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Capability Scotland Matters - Winter 2021

Introducing Capability Scotland's new Community Magazine!

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COMMUNITY MAGAZINE<br />

WINTER <strong>2021</strong><br />

Hello Sunshine<br />

Page 4<br />

• Celebrating 75 Years<br />

Page 6<br />

• Dumfries & Galloway Developments<br />

Page 14<br />

• New Charity Partnerships<br />

Page 16


Welcome<br />

4<br />

6<br />

14<br />

16<br />

18<br />

19<br />

Hello Sunshine<br />

A look at our new toddlers group.<br />

Celebrating 75 Years<br />

A showcase of how we’ve been celebrating.<br />

Dumfries & Galloway<br />

A look at our expanding service in D&G.<br />

Partnerships<br />

Recent partnerships and projects.<br />

We’ve Moved<br />

Our new business support offices in Edinburgh.<br />

Bertha Park<br />

News on our biggest ever development.<br />

20 Fundraising<br />

How your money helps.<br />

Welcome<br />

Welcome to the first edition of our brand new<br />

community magazine, <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong><br />

<strong>Matters</strong>.<br />

We’re delighted to bring you all kinds of great<br />

stories about how our services are operating and<br />

all the new projects we’ve been working on. We<br />

plan to publish two editions each year for you –<br />

our fantastic supporters and community – as well<br />

as providing our customers with their own tailormade<br />

newsletter.<br />

This year marks a special event for all of us<br />

involved with <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> — our 75th<br />

anniversary year. And what a milestone it is.<br />

Even under the cloud of the Covid-19 pandemic,<br />

we’ve found time not only to continue delivering<br />

the exemplary Caring Support you know and<br />

expect from us but also time to celebrate our 75th<br />

birthday, doing so in <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> style!<br />

