Also Penderels Trust, who do have offices in Coventry:

http://www.eiro.co.uk/ptnew/index.htm

Sue Green

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Bryan Coleman
Sent: 26 April 2006 09:59
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 'care standards'


Hello. It might be useful to mention that there are organisations out there to assist disabled people who want to use direct payments. Obviously, it is preferable for disabled students to gain this independence as soon as possible.
The Rowan Organisation is one example. They have offices in Solihull, so may be able to point your students in the direction of a similar service in Coventry. This is their website: http://www.therowan.org/first.htm

Thanks,

Bryan
Univ of Manchester

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Faye Langston
Sent: 26 April 2006 09:42
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 'care standards'

Ian

I fully agree with what you are saying, but unfortunately there are some
of us who are dealing with what is the reality for many students; lack
of understanding and funding from social services, and so volunteer
schemes are there and needed. There are many volunteers working in the
community with individuals for the same reason.

Our students choose to use the volunteer scheme we have rather than
having to arrange PA's themselevs as they often do not feel they have
the skills to manage this on top of their studies and general student
lives. Our volunteers provide support through the vacations, and some
students choose to use volunteers after graduating as they are often of
a similar age and background which makes it easier for them to discuss
their intimate care needs.

Whilst what you say is very valid we should not underestimate the need
for volunteers nor the valuable contribution they make.

Faye Langston
Disabilities Co-ordinator

Coventry University

[log in to unmask]
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ian F.
Sent: 26 April 2006 03:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 'care standards'

Hi
I'm sorry to go on about this, but I think it's important. Students who
need 
help with personal care and haven't had an assessment with a social
worker, 
maybe because their parents have always provided this support in the
past, 
are precisely the ones who should be encouraged to arrange an assessment
of 
their care needs with social services as soon as they start to think
about 
applying to university.

It doesn't matter whether social services are worried about how much it
will 
cost (and don't forget students might be entitled to receive direct
payments 
so they can recruit their own 'pa'). The point is that the student lives
as 
independently as possible, makes choices about who provides assistance
with 
personal care on their own terms and can ensure this support is
available to 
them irrespective of whether they are studying or not.

CSVs often provide invaluable assistance with tasks related to
participating 
in higher education, but a student who has specialist personal care 
requirements should not have to rely on a CSV for this support. Never
mind 
the fact that it might be embarrassing to ask an untrained CSV to
provide 
intimate care support. Will this support be available to the student
during 
vacation periods if he or she doesn't want to go back to the parents?
Will 
it be available if the student decides to move in with friends off
campus? 
Will it be available if he/she decides to drop out, take a few months
out 
and start a new course next year?

Ian Francis.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Faye Langston" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 11:51 AM
Subject: Re: 'care standards'


Hi all

There are also issues about the funding available - if students have
come from home where parents have been the main carers then social
servcies are simply not used to paying out the amount required for
'pa's' and so often volunteers are the only option to ensure access to
the entirety of student life on the funding social services will agree!

What I am looking for is any University's who currently have volunteers
or CSV's who they train and support to support their students, and then
what they have done around care standards and the impact this may have
on what tasks volunteers do and therefore which students attend
University as the possible impact that re-defining what volunteers can
do is huge.

Best wishes

Faye Langston
Disability Co-ordinator
Coventry University

[log in to unmask]


-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of KC Thomas, Centre for
Access and Communication Studies
Sent: 25 April 2006 10:33
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 'care standards'

Nevertheless training is appropriate and necessary, for the benefit of
all
parties and there is nowhere near enough of it, partly I'm sure because
this work is all too frequently performed by 'volunteers' and also
because
of an assumption that 'care' work is intuitive rather than a
professional
role.  The care standards do offer some useful guidelines but the
emphasis
is all too often on 'doing to' rather than enabling the client.
Kate

--On 25 April 2006 10:12 +0100 "Ernst Trustram, Rosie"
<[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> I would agree that volunteers should not be relied on to provide
> acomprehensive service which is the responsibility of social services.
> However I don't think you can assume that volunteers would not provide
> as good a service as somebody who is employed by social services. It
> is possible for somebody without any training at all to get a
> (paid)job which involves giving imtimate personal care and
> administering medication.
> Rosie Trustram
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ian F.
> Sent: 25 April 2006 03:03
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: 'care standards'
>
> Obviously, CSVs provide invaluable practical assistance for many
> disabled students, but should not be asked to provide anything more
> than very basic 'ad hoc' personal care assistance. A student who needs
> regular assistance with personal care-related tasks such as
> maintaining personal hygiene, eating, using the toilet and/or
> administering medication should arrange funding through their local
> social services department so they can employ a suitably qualified
> personal assistant. They might still use a CSV to help with practical
> tasks during the day, but the PA should be available to provide
> discrete, personal care assistance.
> Ian Francis.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Faye Langston" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 5:50 PM
> Subject: 'care standards'
>
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> Here at Coventry University we run a pool of around 25 CVS's who
> support
> some of our disabled students with enabling tasks, including personal
> care.
>
> We are interested in finding out which other institutions still do
> something similar and also what impact 'care standards' have had on
> the
> tasks that your volunteers/CSV's/Support workers can do in relation to
> personal care.
>
>
> Many thanks
>
> Faye Langston
> Disabilities Co-ordinator
> Coventry University
>
> [log in to unmask]



----------------------
KC Thomas,
Organising Tutor: Personal Support Worker Training 2005
Project Co-ordinator: Employment Scene 2005-6
Centre for Access and Communication Studies, University of Bristol
[log in to unmask]
0117 954 5718