Saturday 25 February
Today was a pretty busy session for the youth forum. Around 12 members were present and the session began by us first going over what had happened in the previous meeting. A couple of people from London who work for a disabled organisation came and did some work with members of the Youth forum, all discussing disability rights. The session then progressed on to a problem that Catherine is currently experiencing with her living accommodation. Catherine explained that she feels frustrated as the people who are in charge won’t let her have friends over or let her go out independently. This caused anger in the group when they realised she couldn’t do what she wanted to do. Catherine is currently working with a mentor who will help her sort these problems out and there’s likely to be more about this in the newsletter. Kate wants everyone who’s expressed an interest in writing an article for the newsletter to have it to her by Wednesday. There’s currently a bit of difficulty for some members as they struggle to use computing equipment but with some discussion this has all been resolved. The newsletter may not be out every month; it may just be published if and when there are enough stories to make an issue. We also welcomed Lucy back to the group. Lucy will set up a face book page so everyone from the Youth Forum who joins can read updates and find out when the next meeting is. It’s also important as those who are supposed to bring coffee, milk, etc, can be reminded of this.
Caroline then mentioned that our roadshow project will be starting on the next meeting. There are plans that will have to be made as the forum event in August is fast approaching. The next few meetings will be devoted to making a start on this project.
Next
, Caroline wanted us to split up into three groups. The organisations who fund the Youth Forum want to know about what the group, how it makes us feel and how we feel we’ve changed as individuals. We all spit up and discussed these points, creating a list of what the group does for us. It promoted many interesting discussions and there will be more of this in the future.
After a lunch break, we all worked together and the subject of what the group should be called was once again discussed. This is becoming more important as the NCODP is meeting to discuss changes in its other areas and we feel that the Youth Forum should have a different name. We all went round the room, having to think of one word which we felt described the Youth Forum. There were many interesting comments however, the one which caused most discussion was from Ian, who thought that the group could be called “empowered”. However, it may be written in different ways which could somehow incorporate the word “disability”. EmpowerD The group all agreed that they didn’t necessarily want the word “disability” in the name but did agree that something that meant the same should be included so that potential new members know who the group is for. There will be more discussion of this in future meetings.
The day was brought to a close by Caroline reminding everyone that the NCODP is holding a few open sessions in which everyone is invited to discuss problems such as employment, and others talking about the organisation as a whole. These all take place in March and any information can be obtained from Caroline. The next meeting is on Saturday 10 march in which the schools and Forum project get underway, it will start at the earlier time of 10.30am.
11th February
Today at the forum we had some visitors come in and talk to us about our rights first we sat round in a circle and said our names and our favourite popsters after that we played a game were jo red out some questions and we had to go to the right side of the room Zara was on the left and Andrew on the right then we split up in to groups in our groups we discussed what we needed to live and what we wanted to live and then we had lunch after lunch we done the same game as in the morning and jo told us the right answers after that we had a Question and answer session with jo Andrew and Zara after that we looked at wall of solidarity which is what we wrote down for all disabled people in Norfolk and then we went home
Saturday 28 January
Today, quite a few of the group members were present. This enabled us to make progress on our up and coming projects as there were enough of us to split into groups and work together on maintaining the group. We also welcomed two new members to the group, Kizzy and Charlie. After we had an ice breaker activity, we reviewed what had taken place in the last session. A lot of work has gone into our website. Last time, the group discussed what should go on the website and have come up with different pages people can click on to find out more about the group. These include:
about us, future events, news, meetings, to name a few. Caroline spoke about a possible meeting with a group who do similar activities to us in Darlington. We hope to arrange a meeting with them sometime this year. Caroline also discussed the project. As there’s quite a lot that needs to go into it, she wants to work with 5 or so volunteers who can work with her and help make decisions as she wishes the group to have more control over this project. We need people to organise school visits, people to organise Lego for our Lego wall for our summer event, and others to monitor the website. We have had volunteers and Caroline will speak to them in the coming weeks. Catherine has also become our official secretary and her job involved discussing the newsletter. A group of people have offered to write various articles for the newsletter which should be published in the next week. Catherine has made a list of those wishing to take part in writing any articles. She also has a record of those who have offered to bring in biscuits, coffee, tea, sugar and milk for next session.