We started our anniversary year in lockdown,<br />

unable to spend time together as a whole charity<br />

and unable to celebrate in the way we would have<br />

wanted. However, as the year has progressed,<br />

and restrictions have eased, we’ve been able to<br />

hold great events like our summer Olympics at<br />

Upper Springland in Perth, our mad hatter party<br />

at Junction 52 in Glasgow, and a whole host of<br />

other celebrations. And the fun isn’t stopping<br />

yet! We’re extending our celebrations into May<br />

2022, and I hope that we will be able to celebrate<br />

together with you, in some way, in person, soon.<br />

Enjoy reading this first edition of <strong>Capability</strong><br />

<strong>Scotland</strong> <strong>Matters</strong> and hearing about all<br />

the great things we’ve been up to –<br />

and tell us what you think or let us<br />

know how you can help us.<br />

As the winter comes along, and<br />

Christmas not too far away at all,<br />

I want to extend my best wishes to<br />

you and your loved ones for the festive<br />

season.<br />

Brian Logan, Chief Executive<br />

@<strong>Capability</strong>Brian<br />

2


We love sharing our news with you but our<br />

newsletter can only be packed with a certain<br />

amount of good stories. Pop on to social<br />

media, join our digital community and let’s<br />

talk!<br />

Corseford School, Kilbarchan<br />

Dr Cous Cous and Dr GoGo from<br />

Hearts & Minds brought smiles and<br />

laughter to Corseford School in July,<br />

with a fun session of clowning around -<br />

our learners loved it!<br />

Wallace Court, Elderslie<br />

Riccarton Hub, Edinburgh<br />

Customers and staff from<br />

Riccarton took part in our new<br />

video production with Baby<br />

Grand Productions, showcasing<br />

what we do as a charity. You<br />

can find the fantastic video on<br />

our YouTube channel. Customers<br />

loved taking part and showing<br />

off their service on the Heriot-<br />

Watt campus. Our Riccarton Hub<br />

is a custom-designed building<br />

and premises, completely<br />

designed with accessibility at<br />

heart.<br />

Dundee Services, Dundee<br />

Customers from<br />

Craigmillar were<br />

welcomed to the reopening<br />

of Edinburgh Bus Tours!<br />

A spooky Halloween at Wallace Court.<br />

Great costumes, great company, great<br />

party!<br />

Across our charity, <strong>Scotland</strong><br />

We’re delighted to now be paying a<br />

full-time salary of over £20,000 to our<br />

Support Worker staff! Our latest pay<br />

offer was discussed and accepted in<br />

partnership with our staff unions - a<br />

great milestone to hit!<br />

Craigmillar Hub, Edinburgh<br />

Our friends at Kanzen<br />

Karate, Dundee, are<br />

donating Christmas<br />

selection boxes for the 3rd<br />

year - thank you!<br />

3


Feature News<br />

Hello Sunshine<br />

4<br />

This year, we launched our new toddler group at<br />

Stanmore House School in Lanark. It is aimed at<br />

children aged 0-4 years with complex support<br />

needs, and their parents and carers, to come<br />

together in a relaxed way, forming a support<br />

network.<br />

We’re keeping our new service free of charge to<br />

ensure there are no social barriers to accessing our<br />

group. In our first term, we have welcomed children<br />

and their families to join in the fun and experience<br />

some high-level interactions provided by our team<br />

of professionals (teachers, nurses, therapists and<br />

more) to promote children’s all-round development.<br />

Our state-of-the-art facilities at Stanmore House<br />

ensure that each individual child’s needs are met<br />

through observation and, over time, tailoring<br />

a service to support them. Some of these are a<br />

hydrotherapy pool, rebound therapy, digital suite,<br />

sensory rooms, salon, cinema and an extensive<br />

outdoor area to explore and learn about nature.<br />

Since the formation of the United Nations<br />

Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, all<br />

children have had the right to be protected from<br />

harm and to be encouraged to reach their<br />

full potential. At our Sunshine<br />

Toddlers Group, our little<br />

learners are at the heart<br />

of everything we do. We<br />

endorse these beliefs,<br />

especially Article<br />

31: the child’s right<br />

to play.<br />

Through our<br />

skilled and<br />

sensorial<br />

approach, we<br />

have created<br />

an environment that promotes these rights through<br />

learning, enjoyment and social interaction.<br />

Our little ones always have a ball, as do our<br />

parents! Play is so important, especially for<br />

children with complex and additional needs, as it<br />

helps them to develop new skills for learning, life<br />

and work such as better hand-eye coordination,<br />

increased cognitive skills, increased social skills,<br />

develops memory, helps to develop problem-solving<br />

skills, expressing ideas and emotions, develops<br />

fine motor skills, promotes happiness, promotes<br />

sleeping, develops muscle tone, balance and<br />

control, encourages concentration and alertness, all<br />

whilst having some fun!<br />

Mum of Ollie, one of our toddlers, said “the<br />

Sunshine Toddlers Group has been beneficial to<br />

Ollie’s development. The staff are caring and have<br />

well thought out weekly activities. It’s a great space<br />

to let the kids run around and interact with other<br />

children.”<br />

Benefits for the Children<br />

Historically, sociologists have traditionally studied<br />

children within the context of family. Contemporary<br />

views, however, are somewhat broader now and<br />

consider the child as an important part of their<br />

own community and wider society (Welch, 2008).<br />

Here at the Sunshine Toddlers Group, we view the<br />

child as an active learner, as they investigate the<br />

world around them and become curious about<br />

objects and opportunities they may be presented<br />

with. We aim to give each of our little learners the<br />

skills to actively participate in the community life of<br />

our school and prepare them for their educational<br />

journey ahead. We model our practice around<br />

GIRFEC’s wellbeing indicators (Getting It Right<br />

For Every Child), ensuring each child feels safe,


healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected,<br />

responsible and included. Initial conversations with<br />

