Deafscope: Breaking down barriers for the Deaf community

August 23, 2019August 23, 2019Becky Leave a comment

A couple of days ago, Deb, Helena and I met with the lovely people behind Deafscope, a brand new online Deaf community directory.

Set up by Ishtiaq and Kerry, BSL communicators with first-hand experiences of the barriers faced by the Deaf community, Deafscope aims to connect the community, break down barriers and highlight the amazing Deaf-friendly and Deaf-owned businesses around the West Midlands, the UK and eventually around the world.

Bringing together Deaf-friendly and Deaf-owned businesses, services and events in one place means people will be able to see how that business or service can communicate with them along with all the other features they need to see, their location, special offers, contact details and more.Businesses can add listings to the directory to feature products, services, images, social media and website links, special offers, an introduction to their brand and more. The reviews function is designed to build a trusted source of information about accessible businesses and services.

Here’s a great example of how the Deafscope website works:

It’s not only businesses that can feature their services on Deafscope. Deaf-owned or Deaf-friendly charities, voluntary groups, nonprofits and public services such as healthcare services, can register their services, events and activities free of charge. Ishtiaq and Kerry are really keen to get networked so that the website features a whole range of services that reduce the barriers that the Deaf community can face.

And it’s not only a website that lists services, but it can give people ideas. Deaf-owned and Deaf-friendly business can inspire others to set up similar things in their own areas; did you know there’s a Deaf Gym in Bradford? There are also plans for an app and to offer practical support to the Deaf community such as helping people find jobs, training people, nurturing Deaf-owned enterprise. On top of that, being based in Lye means they can offer space, training facilities and events locally!

We’ve helped them to start networking locally and they’ll be linking with the Dudley Deaf Focus Group which is supported by Healthwatch Dudley. Deafscope is also planning a Deaf Community Day for next month. To keep informed about Deafscope, follow on social media:

Facebook: Deafscope
Twitter: @deafscope
Website: deafscope.co.uk

Integrated Plus Service – evidencing the value of social prescribing for people living in Dudley borough

March 26, 2019April 2, 2019Kate 1 Comment

During late 2018, Dudley CVS appointed an external consultant, David Waterfall, to work alongside the team to collate and analyse data regarding the Integrated Plus social prescribing service, and to use this information to produce an evidence-led evaluation report.

Dudley CVS has been delivering a social prescribing service for the nearly 5 years. In early 2014, Dudley CVS with support from Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group (Dudley CCG), identified an opportunity to develop and deliver an innovative, flexible and complementary service called ‘Integrated Plus’.

The service was set up to trial a different approach to supporting people in their own homes to ensure the non-clinical needs of patients are taken into account at the GP-led Multi-Disciplinary Team meetings (MDTs) established in 2014. Integrated Plus offers 1-2-1 social prescribing support to patients aged 16 and over who are:

At high risk of hospital admission;
Frequently visiting their GP;
Vulnerable and in need on non-clinical, social support.

Key findings from the report:

2,720 out of 3,756 clients have connected with the service during September 2014 – August 2018.
In terms of a typical patient referral to Integrated Plus; 60% are aged 64 and over, 37% are aged between 24 – 63, 58% are female, 71% have no caring responsibility, 25% are referred due to feeling isolated, 17% because of a long term health condition and 16% due to feeling that they have mild to moderate depression. There is a high correlation between clients feeling isolated and feeling that they have mild to moderate depression.
94% of clients rate the service as 4 or 5 stars (out of 5), 96% consider Integrated Plus has had an impact on them (of which 28% consider this to be significant), and 79% feel that Integrated Plus has helped connect them to services and activities suitable to their needs.

Performance

Following Integrated Plus, client change for each of the seven core outcomes was:

Finance; an 81% reduction in those patients that were not managing, and also an increase of 48% for those who were managing. The greatest enhancement in an indicator was “I have enough money to meet basic needs”
Physical Health; an 82% reduction in those patients that were not managing, and also an increase of 29% for those who were managing. The greatest enhancement in an indicator was “I am managing long term conditions well”.
Mental Health; an 76% reduction in those patients that were not managing, and also an increase of 58% for those who were managing. The greatest enhancement in an indicator was “Feeling optimistic about the future”
Social Contact; an 80% reduction in those patients that were not managing, and also an increase of 35% for those who were managing. The greatest enhancement in an indicator was ““I regularly have face to face social contact with people who are not family members”
Housing; an 82% reduction in patients that were not managing, and also an increase of 24% for those who were managing. The greatest enhancement in an indicator was “I feel able to keep up with my rent”
Safety; an 83% reduction in those patients that were not managing, and also an increase of 24% for those who were managing. The greatest enhancement in an indicator was “I feel I have people I can contact”.
Learning; an 72% reduction in those patients that were not managing, and also an increase of 10% for those who were managing. The greatest enhancement in an indicator was “I feel happy in my retirement”

In broader terms, following the intervention 46% fewer clients report poor quality of life, and 45% fewer clients report poor wellbeing.

