News 2007 / 2008
2007 proved to be the busiest year in Les Amis history
Following an article in the JEP in September 2006, highlighting the difficulty faced in finding suitable or appropriate properties, 2007 saw a range of properties become available; – whether private rental, courtesy of the Jersey Homes Trust or landlords working with us on designing specific one-off houses. In total five new houses were added to the Les Amis portfolio. One existing house, in the Five Oaks area, was sold as no longer being appropriate for the needs of the organisation or it’s residents. The five houses are a varied mixture; two properties being rented at a new Jersey Homes Trust development on the outskirts of St Helier and being used essentially as one home, a private rental in a similar location that has been specifically developed by Paul and Mary Voisin, long-term friends of Les Amis, being used as a home to five younger residents, four of whom have moved from their family homes for the first time and a further two houses situated at Beaumont, next door to each other. One is being used as a home to a man previously with a history of severe challenging behaviour, who has made sufficient progress to be able to have his own home in the community, to be joined by a housemate in the near future, and next door a much larger house now home to five more mature residents. All of the new properties have become true homes and the residents well settled and enjoying life in their new communities.
An exciting development saw the creation of an arts and crafts project based at the Harbour Gallery. The initiative is a result of joint working between the gallery, Jersey Mencap and Les Amis. For two mornings a week, groups of residents work at the gallery on a range of arts and crafts supported by Les Amis staff and Jersey Mencap volunteers. The project has continued into 2008 and has gone from strength to strength.
At the end of 2007 and into 2008 a recycling scheme was introduced. All group homes and flats have been provided with a range of bins and each week a team, headed up by COGS Gardens, collect the items for recycling. This has already proved a popular initiative and it is hoped that during 2008 we can build up this commitment to recycling.
Le Geyt Field. For many years Les Amis has been keen on finding a piece of land to use to grow fruit and vegetables for the various group homes. At the start of 2008 this idea finally became a reality with the long-term loan of a piece of land behind Le Geyt Centre. A greenhouse and shed have been put on site and already, at the time of writing, an excellent crop of potatoes has been dug along with a whole range of other veg. The field will be productive throughout the year and has been developed by the COGS Gardens team. Although early days, the success of this venture is encouraging us to look for a larger piece of land next year to increase the range of items grown.
Basic Skills. This popular service, providing intense educational support for our residents, has been established for some time but looked in imminent danger of folding in 2007/8 due to a lack of funding. Due to the generosity of a couple, who wish to remain anonymous, the life of this service has been extended by five years. The service provides skills in literacy, numeracy, time-telling, IT, and a range of other skills designed to help gain confidence, make our residents more competitive in the job market and generally improve quality of life. At the time of writing some 24 residents access these opportunities, either in small groups or on a one to one basis.
Adult Respite Provision. Towards the end of 2007, Les Amis gave notice to Health and Social Services of its intention to cease providing respite at the end of March 2008. The reasons given were clear and simple: Les Amis is the only provider of general respite facilities for adults with learning disabilities in Jersey and has subsidised this service for the past 20 years. By the end of the year it became apparent that this was no longer sustainable. Attempts to bring the issue to the negotiating table over a period of four years had been unsuccessful and thus the decision was reluctantly taken to give notice. Predictably the issue made headlines in the island media and as a result of concern from many quarters, a temporary emergency-funding package has been put in place for the remainder of 2008 whilst substantive discussions on the way forward take place. There is optimism that a satisfactory solution can be found for the benefit of all current and future respite users.
During 2007 and into early 2008 a small focus group met on a regular basis to write a ‘work’ strategy for people with learning disabilities. A representative from Les Amis was included in this group. The decision to formulate a strategy was as a result of growing recognition that there are increasing difficulties in the area of work or daytime occupation with all existing services, including Les Amis’ own Day Service COGS, coming under ever-greater pressure in terms of numbers, more complex resident needs and financial constraints. The strategy was completed early in 2008 and has been adopted by the States of Jersey. Financial resources are now being sought to ensure that the strategy can be implemented, at least in part by 2009.
2008 and beyond. Les Amis has grown dramatically over the past five years and it is clear many new challenges lie ahead. The Community Living Strategy, to which Les Amis subscribes, predicts the need for more people to access our services over the next five years. With this in mind, 2008 has been earmarked as a year of consolidation. To assist in future planning, a major evaluation is being undertaken of Les Amis, its services, structures and ability to take on the future challenges of an ever-more competitive field. The evaluation is being funded by Jersey Mencap and undertaken by Heartfelt, an organisation based in Scotland, very experienced in the field of learning disability and with a wide knowledge of Jersey. The evaluation has been undertaken using focus groups, external and internal interviews of those closely connected to Les Amis, analysis of training needs, a review of terms and conditions and financial systems. This work has been ongoing for most of the year to date and a report and launch evening was held in September 2008.
Trinity Homes. An exciting new development is currently being planned with the Les Vaux Housing Trust, who are purchasing two vacant houses in Trinity, which will be developed into one large home to be used by a man with severe physical disabilities in addition to his learning disability, and at least two others. A range of special adaptations will ensure that the man in question has the same chance as all other Les Amis residents to have his own community home.
Les Amis, having been ‘adopted’ by Stonehage Trust Holdings as their local charity of choice, were pleased that the fund-raising efforts of the staff of that firm raised sufficient funds to furnish and equip the new Beaumont houses, for which we are most grateful. In addition a team from Mourants swam around the island in August 2008 and nominated Les Amis as one of the three charities to benefit from this brave endeavour. Recently a final cheque was presented giving a total of close to £10,000 raised for Les Amis alone, money to be used in part to buy and install a tracking hoist system in the Garden Flat at the main building at Five Oaks. We are most grateful to the guys at Mourants, true ‘friends’ of Les Amis.
.... 2009 and 2010? Watch this space............
