seemed to have had a wonderful time.

Chainreaction continue to work around the centre, undertaking various tasks including working in the shop and maintaining the garden.

Chainreaction’s primary task is to promote independence, choice and control. Staff here support participants to do this and work with and along side participants to fulfil goals each person has set themselves. Identifiable in choice of trips, working in the centre, accessing the local community, using public transport and undertaking personal journeys. Participants have access to computers and the Internet and often spend time researching topics of interest, with or with out support.

An exciting and at times challenging year and one that our participants tell us was successful for them. We saw Chainreaction at West Berkshire achieving the vision we had at the outset with our participants settled into their service and increasing numbers of them moving on to other opportunities.

We have demonstrated that Chainreaction in the Community is working in West Berkshire and developing this will be our key objective in the coming year. We continue to work with our purchasers through our contract and relationship management as well as our partnership working. This year presents us with the exciting prospect of establishing our independence and taking the next step in our development.

This year we have established our service in the community with our Monday group basing their session usually at Turnhams Farm, a Tilehurst Parish Council building, and occasionally at the RISC building in central Reading. An exciting development is our relationship with the Emmanuel Methodist Church. We are currently using their new Church for our Wednesday Chainreaction group and I intend we further extend this and use the building for our Friday group as well. We are on course to have three days Chainreaction in the community by July this year.

The Church have been very supportive towards us and have made it clear they are seeking strategic relationships to share their Church which is located in a diverse community on the Oxford Road in Reading. The location is well served by public transport that runs through the heart of our participants communities, this is an accessible location with excellent facilities. Close by is Reading Adult Community College another organisation with whom we have a supportive relationship, there is a library, shops and much more on the doorstep. We have synergy with the various organisations and communities in this area, which presents real opportunity.

We continue to use activities to provide opportunities for new experiences and personal development. This year we have tried canoeing with Adventure Dolphin on the Thames at Pangbourne and sailing with Burghfield Sailing Club at their lake. Our participants organised themselves to again compete in the Cantley Manor football tournament and the athletic tournament at the John Nike stadium, Bracknell.

Our participants continue to identify and take opportunities for personal development. This year the number of day sessions we delivered at West Berkshire reduced by 18%. This reduction is a result of a third of our participants moving onto supported employment opportunities mainly through the Link-Up project based at Newbury where seven of our participants attend various sessions. We also have a participant increasing his work with a Reading based Christian community service. Another volunteer has left our service to move into voluntary employment.

Nearly half of our participants have started their own Person Centred Plan, the rollout of this opportunity has been one of our objectives for the year.

The Service User committee has met regularly throughout the year supported by Stefani Dent and Sue Pigott. This forum along with our Quality Standards review has given voice to our participants and enabled them to influence and have input into the shape and direction of our service as well as providing a shared learning experience for participants and staff.

Following the successful application for money from the Local Heritage Initiative Lottery Fund, the group have continued to progress with the project, ‘photographing Tilehurst at the beginning of the new millennium’. They have completed taking and processing the photographs and have managed to transfer these onto the computers, which were purchased with grant money.

They have also been using a video camera to record interviews with local people. These are being edited and will form part of a presentation they are putting together for display to relevant groups in the local community.

This is in addition to the work involving editing the photographs and producing a book in draft format. They have enlisted the services of a specialist to help them to do this.

2005 Review Chainreaction in Town

Participants both enjoy and benefit from having their own specific goals and individual activities, which build confidence and self esteem and as a staff team we have this year concentrated on developing our one to one work with participants. Each key worker now takes responsibility with participants to schedule regular one to one sessions and more recently our support worker has been working with individuals on specific aspects of their personal development which is directly related to their identified goals.

Participants also love and benefit enormously from the opportunity of doing group activities. Morning group has in the last year become an established and important part of the Chainreaction day.

Initially participants ‘drifted’ in, not recognising the importance of commitment and continuity in relation to morning group. We experimented with various times and other ideas, which might promote the use of group. However, it was the combination of the Trainee Facilitators commencing their IGA training and gaining greater insight into the ‘meaning’ of group, changing the session times to 11 to 12 noon and also empowering participants to express their “displeasure” to those who persistently came late, which has enabled participants to value and actively take part in morning group.

It is now a valued space where participants can talk openly about their feelings and the issues which impact of their daily lives. We have seen the tangible evidence of the group process developing communication skills, with participants far more able to advocate for themselves as well as seeing how this safe forum provides for the exploration of feelings related to the individual’s experience of disability. There have also been tangible outcomes with participants feeling confident to attend and contribute to the Organisations Service User Forum and also one participant has taken up Chairing the local committee.

As well as morning group staff continue to support participants in organising various group activities and trips. These have included; trips to the cinema, an Arts Workshop (subsequently individual pieces of work were displayed in an exhibition), museum trip, a visit to Brighton, various shopping trips and eating out, as well as visits to both West Berkshire and Kingsley, the latter to attend a fundraising BBQ. We all like to go out with our friends and have a good time and participants are no different therefore these outings and trips are a significant part of their daily lives.