Brussels Study Visit and Conference

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Brussels Study Visit and Conference

• Pearl Whiten
• Birmingham Adult Education Service

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Background

• SoCius is similar to our NIACE
• It is a companion in Flanders to Non-Formal Adult
  Education
• Funded by the Ministry of Culture
• SoCius visited Birmingham in 04 to look at
  Citizenship not disability
• They had planned to highlight Disability and
  Social Inclusion for this year

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The visits Licht en Liefde

• We visited 8 different organisations
• The first was for blind and visually impaired
  adults
• They only employ blind and visually impaired
  adults they are trained as experts through
  experience
• They are funded 20 from the ministry the rest is
  from gifts, donations and fund raising

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Impact

• They work in partnership with the public
  transport developers
• The Metros are accessible for blind and visually
  impaired
• 10 more stations are to be built each will be
  developed with blind and visually impaired people
  as advisors to the architects
• They also have a programme of working with
  experts

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2nd visit De Kei and Wiev

• The focus adults with mental health difficulties
  (terminology)
• Programme Self development, empowerment, social
  inclusion
• They work with the whole family
• They train the professionals
• Learners have to pay for their courses, training
  and development programmes

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Workforce

• 15 people from the two organisations are paid
  workers
• They have approx 100 volunteers
• They work with social workers who do not
  necessarily have a medical background, to, be
  able to support the whole person responding to
  their individual needs
• They are also part of a large EU funded anti
  stigma campaign

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3rd visit Vijftact

• A federation of 5 organisations education,
  training and other services for disabled people
  and their environment (they are also known as 5
  stroke
• Each individual organisation works with adults
  who are Deaf and hearing impaired, Physically
  and/or mentally disabled, autistic or have ADHD.
  One organisation supports parents with the
  integration of their disabled children

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Funding and staffing

• The ministry of culture partly funds each
  organisation, all 5 organisations are not for
  profit.
• They are trying to find ways of working together
  to be able to claim funding
• Again they have some paid workers but rely very
  much on volunteers

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Activities

• They have a document centre which holds
  everything to do with disability and social
  inclusion
• Holds a variety of information on training
  sessions based on disability and inclusion
• Has about 3000 books
• All can be used/borrowed by learners, parents,
  professionals etc

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4th Visit Snoezelen

• Family activity centre stimulation/tactile
  centre sensory rooms
• Purpose to have fun, to feel important, to
  communicate, to be included
• For children/adults with disabilities with their
  family, carers and siblings
• Not for profit organisation
• Use extensively volunteers to build rooms and
  work with parents, carers and children

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Staffing and activities

• 5 paid staff
• 250 volunteers
• All volunteers have a certificate when they
  finish their training course
• They are taught to work with children and others
  to join in with the activities provided
• Families are all important to their work
• All disabled people and mental health service
  users are welcomed and worked with with value and
  positivety

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5th visit Folkhigh School (Vormingplus)

• There are 13 Folkhigh Schools in Flanders
• The target group are adults, however they do not
  have funding for assistive technology for
  disabled learners
• The aim is to involve learners in lifelong
  learning, to promote self development and social
  inclusion it is non-formal learning
• They cannot offer accredited or vocational
  learning.
• Vocational programmes funded separately by the
  Ministry of Education

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Vormingplus

• Government funded (Ministry of Culture)
• Has to produce a 5 year development plan
• Small full time team, buys in part time tutor
  expertise.
• Extensive use of volunteer staff to support the
  programme
• Leads on an anti-stigma campaign
• Organises courses over the holiday period
  planned and prepared by paid staff delivered by
  volunteers

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6th visit Similes

• Socio cultural organisation
• Not for profit association
• Target group people with mental ill health,
  family members, friends, carers, professionals
• Aim to educate, train and support the above to
  better understand and cope with mental health
  issues

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Similes 2

• They encourage self help, promote active social
  integration to develop equal chances.
• Training sessions include coping skills,
  empowerment and lifelong learning within leisure
  and culture
• They hold seminars to engage all those involved
  in mental health matters and anti stigma issues
• Funded 20 from the Ministry
• 11 full time equivalents
• Supported by volunteers and fund raisers

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7th visit Advisory board for people with
disabilities

• A town (village) based community group made up of
  volunteers
• They have 20 board members, 50 of whom have a
  disability
• Target group disabled residents of their small
  community
• They respond to individual need.
• When needs are established they meet with
  officials from the Town Hall to discuss them

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Activities

• They provide information on a range of issues
  including housing, schooling, domestics and etc.
• They raise awareness of officials re the
  accessibility of public buildings etc., they
  inform local policies and act as consultants
  through expertise, plus arranging social and
  cultural activities for disabled people and their
  families
• They have received a prestigious award for their
  innovative projects to improve the lives of
  disabled people

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8th visit Viebeg

• This is a Women's Institute
• The aim of their work is to promote empowerment
  and social inclusion of disabled people
• They are Government funded (Ministry)
• They have a small number of paid staff but rely
  on volunteers to make up the work force
• All learners pay fees but they are kept as low as
  possible

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Activities

• They offer courses on
• Personal expression and development, cultural,
  social and environmental understanding and
  development, 1 day and weekend projects, short
  and long courses, summer weeks away and a party
  that the learners organise and deliver themselves
  including etiquette
• All learners have learning disabilities, they are
  encouraged to be positive about this and proud of
  their difference

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Viebeg 3

• 8 sessions of training is offered to
  professionals about access, admissions,
  benefits, health issues, law regulations,
  succession of rights of disabled people, respect,
  value and an understanding of wider issues
  related to this type of impairment
• They issue a news letter monthly
• They have a documentation library with a wide
  range of information etc.etc.

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Conclusion

• All of the organisations were actively involved
  and concerned with social inclusion
• Almost all worked with schools promoting
  positivity and understanding of disability
• All were very enthusiastic and innovative within
  their work
• Almost all work with the whole family at some
  point
• Most work with volunteers in some cases
  exclusively

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Conclusion 2

• Most trained professionals in understanding and
  respecting the whole individual and their place
  in society
• Almost all of the organisations worked separately
  with their individual client group and family
  because of the way they are funded and because of
  their history, but have started to acknowledge
  that there may be merit in working more closely
• Little acorns

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Highlights and Learning points

• Highlights The wide range of visits and
  organisations, meeting adult learners, seeing
  innovative practice, observing the quality of the
  work/projects/resources, inspiring work, the
  social inclusion strategies and practice, plus
  the passion and enthusiasm
• Learning points A greater understanding of
  protocol and cultural awareness, ideas to
  increase specific libraries in our centres,
  more imaginative use of volunteers, to be more
  proactive in listening to the voice of the learner

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Learning points

• A wider curriculum offer for disabled learners,
  the use of learning champions and the development
  of experts through experience and much more
• I cannot do real justice to this visit through
  this presentation, so I and my 3 colleagues would
  be happy to answer questions and share other
  experiences if wanted

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Last one

• The conference in Brussels
• Was attended by 200 organisations
• BAES input was on Inclusion into mainstream
  adult education how, who, where, why and when.
  DDA, RARPA, Catching confidence etc.
• In the overall evaluation BAES received the
  highest rating for their input
• pearl_whiten_at_birmingham.gov.uk