For hospital data, there are significant reductions in A&E attendance after Integrated Plus with a 14% reduction after 6 months, increasing to a 17% reduction after 12 months. Regarding inpatient admissions, after Integrated Plus there is a 14% reduction after 6 months, increasing to a 15% reduction after 12 months. In terms of hospital cost avoidance, data shows £751,400 for reductions in Inpatients, and £58,305 in reduced A&E admissions; totaling £809,705
For GP data, of the 43 surgeries engaged; 34 had a decrease in surgery consultations, 21 had a decrease in telephone consultations, and 26 had a decrease in home visits. In terms of GP cost avoidance, data shows £73,115 in fewer GP Consultations, and £16,400 for fewer GP Home Visits; totaling £89,915. The surgery with the greatest extent of cost avoidance was Wychbury Medical Centre/Cradley Road Medical Practice, with a cost avoidance of £11,135 (from 306 referrals, of which 189 supported)
Through surveying of GPs, 100% of surgeries rated Integrated Plus as good or excellent, and 89% felt that the Link Officers added value to the current Multi-Disciplinary Team meetings. All surgeries agreed that Integrated Plus had helped to reduce inappropriate GP consultations, and most surgeries felt that “Reduces isolation and loneliness” was a key benefit for patients. Wider benefits included, “Our main Link Officer has an excellent rapport with our patients, nothing is too much trouble for him and he is literally only a phone call away. He attends all MTD meetings and has good input from the patients he sees.”

For more information you can read the full report here:

For more information, please contact Kate Green. Tel: 01384 573381.

Email: buildingblocks@dudleycvs.org.uk

The Big Lottery Fund invests in CoLab Dudley

December 8, 2018Lorna Prescott 1 Comment

We have good news. The Big Lottery Fund has agreed to invest in our Colab Dudley work. CoLab Dudley is a social lab in Dudley town centre which has developed through work led by Dudley CVS over the last eight years, and has been made possible through a collaboration with Gather Dudley CIC and UnLtd.

The investment from the Big Lottery Fund means that we can continue to build a platform of trust in the town, one which makes it easier for people to grow and maintain fruitful relationships.

The money will help us over the next three years: in part with resources, but also it gives us a boost to know that Big Lottery appreciates this way of working.

We’ve been talking to the Lottery team for nearly a year. The funding is not for us to provide services but to support the skills, approach, ideas, space and lab team that help connect people in Dudley.

Emergent Cultures

For the last two years, CoLab Dudley has been experimenting and making that case to build this platform, starting in the town centre. Together we make it easier for people in Dudley to create, share, make, do and learn things together.

This means that at the heart of our work is relationships. The friendships formed when care is taken to welcome everyone. The pleasure people experience in passing on knowledge and practical skills to others. Connections between local creatives who make, perform, exhibit and trade spaces which are open to all. Support and encouragement shared between emerging and established social entrepreneurs making change in the same town. Our powerful relationships with place and the natural world. A collective sense of possibility nurtured when we turn ideas into experiments and learn together.

In the last year CoLab has helped with: Trade Schools, Crafternoons, Make Fest, Do Fest, Edible Dudley and many other ways in which people come together. It takes time, effort, ideas and persistence and helps people shape their lives in many ways, as the audio clip below highlights.

These are some of the elements of the platform:

Place and Spaces: We create access to all kinds of spaces and support for people to connect, collaborate, test and incubate activities, projects and social enterprises. Our focus is currently on the High Street and St Thomas Quarter.

Inspiration and innovation: The lab draws on and shares inspiration from anywhere where people are collaborating and sharing to create social good. The inspiration acts as a curio and a catalyst for people who want to try something new or change things around them and their family or friends.

Design and Detectorism: The platform approach brings together two very conscious ways or working: we use simple design methods to help people explore what they want to do and test and experiment with their ideas. We also encourage people to actively watch what is happening, record it and learn from that, a method we call this detectorism.

Network Weaving: The spaces and the things people do together help create relationships. In the lab we also deliberately think about networks of people and consciously connect people up.

You can follow progress with our lab experiments and interact with our research through the CoLab Dudley publication on Medium.

How many expectations? or 7 years of Social Media Surgeries in Dudley Borough (part one)

January 22, 2018January 22, 2018Nick Booth 1 Comment

There have been social media surgeries in Dudley for more than 7 years.

Since Melissa Guest organised the first on Dec 8th 2010 a varied group of volunteers have run 65 different events in Dudley, Halesowen, Stourbridge and Brierley Hill. We really didn’t expect this, in fact we expected pretty much nil, nada.

