Latest news with #learningdisabilities
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Les Amis: Jersey disability charity celebrates 50th birthday
A charity which supports people with learning disabilities has celebrated its 50th Amis' birthday celebrations were attended by around 200 people last month at the grounds of Government House, and included a visit by the former Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, Vice Admiral Sir Jerry Kyd, and Lady group was founded in 1975 with the aim of "empowering" people with conditions such as Down's Syndrome, autism, and Amis said it was "humbled" to have received "so many messages of support", and thanked everyone who had contributed to its fundraising efforts. The group currently provides services such as residential homes, and support for people living independently, to more than 100 adults on the month it began work to build a new £3.5m facility at La Rue de Bechet, Trinity, due to be completed next year."Demand for our services continues to rise," said Leslie Norman MBE, Les Amis chair."We are excited that we are moving forward with our specialist nursing and complex needs facility in Trinity that will also allow us to provide end of life care."Thank you to all of those who celebrated with us and continue to support our work. We look forward to sharing more exciting news soon."
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
People with learning disability meet 999 crews in Cornwall
Adults with learning disabilities have been encouraged to ask emergency services for help when they need it at a special 18th annual Blue Light Day held at the Royal Cornwall Showground on Wednesday saw hundreds of people interact with members of the police, fire service and of the day involved people being able to become more familiar with the uniforms, jobs and kit used by the emergency Community Sergeant for Cornwall Sgt Flo Linscott said the day was "very special for us, especially for this community who are seldom heard". Helen Thomas, safeguarding officer for Cornwall's fire service, said: "It can be quite scary if you see any emergency service vehicles and we're all in uniform, with blue lights, big vehicles and lots of us."It can be quite intimidating so it's great for people to be able to come and have a chat and sit in the truck at a lower level when it's nice and calm and relaxed."Student Louis was interested in the firearms shown by Devon and Cornwall Police said: "It's fun as there's a lot of stuff to see and do here." Ben was one of the community diversity champions who helped organise the said: "I think the police are one of the most helpful people around in Cornwall because they help you so much with stuff during the Blue Light Day. "I think this is one of the things that most people don't realise - Blue Light is the most important day for day centres to come down because it's one of the things they can all get introduced to." 'Building bridges' Diverse Community Sergeant for Cornwall Sgt Flo Linscott said sometimes people with learning disabilities do not report crimes or incidents to said: "It's even more important for us to try and make bridges into those communities and their carers, guardians and families to say 'look we're here, we want to listen if you've been discriminated against'."So that's one of the things - building those bridges, building those links into the community and helping them understand that yes we're the police but we want to listen as well, we want to help in some way, which usually we can."Sgt Linscott added: "Like I said, it's all about those relationships, and if we can form a relationship, those people will come to us direct."
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Woodland View ward to close after 'falling short of standards'
A secure hospital ward for people with complex learning disabilities is to be closed within weeks, leaving families struggling to arrange suitable care for vulnerable patients, the BBC has ward at Woodland View Hospital, in Ayrshire, is to shut on 14 July after health chiefs said it had "fallen short of our standards and expectations".Experts told the BBC it was "nonsensical" to close a ward at such short notice and hospital transitions of this kind usually take a minimum of three to six Malcolm, who has fought to get his 21-year-old son Fraser out of the hospital for four years, said it was not possible to get a suitable care package in place so quickly. "None of the care providers can react in that time, it's not safe, it is not ethical," he View, near Irvine, is a 206-bedroom mental health facility and community hospital which was built in 7A is an eight-bed unit that provides assessment and treatment for patients who have complex health care needs, often associated with a diagnosis of autism spectrum from West Kilbride in North Ayrshire, is one of six patients who will have to leave the ward when it closes on 14 went into the unit in 2021 for a 12-week assessment because he was struggling to regulate his parents have been trying to get him out of the hospital and into suitable care said he was ready to leave the ward three years ago but no package of support was parents have now received a letter from the health board telling them the ward will close within weeks. Caroline Cameron, director of North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said the ward was an increasingly unsuitable physical environment and there had been "incidences of violence and aggression".She said they had struggled to recruit and retain staff and there had been challenges moving patients out to more appropriate community settings."Despite a focused and intensive support over a period of time, the challenges in Ward 7A have not improved and it is no longer suitable for patients to