parents highlighted the challenges their children<br />

faced and the barriers that inhibited them from<br />

learning and accessing other childcare services.<br />

We work closely with parents and carers to ensure<br />

these barriers are broken down and allow their<br />

children to socialise and interact with each other,<br />

thus becoming more accepting of change, new<br />

faces and new experiences.<br />

Benefits for Parents and Carers<br />

During our planning stages, we identified the<br />

importance of building a community for parents<br />

and carers to come together and support each<br />

other. We were aware of the ongoing complications<br />

that the Covid-19 pandemic brought and identified<br />

the additional need for promoting positive mental<br />

health amongst service users who may have<br />

found themselves feeling isolated throughout. By<br />

setting up the Sunshine Toddlers Group, we offer<br />

a destination experience that they can factor into<br />

their weekly schedule and look forward to coming<br />

to each week.<br />

Our professional team are also on hand bringing a<br />

wealth of knowledge to our group whereby parents<br />

and carers can ask questions apropos their child’s<br />

learning and health needs. This is an added comfort<br />

to them as they have a platform for discussion<br />

without judgement or fear of sounding foolish. We<br />

even recognise the value of just listening to parents<br />

and giving them an opportunity to share how they<br />

feel, assuring them that their confidentiality is<br />

respected at all times.<br />

The parents and<br />

carers are invited<br />

to actively<br />

participate in<br />

the activities on<br />

offer, learning<br />

new strategies<br />

for play and<br />

exploration they<br />

can replicate at<br />

home and… it’s also<br />

lots of fun too! This<br />

level of interaction and<br />

sharing experiences with<br />

their child is so valuable<br />

and creates beautiful memories<br />

for all. This can lead to a sense<br />

of empowerment that may help them to make<br />

important decisions and influence positive changes.<br />

Benefits for Stanmore House School<br />

By engaging with families sooner in their child’s<br />

life, all staff involved can reap the benefits and<br />

rewards of seeing progress and development firsthand,<br />

thus giving a great sense of achievement and<br />

job satisfaction each week. There is also potential<br />

for children to progress onto our school for their<br />

primary and secondary educational years, thus<br />

securing the future of the school.<br />

We believe that the Sunshine Toddlers Group will<br />

strengthen our links with the local community,<br />

enabling us to flourish and be part of something<br />

greater. In making new connections with the wider<br />

community, we are breaking down social barriers<br />

and promoting an inclusive approach from all<br />

members of society.<br />

Hopes for the Future<br />

We are confident that the Sunshine Toddlers Group<br />

will go from strength to strength and become a<br />

sustained, long-term service in our school’s (and<br />

charity’s) portfolio. We have visions of using our<br />

skills and expertise to, one day, provide workshops<br />

for parents and carers to help them help their child<br />

to reach their full potential.<br />

@StanmoreSchool<br />

StanmoreHouseSchool<br />

StanmoreHouseSchool<br />

5


Feature News<br />

75 years ago, a group of parents and health workers got together in<br />

Edinburgh, unhappy with the way their children with Cerebral Palsy were<br />

treated. They formed the charity which would become <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong>.<br />

With ambitions for a rightfully fairer <strong>Scotland</strong> for their children back in 1946,<br />

we say thanks to our founders, and a big happy birthday to our charity which<br />

now helps disabled people across the country live their best lives.<br />

Our services across <strong>Scotland</strong> have been celebrating in various ways<br />

throughout the year, some of the events we have<br />

showcased here for you to enjoy.<br />

Congratulations and happy birthday to everyone in our CS-community,<br />

whether you’re supporter, customer, staff or friend!<br />

6<br />

Here’s to the next 75 and beyond.


Upper Springland, in Perth, celebrate 75 years with a summer Olympics day.<br />

Upper Springland consists of four distinct service provisions. Annaty, Tayview, and Rosiebank &<br />

Tummel are permanent or long-term residential areas for many of our customers, where they live<br />

the very best lives of their own design. Our fourth provision, The Studio, offers a day opportunities<br />

service for customers. Many customers dressed up to represent individual countries and lots of<br />

fun was had with our own version of the Olympic Games!<br />

7


Stanmore House Residential, in Lanark, celebrate 75 years at their super heroes party.<br />

Stanmore House campus consists of Stanmore House School, our Sunshine Toddlers Group,<br />

Stanmore House Life Skills, and our Stanmore House Residential, home to some of <strong>Scotland</strong>’s<br />

greatest children! The young people who live at Stanmore House had a great time meeting some<br />

super heroes - and having a good party.<br />

8


Wallace Court, in Elderslie, held their Las Vegas themed Glitz & Glamour Ball.<br />

Ever partying and living life to the fullest, the customers of Wallace Court live with us on a<br />

permanent basis, too. They’re based in Elderslie, near Johnstone. Rumour has it there were lots<br />

of celebrities in attendance at this party and very strict security.<br />

We couldn’t get on the guest list...<br />

9


Dumfries & Galloway create Schugie the Caterpillar.<br />

Customers at our Dumfries & Galloway Services created a memorial stone caterpillar,<br />

which was officially “opened” by visitors from the local community, including staff<br />

from Tesco! More about our Dumfries & Galloway Services on pages 16 and 17.<br />

10


Junction 52, in Glasgow, held a Mad Hatter Party<br />

A fantastic Mad Hatter party for customers and friends! Junction 52 is one of our day<br />

opportunities services where customers attend daily and go home afterwards.<br />

11


Lanarkshire Houses, in Lanark & Carluke, celebrate with a 75th Halloween Party<br />

Lanarkshire Houses is one of our care residences where people permanently live with us.<br />

