WHAT OTHER SUPPORT AND ACTIVITIES DO WE OFFER?
Training in Independent Living Skills - this includes cooking; food hygiene; healthy eating; managing your money ; safety in the home; crime prevention; household hints and tips on cleaning and laundry and a variety of other skills which give our service users the confidence and skills required to lead independent lives and advocate on their own behalf, all of which will enhance their quality of life and contribute to their successful inclusion in the local community.
Preparation for Christmas Buffet Preparation for Halloween Party
Health & Wellbeing Activities - outdoor activities including walking and cycling and indoor activities in the fitness suite of a local leisure centre which includes the use of fitness equipment; swimming; badminton and other group activities. The indoor activities are accessed through Live Active Leisure (formerly Perth and Kinross Leisure) and the Compass Scheme which enables service users to make use of the local leisure centre free of charge. We try to vary the programmeof activities to suit the needs of service users and are always happy to try new activities that will help to improve fitness, as the picture of a yoga session below demonstrates. All of these activities are designed to improve the health and fitness of our service users
Yoga session Football Coaching is a winner with the group
Workshops - over the past year workshops have included assertiveness training; training in handling conflict; creative art; music; reading; computer skills; dry stone walling; plant identification; garden tool maintenance; tool safety; safety in the garden; bicycle maintenance and welfare rights. All of our workshops are driven by the needs of our service users and therefore change periodically to meet the needs of those on the programme at any given time.
A dry stone walling course A reading workshop
Work Experience Placements- although we are not an employment project and the current group of service users are furthest from the employment market we can arrange work experience placements for our service users when they are ready to progress to the world of work, be it voluntary or paid. We can then provide support to them in the work place until they have settled in and are comfortable with their placement. They can then contact us on an ad hoc basis if they require additional support.
Social, Leisure and Cultural Activities - these are seen as an important part of personal development as they give service users the opportunity to participate in experiences that are new to them, socialise with others from a variety of backgrounds and generally improve their interpersonal skills. Activities this year have included barbecues; bowling; museum visits; a visit to Clearwater Studios in Perth where they made a CD of a song written and performed by the group; a Trip to Edinburgh Zoo and Festival; a visit to the RRS Discovery in Dundee; a three night youth hostel trip to Ullapool and various other day trips to social and cultural events.
Emotional and Practical Support - counselling is available to all service users either on a planned or drop-in basis. Each service user has a key worker who monitors their progress and assists them with goal setting as well as providing advice, guidance and practical support to those wishing to progress into employment or Further Education opportunities. Advice is also provided on issues and concerns such as letter writing, completion of forms, making appointments, housing issues etc. We also signpost our service users to other agencies that can better address specific issues.