DCIL Project Archive
HIGH PEAK PROJECT
The High Peak Project aims to develop volunteering and training opportunities
for disabled people in the voluntary and community sector in High Peak district.
It is supported from DCIL outreach bases in Chapel-en-le-Frith and the village
of Hope. The projects two main recent successes are:
I Can Can You event in December 2004. This was a joint event between High
Peak CVS, High Peak Community Arts and DCIL. 38 participants from local
organisations took part in workshops on equal opportunities, access issues,
the Disability Discrimination Act, funding, and assistive technology. A DVD
was shown on the contribution by disabled volunteers in the district, prepared
by DCIL and Community Arts.
A training programme based on the English Tourist Boards National
Accessible Scheme was delivered to personnel of Peak District National Park.
Other activities are DCIL Information points, mentoring, support into a
wide range of volunteer roles, and training that has included: personal
development, mentoring, confidence building, computing, dealing with the media,
access audits, British Sign Language, literacy and numeracy.
Funding for this project has been from the National Lottery (now the Big
Lottery Fund).
SHIREBROOK PROJECT
This is a project to develop
DCIL Member participation in the districts of Chesterfield, NE Derbyshire, and
Bolsover, and is supported from the DCIL base at Shirebrook in Bolsover district.
Activities include: representation on a range of local bodies, reported
back to a Local Members Group; volunteer roles in administration and an
information advice service; liaison with the local JobcentrePlus; training and
awareness raising including schools; campaign work. Several members have moved
on to employment.
Funding includes a grant from NE Derbys District Council (separate from the
Service Level Agreement with other public authorities). Other grants have been
from the Big Lottery Fund and the Sustainable Communities fund.
PERSONAL SUPPORT SERVICE EDUCATION PROGRAMME
This project ran from
1996-2001, funded initially by the National Lottery and then by Lloyds-TSB.
Two wings of the project were:
- to complement and add value to a Community Care contract providing a personal assistance service. This was done by employing two Integrated Living Advisers and two Community Development Workers. In this way the core personal assistance service was strengthened by peer support and community work as well as by existing DCIL services like Information and Peer Counselling.
- to develop a national qualification for independent/integrated living advice work. This was to be done in three stages: detailed specification of the standards required, based on the practical experience of Integrated Living Advisers; partnership with an existing Assessment Centre and the approval of DCILs own Assessors and Internal Verifiers; DCILs registration as an Assessment Centre itself, and national marketing of the programme.
It was not possible to fund the programme to its third stage, but some continuity was provided by arrangement with National CIL. Development work was also continued under contracts with neighbouring authorities.
THE RUSSIA PROJECT
Two one-year projects were funded in 1998-2000 through the Know How Fund for
projects in the voluntary sector (a fund of the Dept for Overseas Development).
They were in partnership with a Moscow based organisation of disabled people,
Perspektiva. Stages of the projects were:
- Along with the Lottery funded Derbyshire Young Disabled People's Project we hosted a training week for ten Russian visitors.
- People from DCIL, YOUFF, and a young disabled peoples project at Chester attended an 'Independent Living Youth Camp' in Moscow.
- We attended a Moscow conference of young disabled people from all over Russia, on 'Youth Empowerment and Community Change'.
- Along with the UK Direct Action Network we helped to prepare and organise an action in Moscow drawing attention to access to public transport. A video record of the action was edited afterwards.
Other projects on a national level subsequently continued some of this partnership work, and included a CIL pilot in one Russian region.
YOUFF YOUNG DISABLED PEOPLE'S PROJECT
YOUFF (Young Disabled People Fighting for Freedom) was a two year project
arising from a Youth Action Project of the Derbyshire Coalition of Disabled
People. It was funded by the National Lottery Charities Board and reporting in
2000. A Project Link Worker was employed, initially to overcome poor response
to volunteers efforts to contact people in special schools etc.
The Project went on to prepare newsletters and training materials, research
aspirations, and work with DCDP members and DCIL to put on a conference. Other
opportunities arose like participation in a college arts project, contact with
the new National Music Academy at Sheffield, and participation in the Russia
Project (see separate entry).
A project database grew to 70 members, 32 of whom took part in the Make a
Difference conference at Pride Park Stadium in October 1999. In workshops
members constructed a wall of exclusion followed by a road to freedom and
equality leading over it. The conference and project as a whole left a loud and
clear message that young disabled people demand equality of education, access
to earnings, social life, and integration with their peers.
YOUNG DISABLED PEOPLE'S VOLUNTEERING
A short 2006 project funded by the Russell Commission on the Future of
Volunteering aimed to develop a volunteering strategy to include younger
disabled people. This included review of the policy context and existing
resources, a breakdown of barriers and sources of support, a marketing plan for
volunteering opportunities, the definition of tasks and procedures within DCIL,
and a moving on strategy.
The project identified a wide range of benefits from volunteering to young
disabled people, to DCIL, and to communities. An existing post in DCIL will be
a part of the resource needed to sustain a momentum to apply the volunteering
strategy and realise these benefits. Successful projects elsewhere suggested a
need for a young disabled peoples forum to sustain continuity (and revive the
lapsed youth action project).