Dear Shared Lives Plus members,
Happy Wednesday! We’re pleased to share with you the very latest from the world of shared living. In this week’s members’ bulletin, we’ll cover:
Funeral planning
Some of our members have recently asked for resources and guidance around planning for funerals. Preparing for someone dying in Shared Lives can become just as important as supporting them in life, which is why we have several resources in our guidance about supporting people in their daily lives. Sections 3.10.a to 3.10.d are all about this issue, so please give them a read.
Protecting a person’s right to choose a representative
“How do we put rights into action? What does it mean to protect people’s lives in practice?”
Our policy officer, Becky Viney-Wood, is a new part of your membership team and works to keep an eye on the policy and legislative landscape for shared living, so we can fight our corner and stay prepared. She’s been following an interesting case – SB vs. South London, and has described how the lessons from this case can help point the way to protecting a person’s right to choose a representative.
Funding pressures: Lancashire Shared Lives speak to BBC
“We all get an awful lot out of it, so it’s win-win!”
We all know that there is a crisis of funding – and of planning – in the government’s social care policy. So we were delighted to see that BBC Politics North West, in a programme about funding pressures on social care, spoke to the Lancashire Shared Lives scheme. It showed how well Adrian and Angela are being supported by Jill, and alongside depicting the quality of Shared Lives care, Lydia Ferguson from the Lancashire Shared Lives team highlighted its value for money, too. This value is food for thought when, as the programme says, Shared Lives still accounts for only £4 million of the £500 million spent annually by Lancashire Council on adult social care.
Shared Lives is now for 16+ too!
Our Department for Education-funded project to develop Shared Lives for young people leaving care is nearly finished. We have produced specialist guidance for schemes who want to extend their fantastic service to young care leavers. As you’ll read, one of the main themes is the importance of building relationships with people who refer young people to services. As we build up to our final celebration event, we will be creating some publicity around the project, so we’d love to speak to care leavers and Shared Lives carers who have taken part in the project – get in touch on press@sharedlivesplus.org.uk If you’d like to come to the event on 23 March in Birmingham to find out more, please contact deni@sharedlivesplus.org.uk
Shared Lives teleconference today
All Shared Lives carers are invited to our monthly phone support call today at 12.30pm.
If you’ve never joined a teleconference before – it’s easy! All you need to do is dial in on 0330 336 3496 (mobile) or 0800 229 1458 (landline) and enter the pin 454936. If you would like to get involved and have something specific you’d like to talk about – email info@sharedlivesplus.org.uk and let us know!
Did you know? Being a member means…
That you have the opportunity to connect to a unique network of Shared Lives carers to share experiences, swap stories, sound off and support one another? You can do this on the online forum, a safe space just for you, on our free carer teleconferences, by getting our support to set up a local carer’s group, or a grant from us, ranging from £250-£1000 to hold a celebration and networking event for carers in your area? You can find out more about your membership in your members’ area of the website.
Support us
You can help our quest to make supportive shared living into a widespread way of life, by getting friends and loved ones to become Friends of Shared Lives Plus and give monthly! You can also support us, and be in with a chance of winning up to £25,000, by entering our lottery!
Work with us
We need a North East ADASS Shared Lives officer to help co-ordinate an exciting and ambitious project to grow Shared Lives in the North East! If this sounds interesting – learn more and apply here!
Coronavirus
We are working with our partners in the Care Providers’ Alliance to bring together relevant information from Public Health England about Coronavirus. We’re hoping to share information about how the virus is spread, advice on proper hygiene, what to do if a staff member or person who is accessing support feels ill, and so on. Watch this space.
Thanks for reading! We hope you’ve enjoyed reading and have found the information in this bulletin useful. Remember, as your membership organisation, supporting you is our reason for being. We thrive on your insights, feedback and questions, so if you want to get in touch, please do. You can also connect with us on Facebook and Twitter too.
Until next time,
Michael Kazich and Phoebe Rowell, Shared Lives Plus communications team.