Jacquie was also present and she took a group out so they can do more on their Arts Award projects. The rest of the group spent more time talking about what should go on the website and how the pages should be organised. As well as this, some of us started writing profiles about ourselves which can go on the website. It’s important these are done so that future members can look at the website and find out about the members of the group before they join.
After we’d taken a break for lunch, the Arts Award group continued with their projects. The rest of us split up so that some of us could do work on the website, some could get the web pages written and edited before they go on the website , and there was discussion about the logo and the aim of the group. This has been an ongoing topic of discussion for a while now and the members are still deciding whether they should rename the group. We also discussed the logo. We feel that this could be changed as there’s more of us now. Ideas were circulated and more will be done on this in the coming sessions. The other group talked about the pages they’d edited. They wanted to check through this and discussed the whether they were worded in a way they felt comfortable with. A lot of discussion goes into whether the wording sounds right on this as the group are always aware that they could be patronised or belittled by others, who are external from the group.
That completed this particular session. The was quite a lot of satisfaction from everyone and they are looking forward to the year. It’s going to be a big one for the youth forum; what with the road show and the event in the summer at the forum; we are all enjoying preparing for this. Next time, we have people coming into do some sessions with us. This should be interesting and will take place on Saturday, 11 February.
14th January
Today at the youth forum we sat round in a circle and played a game we had to say someone’s name and asked them what did you get for Christmas after that Caroline told us what we’re doing today we discussed about the youth forum road show and the schools project and the forum project and then we had lunch after lunch we were split into groups on group was working with Helen discussing about the website some were working with Caroline discussing about the leaflet we are going to change the leaflet some were working with Iain discussing what we feel about our lives and then it was time to go
Saturday 12 November
Today was the first time the group had held a conventional meeting for a couple of weeks. This was due to the AGM held in October and the protest about the cuts also held in October. The group first began by discussing both of these before we went into a warm up exercise. It was an ice breaker activity which involved everyone and which was much enjoyed.
After this, we split up into groups. 2012 should be a successful year for the forum as we have secured funding for the schools project. This is where we go around schools in Norfolk promoting disability and trying to explain to school children that disability isn't a negative thing. Not only have we got this, but we are hiring out the forum in early August of 2012. This is similar to disability pride held in 2010 but the youth forum are in charge of the day. We all worked in individual groups on separate areas which will ensure the day is successful. Some worked on PR and marketing. Others did advertising, others did arts and some discussed what we should have to attract attention to ourselves in a positive light when we take part in this event in August. After we'd spent around 30 minutes in our groups, we all met up again and discussed our respective areas to make the day a success. We have made a decent start but will spend more time planning this event in future sessions.
Next, we took a short break for lunch before we were split up into three groups. One group was with Caroline who discussed areas of the youth forum. We are making a website which will be specifically for youth forum members. This will mean that we can have an online forum, for example, put pieces of our previous work online and also so we can encourage new members to join. We talked about how we wanted the youth forum to be represented, for example what did we want it to be called? Did we want it to have the word "disability" in the title? we came up with many interesting suggestions which will be discussed in future sessions. Staying on the website, Neil from the NCODp and a website developer was there. He told us what he could put on our website and how we could be in control of it ourselves. He also demonstrated to us just what accessibility features we may need for example, screen readers, large print, etc. Neil also showed us how we could upload videos and images so we can work on this.
The final group worked with Helen, Caroline's assistant. We all had to make posters an this an exercise that they aim to take into the schools when we do this project. Some groups decided to do individual posters, while others chose to work as one. The posters were made to demonstrate what did disabled people want and what was stopping them from achieving their ambitions. The posters ranged from gaining employment, to living indipendently, to travelling round the world.
The final part of the day was for the leaders of each group to summarise what had been discussed and what will be done in future weeks. Neil is going to work on the website this week and will have an example to demonstrate to the group when they next meet.