remain there," she said. Fraser has limited speech and complex needs but his parents says that before he went into hospital he lived a full attended a special school, regularly went sailing and on holiday with his family and was helping his dad renovate a sailing mother Karen said: "People go into hospital to get made better, not worse - and Fraser's so much worse now than he was when he went in there."His parents have raised a number of safety concerns about his care. Earlier this year Fraser was hospitalised after swallowing the handle of a his dad Andrew told BBC Scotland that complex cases like Fraser's need a proper transition plan. He said: "You can't have somebody locked in hospital who's now de-skilled, profoundly deaf, non-verbal, and just told they are free to go home." Consultant clinical psychologist Prof Andy McDonnell told the BBC the proposal to move Fraser with four weeks' notice was "nonsensical".He said a plan to put him with agency workers until a care team can be recruited was "insane" because to a patient they are just "a bunch of strangers".Prof McDonnell, who is a director of Studio Three, a company which specialises in transitioning people with complex needs out of hospital, said the proposals on offer for Fraser had all the hallmarks of a "botched transition", with a high likelihood of people getting said transitioning people with autism, who are often suffering from complex trauma or PTSD as well, needed to be very carefully planned."In my experience, the first year can be quite rocky for a lot of people," Prof McDonnell Claire Currie, who represents the Malcolm family, said the timeframe for the ward closure was "unprecedented".She said: "I am aware that some of the patients have not left the ward in months, if not years. "Sadly, they consider that environment their home."I am very concerned for any individuals who may be suddenly moved without transition planning or proper preparation." In early 2022 ministers pledged that by March 2024 significantly fewer people with learning disabilities will be stuck far from home or in hospitals. A pledge they didn't Scottish government set up a register of those with learning disabilities stuck in hospital or inappropriate out of area placements in an effort to move people on from institutional latest figures show 1,264 people are on register with 318 classified as urgent. Of those there were 157 people in hospital, of which 74 were classified as a delayed discharge. Mental Wellbeing Minister Tom Arthur said: "I am sorry to hear of this difficult situation and can fully understand the stress that it is causing to the patients and their families. "I understand that the decision to close the ward has been taken as a result of continuing and escalating concerns about the sustainability of service delivery in the ward."He said the health board was working together with the patients and their guardians to ensure robust transition plans are in place.
Daily Mail
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Ketamine stole our children: The £2 drug ravaged their insides, left them incontinent and destroyed their minds. Now these bereaved mothers say: 'If our stories can save one life, it'll be worth it'
Sophie Russell was a beautiful girl with a long, swinging ponytail and a gorgeous smile. She was a 'massive ball of energy' who worked hard and played hard, studied counselling and psychology at university and wanted to travel the world and work with children with learning disabilities.
FF News
23-06-2025
- Business
- FF News
Project Nemo Demands Better Banking for Adults With a Learning Disability
Banking for learning disabilities remains a critical challenge in today's digital economy. Project Nemo, a grassroots initiative advocating for disability inclusion in fintech, has released a major new report revealing how the financial sector continues to exclude adults with learning disabilities from safe and independent money management. With transformational changes to the financial landscape over the last 18 years, in particular with the significant move away from cash (60% of all transactions by volume in 2008 to 12% in 2023, according to UK Finance ) the learning disability community have been forced into a digital payments system that has not been designed with their needs in mind. ' Safe Spending for Adults with a Learning Disability: A Call to Action for Financial Services ' launches this morning at a Project Nemo event bringing together fintechs, banks, trade bodies, disability charities and advocacy groups at Nationwide Building Society headquarters. Attendees include The Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP, Minister of State for Social Security and Disability. It reveals the findings of the most comprehensive research to date into the barriers faced by adults with a learning disability and those who support them when managing money. Banking for learning disabilities requires tools that balance independence and oversight, something most banks overlook. The challenges of managing bank accounts for everyday spending have resulted in 87% of adults with a learning disability and their supporters turning to informal work arounds, often without disclosed statutory authority such as Lasting Power of Attorney or Deputyship. These workarounds, such as family members pretending to be the user while on the phone to the bank, or sharing bank card PIN numbers, introduce unnecessary risks. Whilst there are some dedicated fintech supported payments solutions, these don't appear to be particularly well known. Helpfully, the new report also suggests banking features that this user group would find most beneficial. The research, sponsored by Nationwide Building Society, also found that 32% of people with a learning disability