Our involvement and participation services

A team of volunteers from the Service User Involvement project at our Total Voice Lincolnshire office were finalists at the National Learning Disabilities and Autism Awards last year.

Service commissioner Mick Skipworth at Lincolnshire County Council nominated the group in recognition of their achievements in helping to​“revitalise” Lincolnshire's Learning Disability Partnership. In 2019, they:

• educated GPs about learning disability.
• addressed the Lincolnshire Council Health Scrutiny Committee.
• represented the Partnership at a national conference.
• produced a video to champion equal rights.

They worked with:

• JUST Lincolnshire, to deliver hate crime awareness training to their peers.
• SW Lincolnshire CCG, to keep Transforming Care and annual health checks on the agenda.
• Lincolnshire Police, to improve the complaints service provided to people with learning difficulties.

Mick Skipworth said:​“The selflessness shown by this group of people, and their determination to build a better future for others, has reaped enormous rewards.”

Nominee David B. said:​“It has definitely helped me to gain more confidence within myself, being able to stand up at meetings and give presentations to groups, it has given me the little bit of knowledge to get my voice out there so that people in my position aren’t afraid to speak up for themselves.”

Amersall Court in Scawthorpe, Doncaster is home to 18 people with physical and/​or learning disabilities. Our advocate Allison regularly visits the people who live there.

When Allison first started visiting Amersall four years ago, she found that everyone who lived there was very different, but they all seemed to be stuck in the same routine. She says: ​“When I went in, their expectations were low, and even so they weren’t being met.”

Allison worked with staff to change the way the service was managed, away from the traditional, ​‘top down’ approach, to be much more person led. ​“At meetings with residents we make a list of actions needed, which is fed in to the staff meetings – and there have been some real big changes noted. The staff are very proactive,” says Allison. 

Things have changed a great deal at Amersall since Allison first arrived. People feel empowered to leave the care home to go to church or to the theatre. They plan their own menus, and choose whether to eat together or separately in front of their favourite TV shows.

Following an unannounced inspection in 2019, Amersall was rated ​“Outstanding” as a result of the collaborative achievements of Allison, the care home staff and the people they support.