Dave Norman. Skills for People.
. 075 00 822 134. Sam Clark. Inclusion North samantha@
North East Learning Disability Partnership
Could you be the Self-Advocate Co - Chair? The Partnership is looking for a new SelfAdvocate Co-Chair This papers tells you about the Partnership and what the Co-Chair does If you are interested in being the new Co-Chair you need to get in touch with Dave Norman You can see how to contact Dave at the end of this paper The regional forum for people with learning disabilities will have an election to decide who does the job at their meeting on 11th December About the Learning Disability Partnership The Partnership’s job is to make sure that people with learning disabilities and the Valuing People Now targets are included in all the changes happening in health and social care in local areas and across the North East.
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What the Partnership aims to do To come together to make our voice as strong as possible as things change and to influence people who are involved in making the changes happen To make sure people with learning disabilities and their families get good information about what is changing in how health and social care services work To share good ideas and ways of working on making Valuing People Now happen To offer help and ideas to people setting up new ways of working on what is important to people with learning disabilities and good ways to include people To help people from Partnership Boards work out how Partnership Boards can work in the new structure To offer ideas and advice to regional groups like the learning disabilities health network and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services To help people and groups develop peer support and peer review. This means working together to help solve problems, share ideas and check on how things are going for each other. The Partnership has rules on how we work. You can see these rules on the web page Inclusion North supports the Partnership but it does not control what it does – the members of the Partnership do that
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What the Co- Chair does The rules say that the Partnership will have 2 Co- Chairs - Someone from the Directors of Social Services - Someone who is a self-advocate The Co-Chairs’ job includes: Planning what will happen at the meetings This means meeting to talk about what needs to happen at the meeting and plan the agenda
Helping the Partnership work well at meetings and in between This means Working in partnership with the other Co-Chair Co-Chairing the meetings with the other Co-Chair Checking the Partnership is doing the work it should Helping all the people at the meetings have their say and share their skills and ideas Making sure people know about the Partnership and its work This means Telling people you meet or work with about the Partnership and it’s work Following the Partnership’s rules in how you act How much time this takes The Partnership usually meets 4 times a year There is usually a short meeting to get ready before the big Partnership meeting 3
What kind of person we are looking for These are the skills or experience we think you need to be the new Self-Advocate Co-Chair
What you need to have done before Lots of experience of leading or chairing of a Partnership Board or other decision making or speak up groups Experience of being a rep for another group or board About you Someone who lives in the North East Person who thinks of themselves as having a learning disability or learning difficulty Someone who is comfortable to speak up about what they believe in What you need to know about Know about Valuing People Now or other important government policies Know about good ways of working that help people with learning disabilities and their families have more control What support you get as the Co-Chair You can all claim expenses for any travel or costs you have when you are going to the meetings as a Co-Chair You can get help to get ready for meetings or understand your role The new Co-Chair will work with Sharon who is the CoChair now – she will help you learn the role
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What to do if you are interested If you would like to the Co-Chair of the Partnership you need to tell Dave Norman Dave is the person who supports the regional forum There will be an election at the regional forum on 11th December You will need to go to that meeting for the election
You can find out more from Dave Norman Skills for People
[email protected] 075 00 822 134
Sam Clark Inclusion North
[email protected] 0113 262 6409
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