Celebrating 75 years and getting out after a long time inside, customers enjoyed dressing up<br />

for Halloween and sang happy birthday to <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong>. Customers enjoyed getting out<br />

of their houses to go to the party!<br />

12


North Lanarkshire Services held their circus party!<br />

Our North Lanarkshire Services, who provide care at home and community-based services,<br />

held their circus-themed party at our offices in Wishaw! Great to have so many customers from<br />

across the region attending.<br />

13


Service Developments<br />

D&G@capability.scot<br />

In each edition we will be showcasing one<br />

of our services, highlighting their excellent<br />

work, introducing the staff and customers and<br />

sharing the exciting developments we have in<br />

store. If you would like to learn more about our<br />

work or would like to get involved please get in<br />

touch. In this edition, we’re (re)introducing our<br />

expanded services in Dumfries and Galloway.<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> has been part of the Dumfries<br />

and Galloway community for over 20 years.<br />

Dumfries and Galloway Integrated Service (DGIS)<br />

provides support to those living with a physical<br />

disability between the ages of 16-64 years. The<br />

service is part-funded by the local authority<br />

(Dumfries and Galloway Council) and NHS<br />

Dumfries and Galloway. Currently, the service has<br />

four years of funding, awarded in 2019.<br />

DGIS currently offers a wide range of personcentred<br />

support, consisting of:<br />

14<br />

• Light touch emotional support<br />

• Psychological support in living with a physical<br />

disability and coming to terms with illness<br />

• Signposting to relevant agencies such as other<br />

charities and partnership agencies like Citizens<br />

Advice<br />

• Support to regain employment and volunteering<br />

opportunities<br />

• Prevent social isolation through developing<br />

group activities and peer support<br />

• Support to build healthy communities<br />

• Partnership working within local communities<br />

• Promote aspects of healthy living through<br />

activities<br />

• Liaise with other professionals to enhance a<br />

person's wellbeing through building meaningful<br />

relationships.<br />

Towards the end of 2019, <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> was<br />

approached initially by Dumfries and Galloway<br />

Health and Social Care Partnership and then<br />

by Compass Brain Injury Specialists to discuss<br />

transferring responsibility of delivering a service for<br />

people with an acquired brain injury in Dumfries<br />

and Galloway to <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong>, in order to<br />

ensure the long-term sustainability of the services.<br />

An agreement was sought and received from the<br />

relevant agencies to transfer and/or extend the<br />

duration of funding agreements from Compass<br />

to <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> to allow the services to<br />

continue.<br />

For <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> in Dumfries and Galloway,<br />

this meant we would now be responsible for<br />

delivering our DGIS service and we would now be<br />

responsible for delivering a range of additional<br />

services including:<br />

An Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)<br />

Rehabilitation Service:<br />

A community-based support and rehabilitation<br />

provision for people living with an ABI. The ethos


of the service is to provide vital enablement to<br />

people with an ABI to maximise their ability to live<br />

independent, socially included and fulfilling lives.<br />

An ABI Assessment Service:<br />

This is delivered by an Assessment Coordinator.<br />

The service provides assessment and information<br />

to people living with an ABI. This role complements<br />

the ABI Rehabilitation Service and creates a<br />

smooth pathway for individuals to focus on their<br />

rehabilitation either in the community or within our<br />

centre environment.<br />

A Child & Families Acquired Brain Injury<br />

Service:<br />

This service works to improve the quality of life for<br />

children under 18 who have an ABI caused by, for<br />

example, road accidents, falls, stroke, meningitis,<br />

tumours and foetal alcohol syndrome. The Child<br />

and Families Coordinator provides support to<br />

the families of children living with an ABI, raises<br />

awareness of issues for young people with an<br />

ABI and provides ABI prevention presentations to<br />

schools within Dumfries and Galloway.<br />

A Self-Directed Support Independent Advice<br />

and Brokerage Service:<br />

The Self-Directed Support service consists of two<br />

parts:<br />

Independent Advice and Support: this service<br />

delivers advice to people who wish to access care.<br />

In addition to this, the Link Practitioners assist<br />

people looking for care to become good employers<br />

and find Personal Assistants they directly employ,<br />

providing tailored support to the individuals need<br />

and empowering them to exercise their choice and<br />

control over the way their care is delivered.<br />

Self-Directed Support Payroll Service: this<br />

service provides essential payroll support to people<br />

who choose to become employers of Personal<br />

Assistants. It provides all assistance required in<br />

relation to paying the salaries of the Personal<br />

Assistants.<br />

The transfer of Compass into the <strong>Capability</strong><br />

<strong>Scotland</strong> family was completed in April 2020. All<br />

staff in post at the time joined <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong><br />