That concluded the session on this saturday. There is another meeting on the 19th November before our final meeting of the year which will be on the 10th December. In our next session, there will be a continuation of the work mentioned in this summary and there will be an update compiled after next Saturday's meeting.
Saturday 8 October
Today wasn't a conventional NCODP youth forum meeting as we attended our AGM at Framingham Pigot Village hall. Around seven members were there to represent the youth forum.
First there was the usual introduction. Cathy Saunders, the chair woman of the NCODp welcomed everyone to the meeting before a roving microphone was sent round the hall so everyone could introduce themselves. There were around 100 people there. Once this had been done, Cathy read through the minutes from last years AGM and these were approved. Next, Mark Harrison,Caroline's boss and chief executive of the coalition talked about the cuts that are affecting disabled people. He urged everyone to stick together during these difficult times financialy and encouraged us to take part in the march against cuts which will be taking place in Norwich on Saturday 22 October. After this the accounts were read to us by Sarah Carter. The coalition hasn't had to use as much of it's reserve money this year as it had to over the past year and although we are living in challenging times economically, the coalition is better off than some other organisations which was pleasing to everyone in the room. After this, there were the re-elections. We had four people to elect, Cathy Saunders remains as chair, Shaun Hobs as vice chair, George Saunders as Trustee and Kate Wyatt as newly elected trustee. Congratulations to everyone who was successfully re-elected.
We were supposed to have Lorraine Gradwell talking to us from the Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People. Due to illness, she was unable to attend so Mark spoke about the youth forum and their achievements over the past year. He played a film which had been made and showed the group working on various projects. This was well recieved and there was more from the youth forum after lunch.
After an hour's break, everyone met up again in the hall and we had a singer and her husband come in to give us a vocal work shop. We had to do various warm up exercises before singing a couple of songs. The first was a round where half would start and the other join in during the song. The second was similar however there were more parts, including a vocal rhythm and another vocal harmony. This lasted for about 45 minutes then the youth forum did their presentation. They played their film recently made about the 15th anniversary of the coalition. It had always been a difficult task as we had only 3 sessions to get this completed however thanks to some hard work and editing from Chris Reddington, the film was complete on time. It was well recieved then those of us who were present fielded questions from the audience, talking about how we'd made the film and our up and coming school project. Saturday was also a day of importance for the youth forum as they learnt they had recieved £10,000 from the big lottery so they are able to kick start their project and go into schools, promoting disability.
The question and answer session went on longer than the youth forum had expected but everyone contributed well and dealt with the questions asked of them. After this, we handed back to Cathy Saunders who summarised the day and concluded the meeting by thanking everyone for attending. Our next youth forum meeting will be on Saturday 22 October, the day of the disability march. Again it won't be a conventional meeting but meeting times are the same.
Saturday 24th September
Today started of with a long intro about the AGM and the Hardest Hit march, Kate and Chris were late to the meeting (because Kate had an appointment at the doctors.) While they were away we played a little game about our favourite holidays and why. Then we spilt out into two groups, one group interviewed Mark Harrison while the other group were discussing the theory for our AGM project. Then we spilt for lunch while inside our lunch Catherine asked Caroline to peal her orange for her Caroline made such a mess that made Catherine and Selby laughed and laughed. Catherine laughed through eating her orange. After lunch we spilt up again into four groups this time one group went upstairs to do some animation, while Chris and Ian wrote the intro for the film, Caroline helped everyone to sign the activities needed and the forth group were finishing of the credits it took over hours together Thanks for the thoughts and ideas see you soon
Saturday 10 September
Today we spent the session working on our up and coming film for the AGM which takes place on 8 October. The youth forum decided they wanted to find out more about how the coalition was formed and what life was like for disabled people before the organisation. Today they interviewed four members, some who were instrumental in setting up the coalition and others who have recently joined. We met Bill, Shaun, George, Stephanie and Sandy. The group all worked well together, working out how to set up the filming equipment and others deciding which questions to ask. This part of the session went well and the group was pleased by the answers they got. This was all filmed and before the AGM we hope to interview Mark Harrison who was instrumental in setting up the youth forum.