don't have a bank account in their own name; and 61% say banks don't always do enough to meet their needs. The report shines a light on the fact that many of the recent advances in payments have actually made it significantly more difficult to make, receive, and manage payments for the 1.5 million people in the UK living with a learning disability and their supporters. Digital payments are a particular concern, as cash offers a physical sense of value and control that digital methods struggle to replicate. The increase in self-service terminals, decrease in physical bank branches and growth of shopping online have all reduced human interaction, which this community can be more reliant upon to help with understanding and completing purchases. Meanwhile increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics including exploiting identified vulnerabilities also make managing everyday money riskier for this underserved group. New fintech solutions could transform banking for learning disabilities, but awareness and adoption remain low. The research explored a range of potential money management features to aid safer spending for adults with a learning disability, and identified that: To aid independent user understanding, any features should use clear and simple language, supported by visual explanations where possible. The ability to customise to suit individual needs is critical to success of any products built for this community. Notifications or settings that give supporters oversight of spending and the opportunity to intercept risky purchases provide reassurance for both supporters and users and have potential to enable greater independence. Accessible and specialist customer support must be available to boost confidence and support longer term independence goals. Priority features for products built for this community include saving pots, the option to turn on a Calm Mode that reduces overwhelm, and wearable alternatives to payment cards. Kris Foster, Co-Founder of Project Nemo, who has a learning disability, comments: 'Too often, people speak for us, about us or in front of us and it's never our voice. This project, including this research report, for the first time, has centered adults with learning disabilities and seeks to understand what we want and need from financial services. Now, it's up to banks to take action. I want to see them break down the existing barriers and ensure that others don't have to fight the same battles for financial independence that I did.' Joanne Dewar, Co-Founder and Project Lead, Project Nemo, says: 'Safe Spending for Adults with a Learning Disability: A Call to Action for Financial Services shows how trends in payments, which many of us think of as improvements, are compounding challenges for an already vulnerable community. This comprehensive research gives voice to the learning disability community whose needs are often overlooked even within the context on disability inclusion or financial inclusion. This Learning Disability Week, I hope that UK banks use these new insights to re-evaluate the solutions that they offer to this vulnerable community, which would benefit many other consumers groups too. With the current focus on the National Payments Vision and Financial Inclusion Strategy, I hope this report ensures the needs of this community are better understood and prioritised.' Project Nemo has joined forces with Kathryn Townsend, Government Disability & Access Ambassador (banking sector) and Nationwide Head of Customer Vulnerability & Accessibility to launch four separate workstreams to improve financial inclusion of adults with a learning disability. The new report is a key deliverable of the Research & Insights workstream, delivered in partnership with organisations including Mencap, the learning disability charity and Dosh, the financial inclusion organisation. Members of this working group are primarily those working in the financial services industry who are parents of young adults with learning disabilities, so are highly attuned to their needs and the gaps in service provision. Inclusive design must be at the heart of banking for learning disabilities to avoid forcing risky workarounds. Kathryn Townsend, Government Disability & Access Ambassador (banking sector) and Nationwide Head of Customer Vulnerability & Accessibility, adds: 'Everyone deserves to manage their money with confidence, dignity and independence but for the 1.5 million people in the UK living with a learning disability that basic right is often denied. At Nationwide we are continuously looking at ways we can improve support for those with vulnerabilities. However there is so much more we can all do and I am calling on my peers in the banking industry to not just remove the potential pitfalls and potholes for those with a learning disability, but to consider the opportunity to build services with these users in mind.' Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of learning disability charity Mencap, comments: 'People with a learning disability tell us that they can struggle to make payments safely because of complex banking systems, inaccessible payment options and a lack of easy read information. Because of these barriers, many worry about being more vulnerable to financial abuse and not being able to spend their money in the way they want to. Project Nemo's work is a hugely important step towards ensuring the 1.5 million people with a learning disability across the UK can make their financial choices safely and independently.' Improving banking for learning disabilities is a win for both accessibility and innovation in financial services. This Project Nemo report is part of a wider project to help banks and fintechs improve solutions for adults with a learning disability.
