The seminars will be delivered by a team of legal and other experts and cover many of the relevant topics parents and carers need to know to negotiate the often complex process of transition to further education and adult life, including

• Transition from school, social care and carers’ rights
• The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and transition
• Further education, the Learning Difficulty Assessment (LDA) and vocational opportunities
• Health service and social care funding, health and disability issues
• Housing and benefits in transition.

A leaflet with full details can be found here. Entry will be by ticket only and will include a light vegetarian buffet lunch.

Please click here to see the latest edition of our Bulletin newsletter.

In January Bromley Mencap was one of the 3 charities to be chosen by the customers at the Waitrose Bromley South store for their Community Matters Scheme.

Each month every main Waitrose branch donates £1,000 to be shared between three local good causes that are chosen by their customers.

Thanks to the support of the local community we received more green tokens than the other two charities combined and were presented with a cheque for £512.

If you have ever wanted to get involved in a 5km run, here is your chance.  On Sunday 19^th May at Regents Park, London, over 1,500 ‘Superheroes’ are expected to take part, raising over £150,000 for charity!  Bromley Mencap is looking for volunteers to take part in this fantastic event.  With just a small registration fee and raising the suggested minimum sponsorship you could become a Superhero for the day. Free costumes will be provided or you can wear your own.

No previous experience is required and with a bit of training the 5km distance should easily be within your capabilities. The spirit of the event is ‘taking part’ not ‘winning’ so you can run, jog or walk – you decide!

With places extremely limited you should book early to avoid disappointment!  Click on the link below to download an information pack.

Superhero Information Pack

A new free telephone helpline for people with learning disabilities who have been victims of disability hate crime has been launched. The 24-hour helpline, Stop Learning Disability Hate Crime, has been launched by hate crime support organisation Stop Hate UK in England and Wales.

Calls to the Stop Learning Disability Hate Crime helpline will be answered by trained staff and volunteers, who understand the impact learning disability hate crime has on victims. Calls are confidential and callers will be asked whether they need on-going support. Referrals will be made where consent has been given by the victim.

http://www.learningdisabilitytoday.co.uk/disability_hate_crime_helpline_launched.aspx?utm_source=http%3a%2f%2fnews.pavpub.com%2folmgroup_prolz%2f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=LDTnews6213&utm_term=Learning+Disability+Today+news+(31+January-6+February)&utm_content=29721

In the first official evaluation of the £3bn Work Programme, the report, by York University’s Social Policy Research Unit, says private firms, which are paid for getting an unemployed person into a long-term job, are “openly seeing their most job-ready participants more frequently than those with more severe barriers to work”.

For the summary report please click here

It would be great if Bromley Mencap can achieve at least one third of the available funding. If you are shopping in Waitrose, Bromley South this month or happen to be passing the store please pop in and ask for a green token when you buy something and put it in the box for Bromley Mencap. Every penny counts in these difficult financial times.

Thank you for your support.

The Childminding Network trains childminders to provide care for disabled children up to 16. Bromley Council provides funding towards additional activities provided by the Network for families in the borough. These include short breaks to allow parents and carers to take some time off, as well as one-to-one care for children with severe learning disabilities, complex medical needs and complex communication difficulties.

The CYP Now Awards are in their seventh year of recognising work done by individuals and projects across the UK to enable children, young people and families to live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives. This year there were nearly 400 entries for 19 award categories.

Eddie Lynch, Chief Executive of Bromley Mencap, said ‘Bromley Mencap is absolutely delighted to have been shortlisted for the Children and Young People Now Award amongst stiff competition. This recognises the quality of our childminding service, the value of the respite and short breaks it provides and acknowledges the importance of the preventative nature of the work we do. Our Childminding Network was the first of its kind in the UK to meet the childminding needs of disabled children and their parents and carers’.

Cllr Stephen Wells, Portfolio Holder for Education said: “This is great news. It is a testament to the quality of the services in our borough that Bromley Mencap is being recognised in this way.’

The Awards Evening, when results were  announced, took place on Thursday 29 November in Fulham, London.

Click here to view a full report on the Evening