and the property at Afton Drive, in Dumfries, was<br />

gifted to us by the Compass Board of Trustees. This<br />

provides accommodation for both a building-based<br />

day support service and all office-based staff,<br />

allowing us to move from our offices in Nithbank<br />

Hospital.<br />

Since March 2020, the focus has been on<br />

maintaining services in Dumfries and Galloway and<br />

supporting people through the Covid-19 pandemic.<br />

In response to the lockdown, services have had to<br />

change their delivery model and have had to adjust<br />

to providing support by online platforms, telephone<br />

and email. This time has, however, allowed us the<br />

opportunity to have a period of consolidation where<br />

we have begun to review the current provision of<br />

services as part of ensuring long term sustainability<br />

and begin to identify opportunities for future<br />

growth, maximising our physical assets and staffing<br />

resources. Moving forward our aims are to:<br />

Reflect on and review our DGIS service<br />

experience over the last year, engaging with our<br />

customers to listen and respond to their feedback in<br />

relation to the online activity and, if this is positive,<br />

include this as a new offer to our service.<br />

Review the entire ABI service delivery model<br />

and deliver efficient and outstanding services. We<br />

are currently working with The Lens Initiative, who<br />

are assisting us with creating a wraparound service<br />

model for people living with an ABI. We are working<br />

along with our customers and our staff to ensure<br />

we get the model of care right for them, which will<br />

then allow us to approach our funders for continued<br />

funding and new funders to allow us to grow the<br />

service.<br />

Explore the possibility of increased efficiency<br />

and improve the scalability of the Self-Directed<br />

Support Independent Advice and Brokerage<br />

service. Looking at ICT infrastructure to ensure<br />

sustainability and expansion of the service.<br />

The coming months for <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong><br />

in Dumfries and Galloway are looking and<br />

feeling really exciting. We have plans to explore<br />

opportunities for our continued growth. Currently,<br />

we are in discussions with Dumfries and Galloway<br />

College looking at supporting young people<br />

transition from school to further education. We<br />

also want to explore the development of a Social<br />

Enterprise as a way of diversifying from our existing<br />

income streams.<br />

Whatever the future holds, <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> in<br />

Dumfries and Galloway know that the team here<br />

are totally committed to ensuring the services they<br />

deliver are of the highest standard and that the<br />

people we support are getting the right support at<br />

the right time for them.<br />

15


Partnerships<br />

Communications@capability.scot<br />

In summer <strong>2021</strong> <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong><br />

collaborated with the Scottish Poetry Library<br />

(SPL) to develop a poem to celebrate our 75th<br />

Anniversary. The relationship has gone from<br />

strength to strength and we are proud to share<br />

all we have achieved together.<br />

At the time we approached the SPL to develop<br />

our 75th anniversary poem we were delighted to<br />

learn that they were interested in engaging with<br />

disabled audiences and exploring how individuals<br />

with alternative communication experience poetry.<br />

As our relationship developed so has our project<br />

and we were delighted to have the opportunity<br />

to introduce poetry to our pupils at Stanmore<br />

House School, but to do so in a way that took into<br />

account their unique communication and learning<br />

needs. This allowed us to meet the objectives of the<br />

SPL, establish a working relationship, and deliver<br />

a tangible learning experience to our pupils at<br />

Stanmore House.<br />

Three individual workshops were arranged with<br />

classes at Stanmore, guiding the pupils through a<br />

variety of sensory stories, one about a shipwreck<br />

at sea, another about being lost in the desert, and<br />

the final about camping in the jungle, within each<br />

story a poem was introduced and this acted as the<br />

focus for each workshop. The stories performed<br />

by Dan were developed around the poems written<br />

and read by Leyla. The engagement and interaction<br />

from our young people showed a great success in<br />

introducing poetry to an audience where one might<br />

not necessarily think poetry would find a place -<br />

and it absolutely did find a place!<br />

Listening to a poem by Leyla<br />

Discussing poetry and working together<br />

We engaged with poet Leyla Josephine<br />

(www.leylajosephine.co.uk), as well as a sensory<br />

story teller, Dan Serridge (danserridge.wordpress.<br />

com), to introduce poetry to the young people and<br />

to bring to life the written word of poetry whilst<br />

creating an interactive and sensory experience.<br />

In the new year we will celebrate our partnership<br />

with an event at the Scottish Poetry Library in<br />

Edinburgh, bringing together all those who have<br />

been involved in this innovative project.<br />

We’ve been delighted to learn that our work with<br />

the Scottish Poetry Library will continue beyond<br />

this project, so keep an eye on our social media and<br />

news for updates, as we work together with our new<br />

partners!<br />

16


Fundraising@capability.scot<br />

We’re proud and excited to be Heriot’s Rugby<br />

Club’s latest charity partnership. The twoyear<br />

partnership will support delivering rugby<br />

coaching in a disability-accessible way to the<br />

customers of <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong>, allowing<br />

