Pitch Winners Blog
Monday, October 13th, 2008
To celebrate the gifts talents of our members, we ran a Living Our Lives day. This was a new venture for us as a group. Could we run a day on our own and deal with all the bookings, finances, delegate packs and paperwork without the support of other organisations? We wanted to try a session of our own – a celebration of Asperger’s syndrome run by Eric, Danny and Mark all who have different skills. Eric is a musician, Danny is a photographer and Mark is a poet. It was a great day but unfortunately we ran at a small loss as not enough people turned up – but it was a real learning experience for us all.
We promoted Living Our Lives via the Internet, via our website and contacted the Shropshire Star, Radio Shropshire and the Shrewsbury Chronicle. We had some interest from community groups, and other parents, but no interest and no mentioning of the session in any of the media. How can we change this another time?
Monday, October 13th, 2008
Message from Shropshire Autonomy
We apologise for not having our entries on the blog earlier as we have had some communication and technical problems, but here we go.
September 15th
Winning the £2000 prize has meant a real boost for volunteering activities for Autonomy members but even having won the prize money we are still having difficulty encouraging the media to notice our group. I suppose adults with autism and Asperger’s syndrome are not as newsworthy as children or pets!
On the day we won the prize I contacted the local radio, who were running some news items on children with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. I was told that the information about our prize would be passed around and picked up by some other programme presenters. This has not materialised.
Thursday, October 9th, 2008
Hello again.
At the time we won Pitch Your Project, ADHD awareness week was on the horizon. This was a golden opportunity. We hoped that our newly acquired status would enable us to shout even louder and strengthen the fight for our cause. With this in mind, we wrote and sent a press release in to BBC Radio Stoke. This was then followed up by parent volunteer, Paul Glover with a phone call. It worked! Paul was interviewed, a broadcast went out and we all spent the day tuned in to the radio station.
From a parent’s perspective, Paul was able to give a detailed account about ADHD to a massive audience and explain how it had affected his son and his family. He also talked about the controversial drug – Ritalin – which is often used in the treatment of this condition and was able to speak positively about how it had helped his child.
ADHD can seriously affect a child’s ability to achieve at school and many become excluded. Following a survey, The National ADHD awareness week campaign was launched by ADDISS, (The National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service), to call for:
- Better understanding of why ADHD children behave as they do and greater acceptance of their needs
- Improved access to resources and support for children with ADHD and their families
- More focus within the school system to ensure the Government pledge that ‘Every Child Matters’ also applies to ADHD children
Again from personal experience Paul was able to reiterate these points in his very own words making an impassioned plea for the Government to be more supportive and raise awareness that educational needs for children with ADHD should be of equal importance to those with literacy difficulties.
Let’s hope that some of those listeners out there will now have a deeper insight and be able to acknowledge the plight of not only the children affected by ADHD but also their families.
The Lighthouse Group
Friday, October 3rd, 2008
Hi – my name’s Betty Norris and I get to edit and publish The Lighthouse Group’s newsletter.
I was so thrilled when I heard that the group were the winners of the west midlands Pitch Your Project event. Well done to the three dedicated members who had the courage to face and managed to survive the dreaded Dragons Den. I know how nervous they were. Life was hectic for everyone in the run up to the day and has been ever since but despite still reeling from the dizzy heights of success we are already moving forward with our plans to develop the group so that the support provided can be further enhanced.
As the most urgent need is for extra volunteers, to attract them, we have drafted a leaflet which outlines the purpose of the group and lists the kind of assistance we need which includes helping to organise events & activities for the children, preparing and manning display stands (designed to raise awareness about the group and ADHD), and managing our book lending service. Hopefully, we will be able to have this printed and circulated soon.
I enjoy being a volunteer with the group. I needed something to keep the old grey matter going and when I heard they needed someone to do their newsletter, I jumped at the chance. However, my interest and involvement soon evolved beyond the initial attraction – the desktop publishing bit. I was inspired by the commitment demonstrated by volunteer parents of children with ADHD in the group and their desire to help other families in the same situation as themselves. I feel privileged to be part of it and am keen to help in any way I can.
