Network news easy read version issue 2 spring summer 2014

I S S U E 2 S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 4

Follow us:

www.livability.org.uk

Many

Congratulations to

our Patron, Her

Royal Highness,

Princess Anne who

has become a

Grandmother for the

3rd time to a baby

girl born in mid-

January.

Wishing the family

many best wishes

for the future from all

of us here at

Livability.

Happy New Year!

Meet Livability’s New President!

Hello my name is Justin Welby, The

Archbishop of Canterbury, and I am thrilled

to announce that I have accepted the role of

Livability’s new President. I am looking

forward to the work ahead, I hope you will

wish me luck.

Vice Patron Receives OBE!

The warmest of congratulations from

everybody at Livability to our Vice Patron,

Lady Marina Hobson for receiving an OBE

from the Queen this year.

EASY READ VERSION

Hello everyone. Wishing you a very Happy

New Year. This is the second issue of Network

News, your own Livability newsletter. A big

Thank You to everyone who

sent in their fantastic stories.

P A G E 2

Connect with and chat

to fellow Service Users

of Livability,

read Blogs, watch the

latest videos and hear

the latest news….

It’s easy to join, just

visit

www.livability.org.uk

and click on the

Service User Network

icon in the top right-

hand corner.

Read Kayleigh’s

Blog

Song of Praise and Call The Midwife

Stars Help Raise Money at Carol Service!

On the 10th of December Livability held

a Christmas carol service at St Martin-in

-the-Fields and was hosted by Songs of

Praise presenter Pam Rhodes with

readings from Call The Midwife star

Bryony Hannah.

Students from Livability’s Nash College

also joined in singing the popular carol

“Silent Night.”

£10,000 was raised for Livability. A big

thank you to all involved and to all who

supported us.

Plant sale at Dolphin Court!

The staff and residents

at Dolphin Court are

holding a plant sale on

the 26th April. Go along

and see what you can

buy.

P A G E 3

Need a holiday but

worried mobility

issues will stop your

holiday? Then let

Livability help you.

Our hotel-style and self-catering accom-modation is designed to be as accessible and adaptable as possible. Disabled Parking Wider Doors Grab Rails Wheelchair Hire Hoist Hire Wheel-in-shower Lifts And much

more…. We will help find the right holiday for you. Find out more at: www.livability.org.uk/ Or for prices please

call 08456 584478

The West Shore

Hotel, Wales

It’s All In The VIBE: Bournemouth's

Hottest New Radio Station!

Hard-working Keith Celebrates 20

Years In His Dream Job!

Hello fellow service users my name is Keith

and I am celebrating 20 years working at

Ingatestone Garden Centre.

Lifestyle Choices East Anglia supported me

in getting my job. I love gardening.

I love working here it is my dream job,

customers come to see me for gardening

advice or just for a chat.

Livability’s Victoria College recently

set up their own radio station, VIBE.

Student, Harry Bassett talks about

being a DJ on VIBE radio.

“It can be entertaining but

sometimes hard to think of what

to say. It is great to co-present

so you can bounce ideas off

each other. It feels really good to

know that lots of people are

listening.”

Harry also says how excited he and

the rest of the crew were to receive

a visit from HRH

Princess Anne.

“She had a tour

around the station

and showed a real

interest in the

background of the

station and how it runs.”

P A G E 4

Leo Wins Sailability Hatrick!

Hello my name is Leo and I am a service user at

Brackley. I am celebrating winning Gold, Silver and

Bronze medals in the Sailability 2012-

2013 season. My ambition is to sail

alone and enter competitions one day.

Connect with us here

at Livability on our

new Blog feature on

our website.

“You can read Dave’s

Blog now!”

Dave Webber is our

Chief Executive at

Livability and will now

be Blogging on a

regular basis.

You can access the

Blog here:

www.livability.org.uk/

our-blog/

Good Luck to Jo, who

is taking part in a

tandem skydive on

April 11th.

All the money raised

will go towards new

physio equipment for

service users at

Treetops.

Livability Pilots Employment

Programme In Nepal! Livability are working with

people with Spinal Cord

Injuries in Nepal on a pilot

employment programme to

give them a chance to get

into work. So far the

programme is proving to be

a huge success.

“Hi my name is Stephen

I am the Lead Officer on Service

User Involvement for Livability.

My Job is to make sure your voices

are heard not only by the staff who

work with you every day; but all of

the other parts of the charity.

I hope to be able to meet with all of

you at some time and make sure

“We Listen To You and Act on

What You Say”

P A G E 5 I S S U E 2

Jesse Norman MP Visits Wall Street!

Two fish in a

tank, one turns to

the other and

says

“Do you know

how to drive

this!”

When is a car not

a car?

When it turns into

a garage!

Why not send in your own

jokes to:

[email protected]

Residents at Wall Street in Hereford had a

visit from Jesse Norman MP. He was

invited by Nigel, a resident who wanted to

share his hopes and worries for the future.

The MP spent a long time with residents

and staff and was given a Livability cake as

a Thank you. Nigel hopes that this visit will

help him keep his home, were he has lived

for 12 years.

Budding Photographer Steve Shows

There Is Life After Brain Injury!

Hello, my name is Steve and I was in

the Army. Then a brain injury left me

disabled; Lifestyle Choices Southwest

wanted to find someone who could help

me get out and about. They did and

now I love taking photos of the local

wildlife with my support worker, Joe.

New Training Flat For The Links, Brackley!

Hello, we are residents at

Brackley and we are

designing and decorating

a brand new training flat

which we will use to learn

new and important life

skills for the future.

Do you have any stories that you would like to

share? Perhaps you have achieved something,

took part in a fundraising event, had a good or

bad experience on holiday, or you just want to

introduce your self to your fellow readers.

If so then you could feature in the next issue of

Network News!

Simply email your story with a photo (if you have

one) to:

Kayleigh Walters

User Involvement Case Coordinator

Email: [email protected]

Tel. 020 7452 2000

Email: [email protected]

“Our vision is of a transformed society

where disabled and disadvantaged people

can live life to the full.”

(Livability)