some excited budding athletes the chance at<br />

some professional training.<br />

The partnership will also allow club members to<br />

engage with a new community of disabled people,<br />

providing new experiences and learning.<br />

Brian Logan, Chief Executive of <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong><br />

said: “We are incredibly excited to be partnering<br />

with such a storied club as Heriots, who have been<br />

an integral part of their community for many years.<br />

This partnership will offer opportunities for people<br />

we support to engage with the club and for club<br />

members to engage with our services. Of course,<br />

we are delighted Heriots have expressed a desire to<br />

help deliver a few ambitious fundraising events!”<br />

close to my heart, a fundraising cycle ride, all 260<br />

miles of it over 4 days, linking up with all of the<br />

services across <strong>Scotland</strong>. The players are so excited<br />

to get started with some rugby training with some<br />

of the <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> customers”.<br />

Iain Duckworth & Ben Bradbury (CS<br />

Business Development Manager) on the<br />

cycle trail<br />

Members of both organisations are planning a<br />

series of fundraising events, including an intense<br />

cycling fundraiser for June next year around<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong>’s services: a four-day course<br />

from Edinburgh, through Lanark, to Glasgow, up to<br />

Perth and Dundee, and back down to Edinburgh.<br />

With other events in store and two years of working<br />

closely together, both organisations invite you to<br />

follow the partnership on our website:<br />

www.capability.scot/heriots<br />

Andrew Philip (CS Director) & Iain<br />

Duckworth (Rugby Club President)<br />

Iain Duckworth, President of Heriot’s Rugby Club<br />

said: “We are absolutely delighted to partner with<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong>. Not only are we partnering<br />

with the charity themselves, but we are also<br />

engaging in many activities. One of which is very<br />

17


Other News<br />

We’ve<br />

Moved<br />

With world events over the last two years<br />

putting a general halt or delay to so many<br />

plans and aspirations, it is perhaps with even<br />

greater pride that we announce our move to a<br />

new ‘home’ for <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong>’s business<br />

support services.<br />

St John’s Road in Corstorphine, Edinburgh opened<br />

its doors on 1st November <strong>2021</strong> after four months<br />

of both structural and non-structural alterations,<br />

refurbishment and redecoration.<br />

The area is not new to us, we have always had<br />

strong connections to Corstorphine with our<br />

previous offices and services based at Rhumore<br />

and Westerlea. Whilst stunning buildings in their<br />

own right, they were less able to provide the<br />

functionality we demand as a disability charity.<br />

With a relatively short stint in Haymarket while<br />

we established the new hubs for our Edinburgh<br />

Services, we had been on the lookout for our longterm<br />

base and are delighted to have found that,<br />

back almost where it all started 75 years ago, in<br />

Corstorphine.<br />

Even with the huge strides forward in disability<br />

awareness over the last 75 years since our<br />

inception, we recognised that some level of<br />

alterations would likely be required of any building<br />

to meet our high standards and make it an office<br />

truly accessible for all our staff and customers to<br />

enjoy. That said, the timing wasn’t ideal with the<br />

exceptional demand for building works just as the<br />

industry was coming out of a near 18-month hiatus<br />

and the supply and distribution challenges due to<br />

18<br />

Brexit.<br />

The fact<br />

that we were able<br />

to bring the project in on budget and (nearly)<br />

on time is a testament to the commitment of<br />

everyone involved to deliver a great standard of<br />

accommodation with the improvements we deem<br />

fundamental to our charity’s ethos.<br />

By enlarging the disabled access toilet to<br />

accommodate a track and hoist and showers<br />

facilities for use of the whole building we are<br />

showing what it means to have truly accessible<br />

amenities. We have also removed some glazing to<br />

establish an additional level fire escape, and in so<br />

doing we can finally host Customer Engagement<br />

Meetings and Main Board Sessions in Edinburgh.<br />

Another priority when developing the new office<br />

space was to create the facility for delivering<br />

our sector-leading in-house staff training<br />

programme. Be it in person, or through our state<br />

of the art technology, St John’s Road can fulfil our<br />

commitment to the continuous development of<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong>’s staff.<br />