After this, we broke for a short lunch break. When we regrouped, we all discussed how we felt the filming session had gone and how it could be improved. We all agreed that we should communicate more as a team as we'd been split up into two groups and therefore the interviewees were being asked the same question more than once.
Next, we were joined by Jacquie who does the arts award. Half the group went off with her to do some animation for the credits of the film while the rest of us worked out how the film was going to be edited. Chris has offered to do this so we worked with him so he could get started with this. We have yet to come up with a title for the film and we haven't decided on an ending as yet but we have one more meeting to do this and Chris will meet with Caroline before this to work out other details.
As well as working on the film, other things have been discussed. Johnathon, who used to edit our monthly newsletter is unable to do this now due to other commitments. Kate has offered to take over so anything you think the rest of us would be interesting in reading about, write it up, send it to Kate and she'll make sure it goes in the newsletter.
On Wednesday 28 September between 11 and 2 there is an event on at Earth Studios. It is for disabled people with learning disabilities who want to come in and play music. The event takes place at:
Earth Studios, Casten Industrial Estate, Salhouse Road, Norwich, NR7 9AQ. They hope as many of you can attend the event as possible.
We also discussed finishing times. Before the making of this most recent film, our sessions ran from 11 until 2.30. At the moment we are ending our sessions at 3. Caroline asked the group whether they minded finishing at this time from now on as we are pushed for time and don't get everything finished. The group had no problem with this proposal however this hasn't been finally decided as yet and there will be more information about this in coming weeks.
That completed Saturday's session. We will be meeting on the 24th September to have our final preparation session before the AGM on October the 8th. We need to get final details of the film complete and at the moment we are running to time. There will be more after our next session on Saturday, September 24th
Saturday 23rd July
This is to be our last session for 5 weeks due to people being away for summer breaks. It was busy as one of the founder members of the coalition, Bill had a proposition for the youth forum. First, he introduced himself and we all took part in an ice breaker activity. He wanted us to all think of a favourite film and explain to the rest of the group why we had chosen these particular films.
This all lead on to the main object of the exercise. Bill, alongside Mark, Caroline's boss who was also present for the session, want the youth forum to make a film about the history of the coalition and find out how it's changed disabled people's lives over the past 15 years.
The idea was well recieved throughout the group however the problem to this is that we only have 3 sessions to complete it as it has to be ready by early October as this is when our AGM takes place. We split up into smaller groups and had to make posters, advertising the film.
We then all came back together, sharing and explaining our different ideas. it became clear that all the group wanted to do interviews and some were interested in looking back at archives to see if there was much media attention to the launch of the coalition 15 years ago.
Other ideas included talking to leaders and members of user groups, finance plus some smaller points which will be discussed in future meetings. Bill seemed pleased with the progress and we broke for a short lunch break.
After this, the group split in half, one worked with Mark on creating posters about disability rights which spoke of how disabled people want to be treated in mainstream society and finding employment. The other half started making plans for the film. A list was collaborated and it was concluded that we wanted to interview at least 5 people and we will edit each interview as soon as it's been done so as not to waste time. Caroline will e-mail these people who include trustees and others who work full time at the coalition. She is hoping that they will be able to make our Saturday meetings as there will not be extra sessions unless necessary. Equipment was also discussed; this is already sorted and we hope to start the film in our next session. We will be able to edit the film as one of the forum members has offered to do this for us which should also save time and not cause a rush at the end of the project.
That completed the session. Everyone agreed that it had been a successful and productive meeting and we all look forward to starting a new film project. We will next be meeting on Saturday 27 August. The group understand and realise the tight shedule but everyone is looking forward to the challenge ahead and can't wait to get started after the summer break on August 27th.
Saturday 9th July
· Began by continuing with our plans and ideas for 3 year project
· Then Mark gave us a talk about the history of disability and the formation of disability rights groups /campaigning, as well discussing the medical model of disability [disability isn’t actually our condition but rather the barriers that society places in our way]
· We then got together in groups to discuss what we considered good and bad phrases often associated with disability and difference i.e. ‘Spastic’ and ‘Special’. Afterwards we came together again to chat about them.