327 of you have signed up for some sort of help, and we’ve recorded 45 website and social media sites we’ve helped you set up and run. (although we reckon it’s much more than that).A network of committed people have run social media surgeries in Dudley, Stourbridge, Halesowen and Brierley Hill. We even made the news.

These posts are a chance to look at three things…

What is a surgery and how does it fit in with other support for community groups in Dudley and..
What you make of the format – the way of working
What some of you have gone on to do, resting on the skills and confidence you’ve picked up through the surgeries

So lets start with the first…..

Alison Mel and Becky at a social media surgery in Dudley

What are they?

A social media surgery is deliberately informal.

It’s a place and a time where people with some experience of using social media can sit alongside local community groups, volunteers and charities and help them make better use of the web. These places are deliberately relaxed, typically a cafe, where you can talk and think and explore and learn together, and say thank you by buying the person who helped you a quick cuppa.
It’s the opposite of training. You don’t get lectured at. Instead someone will ask you what you are trying to achieve, listen to how you already use the internet and offer suggestions. If something appeals to you you can dig deeper, together. And it is practical. People will help you set things up, there and then, wwhether on facebook, twitter, a new website.
A social media surgery is a loop of generosity. The surgeries are much more than an expert volunteer surgeon supporting a local community group. They recognise that helping each other can be far more rewarding than passively receiving help. Whether you think you’ve come to learn or to teach everyone tends to end up sharing what they know with each other. This is a intentioanl, it’s the loop of generosity.
They shrug off key performance indicators and unrealistic aspirations. Surgeries are run with zero expectations. They are built on a principle that expectations often lead to disappointment. If you think 20 people ought to come, but ‘only’ 10 do then you end up demoralised. You may even give up. Zero expectations means that even if one person is helped that’s a win, 10 turning up is a spirit-lifting-humdinger-of-a-fantastic-thing. By taking this approach they are more fun to do, so more likely to be there, so better able to help.
A social media surgery is a platform. By providing a space for people to share skills the surgeries underpin so much other work. They help boost the flow of civic information within a neighbourhood and across the internet. This can be about local services, activities, events, campaigns. It can be information from the third sector or the public sector. It can also be the possibilities tied up in relationships people nurture through being able to share and support each other online. It can also be the unexpected happenings that spring up because people get to be in the same space and learn together. All this nurtures connections and grows the civic conversation online. Upon those connections and those conversations can rest a more vibrant, richer place to live.

The surgeries are run by a group of committed people, some may happen to work for the CVS, but the surgeries sit in a wider movement of people who simply want to share digital skills, for free, with local active citizens.

For your next social media surgery please look at www.socialmediasurgery.com.

Building kinder communities in Netherton

January 18, 2018Becky 2 Comments

I’m really pleased that one of the small charities that Dudley CVS has supported has been awarded funding from one of Dudley Council’s Community Forums (Netherton, Woodside and St. Andrews and Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood Community Forum) to set up a pilot project to help people build important social connections where they live.

Members of Netherton Regeneration Group, which we supported to gain charity status, had this to say about their plans:

Netherton Regeneration Group is setting up a pilot in the Darby End area to train volunteers to help lonely people to get out and about. We are setting up a network of street champions and lots of interesting and healthy activities open to all comers. We want to help people who are not able to get out easily, have lost touch with friends, need something to get them moving, get help with health problems, find out about healthy foods and exercise, but mainly to have some fun!

We have been awarded £2,300 from the Community Forum and hope to win some more funds through DMBC’s Innovation Fund for the Voluntary Sector.

Our idea is simple!

We will create a regular support group, to help people become more active and less isolated. People will be offered lots of fun activities including:

cooking food together

having a cup of tea and a chat

making new friends

learning to grow plants and vegetables

cooking easy, healthy meals and sharing them

taking part in healthy walks

arts and crafts activities

playing games and having a good time!

practical community work to make Netherton a better place to live and work

setting up a patients’ garden in the Health Centre courtyard over the next year! Instead of looking at weeds, we will be able to see fresh flowers and herbs that we have grown!! Funds are being provided from the Health Centre’s Patient Participation Group Purse to set up the garden.

Volunteers are needed now!

We will be training ten volunteers to help us run the programme and they will get free First Aid and Food Hygiene courses provided.

If you’re interested in helping to make any of this happen, please contact us using our Facebook page and letting us know what kinds of things you’d like to help with.

A couple of local volunteers working with our Trustee, Chris, to tidy up Joe Darby’s statue in Netherton Centre last summer.

There’s been a marked increase recently in conversations around social connectedness and how that builds individual and communal resilience, combating loneliness and isolation. At national level the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness and its #Happytochat campaign, research done by Carnegie Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the place of kindness in communities and yesterday’s creation of a ministerial post on loneliness all point to a rising understanding that belonging and social connectedness are crucial for health, wellbeing and prosperity. The Chief Executive of NCVO (National Council of Voluntary Organisations), Sir Stuart Ethertington has also made a strong statement of our sector’s central role in building a sense of belonging and connectedness.