I cannot comment from personal experience on what it is like to be the parent of a child with ADHD, but as a retired child health professional, I did come into contact with youngsters affected by the condition and am aware of the difficulties they and their families faced. Even less was known about ADHD at that time, recognition was very limited and support from experienced parents such as that provided by The Lighthouse Group was none existent.
Hopefully, with the prize money, enthusiastic Ideas and plans the group have come up with to provide a better service, which have often been dashed due to funding issues can now begin to materialise.
Friday, October 3rd, 2008
Hi – my name is Paul Glover. My son has ADHD and a few years ago my wife Robina and I started attending the meetings at the Lighthouse ADHD support Group based in Stafford. At last there were people who understood our family’s issues. With the advice and suggested routes to professionals we all benefited. As the Lighthouse group branched out, activities for the children to meet new friends with the same condition also came on stream.
When you get help, you want to put something back. The Pitch Your Project event which could not only help with advice from seasoned professionals, also offered a route to secure some funding for the group. So, I was happy to help.
To be honest I was totally unaware of what we were to face. We shared a 15 mile journey to the venue. Joanna, Ellen and I outlined our thoughts, decided who would start the talk, what our messages for the panel would be and how we could show the passion we felt for our subject.
We arrived to a friendly welcome and got talking to a chap who had already presented to “The Dragons Den”. He outlined what his experience had been. I felt we had nothing to lose! A roller coaster ride only lasts a few minutes so how bad could 10 minutes in front of the “Dragons” be?
The introductions were over and this was it! With cameras running, timer set…. “You have 10 minutes to pitch to us, and then we will ask questions.”
I started the talk and could here my own voice tremor! But then it came good. By the time Ellen had passionately revealed what it was like for her living with her son’s ADHD and Joanna had given a professional edge to our pitch, the 10 minutes had flown by.
The panel were very sympathetic and asked searching but pleasant questions and then offered ideas of where we could go for help, what is available and how we should structure ourselves.
Well we had done our best, now it was the next team’s turn.
We were met by further professionals, pointers were given, interview filmed, photos taken – it had been an experience. I think we were all relieved, but also quite excited that we had been able make our presence felt. We debriefed in the car back home and then we all fell silent. Now all we could do was wait and see.
To hear we had won the £2000 for our group is brilliant. We can now start to plan activities without the dreaded “But where will we get the money from to do that?”
Friday, October 3rd, 2008
Hi – my name is Joanna Francis. I work as a Psychologist in the NHS and run Parent Groups for families who are looking for support in managing their children’s behaviour. It was out of one of these groups that a support group evolved. The parents had gained a great deal from meeting each other. Several had youngsters who already had the diagnosis of ADHD and felt they had a lot in common.
We started holding regular meetings with invited speakers, organising events across the patch, networking, and aiming to raise awareness about ADHD not only among health practitioners, but within schools.
Out of a competition designed for the youngsters, we chose the name ‘Lighthouse Group’ to represent us. We just liked the sense of hope and support it engendered.
Over the years, we seemed to be stalling and we wondered how to make the group more vibrant and inviting. At this point, one of the mothers suggested we try organising more fun events to include the youngsters as well and this proved popular.
Meanwhile, a retired lady started to help us with our regular newsletter. She was eager to use all her experience in desktop publishing to improve our image, and matters went swimmingly until she started suggesting her son-in-law could help us design our very own website. We had already produced a leaflet about ADHD and where to get support and this became the core of the website. There would also be the option of seeing past copies of the newsletters and a blog page. We were so delighted when it finally materialised! Now we can be found on www.lighthousegroup.org.uk
There has always been a core group of loyal parents holding responsibility for keeping the group going, but they felt fairly worn down, on top of the daily problems associated with living with ADHD, with seemingly no acknowledgement from outside bodies of the value of what we were providing. However, all that changed when we applied for ‘Pitch Your Project! The panel members listened intently to the experiences of the two parents involved. They nodded repeatedly when we described what we could offer if we had more volunteers and funding. They even asked if other parents from outside the area could join us! This made us feel appreciated and revitalised. We felt we would get advice and additional support to lift us all to the next level.