· Finally, a name was agreed upon for the 3 year project- ‘Don’t Dis Me, I’m Able’
Aspects of the Disability Youth Forum witch could be Improved:
· Time management regarding Lunch Breaks: Know exactly where you’re going for lunch, [if going out] so as not to get lost and waste time regarding the meeting.
Saturday 25 June
Today was the second meeting for the youth forum in our new venue. For those of you who haven’t been yet, we are now meeting at Chantry Hall, Chantry Road, Norwich. This is much more beneficial for all of us as we are on one level and therefore don’t have to worry about stairs. The room is much bigger so we have more space to work on different activities and can increase or decrease the size of the hall by opening and closing the partition depending on what we are doing. It’s also more central and closer to public transport which makes it easier for those who come in by bus. If you prefer to go out for lunch, we are very near to Chapel Field and other eating outlets.
There were about 15 members present on Saturday and we first of all began by having a few ice breaking games. We welcomed Laura who is a new member. She is currently a student at Aberdeen University and spoke to us all about the benefits and barriers she experienced in her first year. There will be an article from her in future newsletters but she wanted to know if the group were interested in helping her set up a group for disabled students which is still part of the student union. Everyone seemed interested and some members have given her possible ideas on how she could go about this. We all said goodbye to Helen who is moving on to become a scout leader. We thank her for giving up her time to assist and everyone wishes her the best of luck in her new role.
We then spent time talking about the future of the NCODP youth forum. As we are in a new venue, it seemed right that we come up with a list of new guidelines. These included putting up your hand when you wish to speak, helping each other and team work. A full list of these will be published shortly. Next, Caroline handed out sheets which were a bit like business plans. The group split up and worked together to plan the youth forum’s activities for the next 3 years. Some of the ideas people came up with were:
Setting up smaller youth forums in areas such as Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn
Going into local schools and talking to young people about disability and how it shouldn’t be a barrier to them.
Planning for future employment and get training so young disabled people can learn how to fill in application forms and make CVS as well as getting a greater understanding of what work is available in their local areas.
This is an ongoing project and will be worked on over the next few sessions.
After this the group all came together again and discussed some of their ideas before we took a break for lunch.
Next, we all got back together again. Caroline wanted the group to write inspirational messages about disability so everyone can see how disabled people are able to live in the mainstream. The activity was named “message in a bottle”. Everyone worked on their messages before taking it in turns to work with a partner, one filming, one speaking then swapping round.
Finally, we all got back together and had to fill in a group form talking about what went well, what didn’t go so well and what could be improved. This is a new procedure which will have to be done so everyone in the group can see how we are progressing but also so future funders can see how the youth forum plans and executes every session.
We then concluded the meeting. Everyone seemed to have had a good time and was satisfied with how everything had gone. We will be meeting again on Saturday, 9 July.
Saturday 28th May
We spent the morning firstly discussing the Measuring Outcomes project and then engaging in activities related to possibly reworking the initial aims of the forum. (This involved considering, in turn, what each of the aims mean and then thinking about how we could promote them.)
The afternoon was then spent thinking further about how we could represent the aims. It was decided to explore this through the use of drama, a comic strip, or other forms of creative media. This will be reported back on next session.
Saturday 14th May
Today was our third meeting in our new venue. Under One Roof, just opposite Toys R Us. This time some old members and new members arrived to participate. We actually started by playing a name game this time; we say our name then a name we’d like to have mine went like this "my name is Peggy and my make-believe name is Rogue"
Caroline had some notices she had to put forward one of which is unfortunately Rob will no longer be working with the group because there isn’t the funding. Then Mark, Ian Chris and Kate also had some notices to say about a march they had been on in London. Then just before lunch we had time for a little game, we had to make up pizza's using the things that matter to us most in life. There were some different suggestions but we all agreed on some things like friends family, education, getting a job and moving out of home.
After lunch we were spilt into two groups one group was finishing off their art awards the other one were making sketches up about the 6 aims of the group which we made up last year. We did some short films and took pictures.