The St John’s Road team is made up of a mix of<br />

relatively new faces for whom this office is the only<br />

one they’ve experienced, but there are also old hats<br />

who have packed up and moved around the West<br />

of the city centre more times than they care to<br />

remember. What they all share is the commitment<br />

to deliver an exemplary service to enable our<br />

staff across the country to continue providing<br />

outstanding care and support<br />

to our customers. To be able<br />

to do that from such a<br />

bright, welcoming and<br />

inclusive space is a<br />

privilege.<br />

So, if you are ever in<br />

the neighbourhood<br />

of 24 St John’s Road,<br />

please do pop in!<br />

Our new post<br />

address:<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong><br />

Vantage Point<br />

24 St. John’s Road<br />

Edinburgh<br />

EH12 6NZ


Introducing<br />

Bertha Park<br />

The quality of care at Upper Springland has always<br />

been and continues to be outstanding. The existing<br />

premises in Perth are now 40 years old and are<br />

becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to<br />

maintain. There is also the need to protect against<br />

a future flood risk from the River Tay, which is only<br />

likely to intensify with climate change.<br />

This potentially negative scenario has created<br />

the opportunity to ask our customers and staff to<br />

help completely re-imagine our services. To allow<br />

this to happen effectively we have created a ‘Coproduction’<br />

role within <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> to work<br />

directly with customers and ensure their needs and<br />

ideas are embedded into new service and design<br />

proposals.<br />

Our experience of developing and managing<br />

supported living accommodation over several<br />

decades has led us to recognise that mixed<br />

communities strengthen social cohesion, and<br />

this positively impacts on everyone within that<br />

community. We believe this approach will assist<br />

our customers to access social networks, amenities,<br />

services, and facilities that will help them to thrive.<br />

We have selected a fantastic site at Bertha Park<br />

located around four miles from Upper Springland.<br />

This will allow us to maintain our important<br />

presence in Perth and to be at the heart of the new<br />

Bertha Park “village” as it grows over the next 20<br />

years. The aim is to deliver new models of housing<br />

and care, ready by 2025, that will be the best to be<br />

found in the UK.<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong>’s experience, the availability<br />

of land and willing partners at Bertha Park gives<br />

us a unique opportunity to challenge and help<br />

break down the barriers many disabled people face<br />

and to develop an exemplar national residential<br />

resource to serve <strong>Scotland</strong> and beyond.<br />

We are committed to the concept of disabled<br />

people being able to live in their own home in the<br />

area that they choose - wherever it is possible. We<br />

also recognise that there will always be demand<br />

for more specialist residential care for those with<br />

the most complex needs. This will be at the heart<br />

of what we provide at Bertha Park working in<br />

partnership, to develop care solutions and facilitate<br />

greater choice of housing options, with the ultimate<br />

ambition of offering choices typically available<br />

to other members of the community to live in their<br />

own tenancies but benefiting from the facilities and<br />

social aspects of our core facility.<br />

To develop new ‘enabling accommodation’ for<br />

all our customers which supports updated care<br />

practice we have commissioned research to<br />

help us develop exemplar service, operational,<br />

technological and design practice. We are<br />

now looking for grant sources that would allow<br />

researchers to monitor long term operational<br />

progress and help ensure we continually improve<br />

our service offering. We have also been mindful<br />

that no two people are the same and expectations<br />

and needs can change over time.<br />

This is without doubt the most significant,<br />

most complex and most ambitious project that<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> has undertaken, we look<br />

forward to updating you on our progress as the<br />

project develops.<br />

19


Fundraising<br />

£10<br />

can buy seeds and supplies for<br />

our sensory gardens to allow<br />

our customers to grow their<br />

own produce and enjoy sensory<br />

experiences.<br />

£25<br />

can go towards PPE needed<br />

to protect vulnerable people<br />

and staff in changing health<br />

climates.<br />

£50<br />

can help towards developing<br />

bespoke tools for communication<br />

with non-verbal people.<br />

20<br />

£100<br />

can buy adapted musical<br />

instruments, enabling more<br />

people to experience the<br />

therapeutic benefits of music.


