Latest News
Stimulating debate with Welsh Assembly Members
LtF convened an eminent platform of parent activists, user-led organisations and community builders to debate the proposal that policy should place greater emphasis upon nurturing strong and interdependent communities - see the introductory presentation by clicking here
Sequel to "Much More to Life than Services" will be available in June 2012
Bob's hard at work on an analysis of why we seem to be making such heavy weather of ensuring that self direction, a culture of complementary and supplementary facilitative service delivery, strengths-based thinking and attitudes, and attention to the lives that we want and the society we aspire to are central to how we set about caring for each other in what may well turn out to be post-consumerist Britain. And, far more importantly, sharing the stories of the many who have/are breaking the mould and stimulating thinking about how current obstacles can be negotiated.
Welsh Assembly Seminar Programme - 8th February 2012
Contributors include Ken & Gareth Davies, Steve Harris, Ralph Broad, Luke Conlon, Rick Wilson - organised and facilitated by Bob Rhodes
Welsh Assembly Members' Seminar rescheduled
Reforming Social Care - Putting Citizens and their Communities back at the centre of how we care for each other in Wales will now take place at 6pm on Tuesday 7th February 2012.
Not all crisis in Greece! Let's learn from Petagma!
Over more than the last decade Bob's been working with families, NGO's and government agencies in Greece with a view to developing sustainable personalised and community based support arrangements for and with people with intellectual disabilities and their families. One of these - Petagma, an inspirational family led organisation that provides supported living, innovative short breaks, and extensive peer support and stimulus - celebrated its 10th anniversary with a very successful conference at the national parliament on October 18th. Bob and his guest, Luke Conlon (Director of Community Choice and Inclusion) gave the keynote seminar and workshop on the theme of "sustaining a high quality approach - making your insstitution a catalyst for care".
Thornbury ABCD consultation
Colin Campbell, Co-Director of LivesthroughFriends, has been working with a number of families in Thornbury who have a close relative who require ongoing care & support due to their disability. Recently, Colin, alongside Sheila and Andrew Forsythe (local residents) undertook a community consultation day to gather views from local people about their community and to gain information about how to include more people in the community by helping each other. Asset Based Community Development & Participatory approaches were used to engage with local people. See attached report for a summary of what people told us.
REVISITING BARCLAY
Bob Rhodes and Ralph Broad argue that social work and social care should return to the thinking set out in the Barclay report and renew their commitment to community.
Read the Discussion Paper at http://www.centreforwelfarereform.org/library/type/text/revisiting-barclay.html
Local Area Coordination, Strengths based Approaches and Time Banking
See Ralph Broad and Lawrence Hughes' presentations here
JOIN US IN THE CRUCIAL CONVERSATION
A CONVERSATION ABOUT CARE
How can we put relationships and associations back at the centre of how we care for each other?
Wednesday 6th July, 0915 – 1645, at ‘The Conference Centre’, Gloucester Rugby, Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester, GL1 3AX.
£75 + vat (includes lunch and refreshments)
1. KEYNOTE: Jim Diers, Participatory Democracy expert from Seattle
2. Bob Rhodes, author of “Much More to Life than Services” and leader in strengths-based inclusive practice
3. Richard Davies, Organisational Psychologist and Consultant at Vanguard, interested in the design of public services
4. Martin Simon, author of “Your Money or Your Life – Time for Both”, Martin brought Time Banking to the UK
5. Ralph Broad, expert on Local Area Coordination in the UK and social care reform
6. Denis Rowley animates Equal Futures, a Scottish parent-led organisation
Despite the wealth of inputs, this is one of those events where the word ‘conference’ is not the best fit, it will be more about conversation and a little less about presentation, more about participation and less about consuming information. This is a genuine invitation to a conversation that really matters, to discuss questions that do not have predefined answers, and to work with around 100 leaders, thinkers and practitioners from across the UK to identify possibilities for actionable change towards a more caring society.
A CONVERSATION ABOUT CARE - JOIN US!
LivesthroughFriends in partnership with Vanguard are hosting the crucial conversation -"How can we put relationships and associations back at the centre of how we care for each other?"