Saturday 30 April
Today was our second meeting in our new venue, Under One Roof, just outside Toys R us. Most of the group was present however there wasn’t such a big turn out as there was last time. To begin with, Caroline had a few messages she wanted to pass on to us. If you are still interested about coming on the London trip to protest about the cuts and talk to your local MP, the final hand in date for your consent forms is Friday 6 May. If you haven’t got one, or lost one, contact the NCODP. The website is:
http://www.campaignagainstcuts.org.uk/may112011.
Or phone the office on 01508 49 12 10.
She also wanted to talk about the news letter; this again will be sent to you in the next week. If you require transport to future meetings, it is your responsibility to contact the taxi company and book the transport. If you have any queries about this, speak to Caroline but all the details will be in the next newsletter.
The newsletter has been coming on well. Chris and johnathon have been working on this and it is nearly complete. It will be sent out by post or e-mail depending on your preference.
After the introductions, the group was split in half. Some went off to the computer area to look at the new website that has been created for the NCODP youth forum. They were impressed with it and have made some alterations to it. The website is still being worked on and will be completed shortly.
As for the rest of the group, they worked on making some initial plans for the schools project. This has been discussed in past meetings but this time, we spent more time thinking about how we wanted to be represented when we do these assemblies about disability. We decided to come up with an ice breaking activity. We used the one where we have positive and negative words describing disability. We felt that maybe the young people would learn from these if they saw these words and were able to separate the negative from the positive. We have come up with a list of words and this will be continued in future sessions. There is no definite date for when this project is going to start, but everyone in the group seemed enthusiastic with the plans. Hopefully, if this goes well, we may be able to go into employers and run similar activities to help them gain a greater knowledge of disability.
That completed Saturday’s meeting. The session was productive and we were able to get a lot done. The transport to and from the venue seemed to work well this time and we all seem to be settling in well. We will have another NCODP meeting on Saturday, 14 May
16th April
Today was our first meeting in our new venue, Under One Roof, which is located just opposite Toys R us. We have had to move from the forum as there isn’t enough space for us to do everything we need to in our sessions. This building is primarily a training centre but is left vacant at weekends, giving us the space to meet up. We met in a training room, about the size of a classroom and most of the forum was present for this particular meeting. There were a few problems at first as some of the taxis couldn’t find the place, but eventually this was sorted and we were able to begin the meeting.
Caroline’s boss, Mark, joined us for the start of the meeting. He wanted to talk about some possible up and coming events that the NCODP may be involved in. First, he spoke about a meeting that he and Caroline had been to. They had gone to meet the head of children’s services, Lisa Christianson. She and two of her colleagues came to a session late last year to hear about what members felt about the cuts. She wanted us to make a film, discussing this in more detail and this meeting was for her to talk about what she felt of our work. She was impressed with it and has said she wants to work more with us in the future.
Mark also wanted to talk about an up and coming protest on the cuts which will be taking place in London on Wednesday, may 11th. Some members from the adult branch of the NCODP are planning on going and he wanted to know if some of the youth forum would be interested. There will be accessible coaches available to travel down on and if you are interested, you can collect a form from Caroline. Alternatively you can apply at: http://www.campaignagainstcuts.org.uk/may112011.
Or phone the office on 01508 49 12 10.
After this, we discussed the possibility of going to the protest and it seemed that a large number of those present would be interested. It became clear that there is the chance to book an appointment to see your local MP on this particular day to ask questions about the cuts and talk to them about what this would mean to you. We then took a break for lunch before we rejoined for the final part of the session. We split up into two groups. The committee went off to talk about establishing themselves more and organising roles for all of them to be working on. The main topic that was discussed was the monthly news letter. We all agreed that we should be working on this as we can expand it and put in articles such as disabled sports that people do plus updates on meetings if people aren’t able to make every session. All of the committee members were present accept for one but we have organised roles and will have the news letter out after the next session which will be on 30 April.
While this was happening the rest of the group were playing a series of games which involved free improvisation. After that, we all met up again back in the training room to conclude the meeting. We had time to summarise everything that had gone on and we will be meeting again at the same venue on 30th April.