Inclusive Living Sheffield

This website is currently under construction. If you require information or have any comments about this website please contact Joanne Armitage at ILS

Inclusive Living Sheffield (ILS) is a charitable organisation run by disabled people living in Sheffield. We have direct experience of the many different types of disabling barriers which people can face. We work in partnership with public bodies, private sector employers and the voluntary sector to help improve the lives of disabled people. Over 10% of Sheffield's population is disabled - more than you'd think! We have a vision of a society where everyone is included so we can all benefit from, and contribute to, the success of our city.

ILS Members are invited to attend our Annual General Meeting on 25 November 2009 from 2.00 - 4.00 pm, here at The Circle. We also have a limited number of places for non-members.

Come along and here more about the work of ILS and our hopes for the future along with interesting presentations from Sue Botts of NCIL and Zoe Thomas of Skills for Care.

Sue Bott of NCIl will be speaking on personalisation, individual budgets and the role of Centres for Independent Living.

Zoe Thomas of Skills for Care will be speaking on the work of Skills for Care and the changing role of Personal Assistants

Inclusive Living Sheffield and Partners for Inclusion hosted a consultation event to look at the Government's Green Paper - Shaping the Future of Care Together.

The event was well attended with a good mix of disabled people along with practitioners and service providers.

Responses have now been collated into a formal written response which we have sent to the Department of Health.

Inclusive Living Sheffield (ILS) and Partners for Inclusion (PFI) recently hosted a consultation event at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club to enable disabled people in Sheffield to respond to the Goverment's Right to Control.

The event was organised in partnership with the Sheffield Learning Disabilities Partnership Board and the Sheffield Mental Health Partnership Boards.

This important consultation event was well attended with an equal mix of disabled people and practitioners.

We've consolidated the responses of the attendees into a final written report which we've submitted to the Office for Disability Issues.

In addition to looking at the consultation exercise we asked attendees whether they thought Sheffield should become a "trail-blazing" city. Electronic voting was conducted to gain attendee's views. The overall consensus was that Sheffield should apply for "trail-blazer" status.

The SYMPSONS (Sheffield Youth Mentoring and Personal Support Scheme) project recently re-started. Following a successful 2 year run, the project will now reach out to yet more disabled teenagers in Sheffield thanks to funding from the National Lottery.

The group recently met to look at the type of activities that they would like to try. Some of the suggestions included trips to the cinema, museums, Blackpool, cooking etc.

The first "outing" will take place in October with a trip to Buxton so that the young people can have a go at cycling. Adapted bicycles will be available to enable wheelchair users to have a go along with tricycles for the less experienced.

If you are a disabled teen and would like to join the group please get in touch with Brett Howarth. The project still has a limited number of places left. Altnernatively, if you know of a disabled youngster who might benefit from joining the group please contact Brett for a referral form.

Brett will lead the project. He joined the ILS team in June 2009 and has experience of working with disabled youngsters. If you want to discuss Sympsons directly with Brett please contact him on 0114 2536750 or e.mail brett.howarth@inclusivesheffield.org.uk

The young people will decide what type of activities they would like to do. Our first workshop will be entitled "What's stopping you?" and will involve the young people (with volunteer support workers). They will talk about what they want to do and why they can't at the moment; then we will seek ways of overcoming those barriers in society.

The activities will be decided and planned by the young people with assistance from Brett and volunteer support staff. Every effort will be made to run the service free of charge.

The initial success of Sympsons has led to many young people returning to the project as mentors!!

Get involved and chat to Brett and other Sympsons members on-line at facebook.com. (Facebook group - 'SYMPSONS Disabled teens of Sheffield and Volunteer support staff'.

Pacesetters is a group of volunteers who deliver a free, independent information and sign-posting service for disabled people in Sheffield. All the volunteers have direct experience of disability and the types of barriers which disabled people often face.

They are aware that in many cases disabled people are missing out on services, or find them hard to access simply because information is difficult to get or understand.

This project is funded by the Health Authority as part of their national Pacesetters programme - a partnership between local communities who experience health inequalities and the Department of Health .

If you are looking for local or national information Pacesetters may be able to help you.

The Pacesetters telephone number is 01142 2536745 and the opening hours are Monday to Wednesday from 10am to 3pm.

The Pacesetters service aims to develop general disability-related information focusing on access to health and social care needs in a range of accessible formats.

If you require any further information about the project or would like to liaise with us about the possibility of sharing any disability related information please e.mail our project leader, Val Bowen or telephone her on 0114 253 6748

If you would like to take part in our survey on the availability of information for disabled people, please follow the link below. Your participation will help us develop the Pacesetters Information and Signposting service. Thankyou for your support.

Pacesetters has produced a factsheet on Inclusive Exercise‘opportunities in Sheffield . We would welcome any comments or additional information to include in the factsheet, particularly if you are aware of any activities that are not listed so please e mail us at pacesetters@inclusivesheffield.org.uk . We hope that you will find the factsheet useful and informative.

ILS Trustees, members and staff are invited to attend our annual general meeting on 25 November 2009 at The Circle, Sheffield. In addition to the usual business of an AGM we are hoping to invite speakers along to discuss the personalisation agenda and individual bugets and also discuss ILS's move towards to CIL status.

Inclusive Living Sheffield and Partners for Inclusion held a Consultation Event at Sheffield Town held on Monday 9th June 2008

This event looked at how disabled people can be involved in implementing and monitoring the government's new Independent Living Strategy. The event was held in the Reception Rooms of Sheffield Town Hall on Monday 9th June 2008 and was attended by 60 participants. (The majority being disabled people).

Sandra Tucker and Rhian Connolley from the Office for Disability Issues gave a brief presentation on the main themes within the government's Independent Living Strategy. Participants were then asked to work in groups to consider 4 main questions . . . .

To read the responses of the participants please download the full report, which has been forwardedto the Officefor Disability Issues:

Sheffield Talking News is a registered charity run by volunteers. They offer a range of services to visually impaired people in Sheffield. These services include:

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Have a browse and see what services we currently offer. If there's anything you're interested in please contact us. But if you don't see what you're looking for please get in touch - we may be able to help, or signpost you to someone who can.

Inclusive Living Sheffield is looking forward to hearing from you!

Inclusive Living Sheffield Limited (ILS). Registered office The Circle, 33 Rockingham Lane, Sheffield S1 4FW. Inclusive Living Sheffield is a company limited by guarantee - Company Number 4639160 - registered in Cardiff. ILS is also a registered charity - registration number 1112712.

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Inclusive Living Sheffield is looking forward to hearing from you!