It was a daunting day, but certainly worth the effort. Since hearing that we won we have gained confidence in our ability to fulfil our aims of becoming an even more supportive group and benefit more families, such as providing a helpline and improving our lending resources of books and games.
We expect to chart our growth over the next year. So ……….. ‘Watch this space!’
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Sadly I was not able to attend on Pitch your Project day but those who did were delighted with the time spent both with the dragons and those supplying information elsewhere. Particularly pleased that someone will enlighten the wheelchair pushes on the correct way of handling passengers, and also the lady who may be able to provide names of potential guests will be invaluable.
Committee will next meet on 22nd September to discuss details of the outreach meeting which has been booked for Wednesday 15th October. The room and kitchens have been booked, but in the meantime we are all preparing information for the committee on entertainment, funding etc.
All the information that the community centres and care homes need were sent out at the end of August. This includes details of what we do and meeting dates as well as my contact details in case anybody wishes to refer an elderly guest. These details are also going on the church website.
We have been contacted by Friends of Northampton General Hospital and a cheque is being presented tomorrow at Cripps centre prior to the Friends of NGH AGM. The two pitchers plus our past guest and myself will all be there.
Monday, September 29th, 2008
The team met on 22nd September to plan a Reunion Day in December. We’re expecting 70 or more past guests to this event, and so will need to recruit existing and new volunteers to help with the various aspects of the day, including food arrangements, entertainment and transport to and from the event.
Attached are a couple of photos from this year’s Holiday at Home event, which capture just some of the people we hope will come back for the Reunion Day in December.
At the meeting we also discussed another meeting to take place on 15th October, where we will be presenting the Holiday at Home concept to other groups and organisations in the hope of the idea being taken up by more people. Nearly 200 groups, organisations and individuals have been contacted by post or email, as well as an advert being placed in a magazine for local churches. The event is also going to be publicised in the local paper, the Chronicle and Echo, thanks to a contact made with a journalist at the Pitch your Project event. It will also be publicised on local radio on their Sunday morning programme.
Thursday, September 25th, 2008
We’ve just finished our recent round of ‘pitches’. A fantastic tour taking in Luton, Manchester and Shrewsbury and we met many inspiring and exciting projects.
We can now announce the winners at each Foundation Trust.
So a drum roll please…
Bedfordshire and Luton Partnership Trust
Bedford Bangladeshi Women’s Association. The association provides support for the Bangladeshi Women of Luton, for whom language barriers, low self-esteem and culture were an obstacle to them leaving their homes, the social opportunities afforded by this group were highly valued and have a positive impact on their mental health.
South Manchester University Hospital Trust
Wildcats in the Community. Wildcats run wrestling clubs, teaching young people in deprived areas of Manchester self control and commitment, they need more volunteers to cope with demand for the free sessions.
South Staffordshire and Shropshire Health Care
Autonomy. A support and advocacy group for young people with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Run by an enthusiastic mother and son team, the group provides many social opportunities and would like to extend their organisation provide volunteering opportunities for their users.
Congratulations to all three groups, they have won £2000 each to develop their work using volunteers.
They will also be posting tales of their journeys over the coming months on this blog and I’m very much looking forward to hearing how things are going.
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
Hi Sorry it has been a while between posts, we have been so busy. The training was delayed till this week for the new peers and we will be starting another course straight away so there has been sorting to do, and contacts to make.
Those peers who are regular into clinics and groups now have thier official ID from the NHS Care Trust so again things are looking up as far as appearing a proffesional part of the team.
Also after recontacting some of the not so active volunteers there are going to be more opportunities opening up and they are going to become more available which is great news.
Angela has become part of the link proffesional meetings so the profile of the volunteers is improving also this means referals for new volunteers will come in from the proffesionals who have alot of contact with the families in the communities, so it is all good.
We have one new poster designed to promote the training and this will be distributed from this week hopefully.
The volunteer monthly meet is tomorrow so hopefully we will have some news to pass on after this, speak soon.