More locally, these messages have been repeated:

Last year that Dudley borough’s councillors supported Cllr Jackie Cowell’s motion to tackle loneliness and isolation
At our AGM last year, our Chief Officer Andy Gray referred to the Carnegie Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s research on kindness and how that chimed with our own work within Dudley borough’s communities (skip to the 14:30 if you don’t have time to watch the whole video!)
Public Health in collaboration with other partners is also leading work around loneliness and isolation, commissioning the Ideas Alliance to work with communities to explore how people can be supported, how things could be different in the future and opportunities for working in collaboration. There’s an event on this work specifically for voluntary and community organisations on 31st January
CoLab Dudley team members have been doing and inviting people from all walks of life to get involved in all sorts of practical projects which build and strengthen connections. The team will be releasing a full report on its work very soon.

I’m really pleased that Netherton Regeneration Group is thinking about how its members can help people to get involved with building kinder communities and I like that there are lots of different opportunities to participate.

I’m sure there are lots of other ways people are building links with each other across Dudley borough, whether that’s on an individual level or through a group or charity. If you’re inspired to get involved, get in touch with Netherton Regeneration Group through its Facebook page or get in touch with us if you want to be linked to people doing good things somewhere else in Dudley borough.

Nurturing caring, vibrant and caring communities – A snapshot of our story over the last year

October 11, 2017February 2, 2023Helena 1 Comment

We are really pleased to share the work that our Dudley CVS team have been doing over the past year in our most recent annual review. The 2016-17 review is a snapshot of the work we’ve done between April 2016 and March 2017 to support individuals, communities and organisations across Dudley borough.

Take a look at our annual review website and read about how we’ve been connecting and inspiring people and organisations to achieve positive change and championing their work.

Or, if you would like to read a short snapshot of our story, you can download our pdf version by clicking on the image below:

I hope you enjoy learning about the work we’ve been doing over the past year. If you’ve any feedback please feel free to leave a comment!

Be part of our collective story and share how you’ve been involved in our work or how you would like to get more involved! #dcvstory

Reflections from DoFest Dudley

March 20, 2017Becky 2 Comments

Last Monday-Wednesday I took part in DoFest Dudley, an inspiring festival of doing and creating.

The festival was packed with activities to get people thinking about the skills, resources and passions that they can share to bring vibrancy and real wealth to their communities; from learning labs, lightning talks, bartering skills and knowledge to making things together. It was infectious! In fact, I’d only booked for Monday’s activities and ended up joining in for parts of Tuesday and Wednesday, such was the contagion!

I saw lots of smiling and sharing, people supporting each other and having a go. A bunch of us put together a wiki wendy house, a fun, exhilarating (and noisy!) activity that demonstrated how open source design can help provide solutions to housing (visit DemoDev for more). We quickly organised ourselves and shared hammering duties to create a cosy little space in Gather Dudley.

It was lovely to join the Coseley Crafternoon session, where we made cards. I’ve never been particularly crafty, so it was good to be gently helped with ideas and suggestions from someone who’s an expert. In fact, I found that dynamic to be analogous across the whole three days – one moment someone was learning a skill, the next, they were sharing it with others.

For me, all of this culminated in Pam Warhurst’s wonderful and provoking talk at the DoFest Dudley Summit about the power of small actions, of getting on and doing things without waiting for money, without complaining about the status quo or waiting for someone else to do something (incredibleediblenetwork.org.uk). This was really powerful stuff, demonstrating a clear link between growing free food for all and resilient communities and wider system change; and I’m sure many of us in the room were inspired to do more in our neighbourhoods. Thanks to Anneka Deva and Andrew Lightheart for getting me along to this!

Since DoFest (and at times during it), I’ve been thinking increasingly about how I can relate this to my work supporting groups, and I’d love to have more conversations about how we can encourage and nurture this kind of activity. In some ways, perhaps I have already started: I often say to groups ‘Let’s imagine there is no funding’ because traditional funding can encourage deficit thinking (needs, gaps, insufficiency of something), competition. Funding can create dependency in some cases, and what happens when the grant comes to an end? It also creates bureaucracies and red tape that could be avoided when all sorts of people come together to make something happen – whether it’s someone with a bit of space going spare, skills, knowledge or equipment. The Incredible Edible movement didn’t begin with a need for funding. Instead it began with people and their willingness.

Of course, some things do need to be paid for. But through starting something lean that’s free to do, making the most of what’s already there, perhaps you could start to make a demonstrable difference and create an impact that will resonate with people, maybe even people with money!

DoFest Dudley has certainly given me lots to think about! Please feel free to share your thoughts with me too.