With Jim Diers, Martin Simon, Bob Rhodes, Denis Rowley, Ralph Broad and Richard Davis and100 key UK innovators, thinkers and practitioners on Wednesday 6th July at Gloucester Rugby Conference Centre. See Latest News for full details
For Booking Form
Bob to speak at Vanguard Care Conference - May 10th
"Other work being undertaken challenges the fundamentals of what we as individuals want out of life and, in particular, if we become dependent upon the support of others. The work of Bob Rhodes challenges the commonly held misconception that institutions and services can or should be seen as a comprehensive solution..." (From the Conference invitation)
Bob's presentation - "Unintended Consequences" is available for Download
Your Money or Your Life - Time for Both
Martin Simon's moving and optimistic analysis of Timebanking is an invitation to change your life and to be a joyful part of a movement where the giving and receiving of care and and hospitality is actively regenerating communities. It is available from info@timebanks.co.uk or Waterstones and other online book retailers at £12.50
big/our society? We need to be bilingual!
The language of government and it's institutions - statutory, voluntary and private is the language of control, of business, of CONTRACTS.
The language of communities is different, based upon consensus, trust, free association, of RELATIONSHIPS.
No One Alone
On the 10th November a large group of people attended the "No One Alone" learning event. Dave, from Neighbours International, produced this graphic depicting a "Good Life".
Gloucestershire Community Development Workshop
On the 7th Oct Cormack Russell conducted an Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) event in Churchdown.
Download Jim Diers presentation from the day.
CHANGING THE NARRATIVE ON DISABILITY IN IRELAND
Download the notes and programme here for Boston College's, 'by invitation only', 'new thinking' event in Dublin on November 15th...
A momentous week (and a bit...) for Community Building and real and sustainable Inclusion
All the feedback - and subsequent explosion in grassroots activity - indicates that our week focused upon community building with Cormac Russell and Jim Diers has proved to be inspirational and empowering for a very large percentage of the folk who joined our conversations in Newcastle, Gloucester, The Forest of Dean, and (with Bob and Cormac) in Dublin. There's no point, as Cormac put it, in "not taking advantage of a good crisis" and there's little doubt that the strengths and gifts focused message of ABCD offers the prospect of hope and sustainability that is lacking from a bureaucratic analysis of the current crisis in the economic system.
Inclusion - learning and sharing in the US
Bob and his wife Daphne are shortly off to California to learn from US activists such as Mike Green and Ron Dwyer-Voss and to share UK experience at an ABCD in Action event in Sacramento. They'll also be making quite a holiday of the trip, celebrating their recent Ruby Wedding Anniversary.
A Great Introduction to the Big Society from Jim Diers
Jim prepared this in Australia but it strikes a very loud chord here!
Recommended reading!
Organisations,self-direction & personalisation
Over recent years we've been keeping an eye on lots of different social care organisations as they have sought to come terms with and/or embrace the challenges associated with supporting people to both take control of their lives and achieve good, relationship-rich, and contributing lifestyles.
SUPPORT BROKERAGE TRAINING
LivesthroughFriends will be running another NBN accredited Support Brokerage course in the South West beginning in March 2011. The course will be delivered by Bob Rhodes & Colin Campbell.
email colin@livesthroughfriends.org for an outline of the course:
LivesthroughFriends on Twitter
You can follow our occasional musings and insights on twitter.
Changing the narrative about disability in Ireland
In association with Nurture Development, the Institute for Asset Based Community Development, Gheel Autism Services, the Walkinstown Association, and Boston College, LivesthroughFriends is organising a launch event for a co-produced and co-production initiative in Ireland this Autumn (2010).
DATE CONFIRMED as MONDAY NOVEMBER 15th 2010 - ATTENDANCE BY INVITATION ONLY
Have you read "Much More to Life than Services"?
by Bob Rhodes, LivesthroughFriends Co-Director, "Much More to Life than Services" was published in 2010:
Much More to Life than Services...asks our social care professionals to use their skills, resources and knowledge to help people to come together and "visualise, plan and implement their own support". The book is a means to an end, a brilliant and sharp reminder to bring about a culture change for the better.
Martin Simon (Chief Executive - Time Banking UK).
You can purchase a copy of "Much More To Life Than Services" through PayPal using the "BUY NOW" button below or click the following link to download an order form.
Click here to download an order form (Word Format)