Creating Smiles<br />

Cherry & Julie<br />

For 75 years, we have been at the forefront of developing and providing services for disabled children<br />

and adults throughout <strong>Scotland</strong>, changing people’s attitudes toward disability, and embracing the<br />

opportunities created through progress in technology. So much of the work we have done has been<br />

possible thanks to donations from our loyal supporters. Over the past 18 months, your gifts have had an<br />

even greater impact than ever before.<br />

“Last year our world was turned upside down with the onset of Covid-19. Regular visits were no<br />

longer possible. For us, Zoom wasn’t an option as it was detrimental to Julie’s well-being. We didn’t<br />

see our daughter for a year. It was heart-breaking. Thank goodness for the Wallace Court team.<br />

They assured us that Julie was doing well and they were keeping up the morale of the residents<br />

by having extra activities like silent discos (where people dance to music listened to on wireless<br />

headphones) and virtual music sessions. Regular photos of Julie enjoying herself helped put<br />

my mind at rest. Most importantly, I knew they were keeping her safe. I can’t put into words how<br />

amazing it was being able to see her and hug her again now that restrictions have lessened.”<br />

- Cherry, Julies Mum, resident at Wallace Court<br />

As we move forward and begin to adjust to a new way of life, we ask that you give what you can to<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> so that we may continue providing the very best services, experience, and care to<br />

disabled children and adults across <strong>Scotland</strong>. Please give generously.<br />

Thank you.<br />

/<br />

21


If you wish to discuss any elements of this<br />

publication, request a different format, or to appear<br />

as an advertiser within our publication, please get in<br />

touch with us by email: hello@capability.scot<br />

Limited by guarantee, registered in <strong>Scotland</strong>,<br />

number SC036524. Registered Scottish Charity,<br />

number SC011330, regulated by the Scottish<br />

Charity Regulator (OSCR).<br />

Under the General Data Protection Regulations<br />

(GDPR) we are required to specify our Privacy<br />

Notice. A copy of our Privacy Notice can be found<br />

online at www.capability.scot/legal/<br />

Any questions, queries or comments regarding<br />

your data should be referred to our Data Protection<br />

Officer who can be contacted in writing at the<br />

address below or through email at<br />

DPO@capability.scot<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong><br />

Vantage Point<br />

24 St John’s Road<br />

Edinburgh, EH12 6NZ<br />

Tel: 0131 337 9876<br />

www.capability.scot<br />

monthly<br />

1st of the month<br />

22


Christmas cards now in stock!<br />

Order online www.capability.scot/shop Order over phone: 0131 347 1029<br />

Tartan Santa<br />

Forth Bridges<br />

Silent Night Hymn<br />

Duke of Wellington<br />

Happy Christmas to Mooo


Christmas cards now in stock!<br />

Order online www.capability.scot/shop Order over phone: 0131 347 1029<br />

All our Christmas cards are sold in packs of 10 with envelopes included. In the event of an item<br />

being out of stock, we will contact you about a replacement. The greeting inside all cards reads:<br />

“Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”<br />

Name Pack Cost Qty Total<br />

Tartan Santa £3.50<br />

Silent Night Hymn £3.50<br />

Happy Christmas to Mooo £3.50<br />

Duke of Wellington £3.50<br />

Forth Bridges £3.50<br />

Postage and Packing<br />

1-2 packs: £2.00<br />

3 packs: £3.00<br />

4-5 packs: £4.00<br />

6+ packs: £6.00<br />

Subtotal<br />

P&P<br />

Donation<br />

Total<br />

Select payment method<br />

Cheque made payable to <strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong><br />

Credit/Debit/CAF Card<br />

Card No.:<br />

Expiry Date:<br />

Security No:<br />

/<br />

(the last three digits on the signature strip)<br />

Your details<br />

Name:.....................................................................................<br />

Delivery Address:..................................................................<br />

...........................................................<br />

Postcode:....................<br />

Telephone:.............................................................................<br />

Email:.....................................................................................<br />

Please return to the service you collected this from or<br />

post to:<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong><br />

24 St John’s Road<br />

Edinburgh, EH12 6NZ<br />

To ensure delivery before Christmas, please order<br />

before 13 December.<br />

Gift Aid<br />

Please tick all boxes you wish to apply.<br />

Please treat as Gift Aid all donations made:<br />

Today In the past 4 years In the future<br />

I confirm that I am a UK income or Capital Gains<br />

taxpayer. I have read this statement and want<br />

<strong>Capability</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> to reclaim tax on the donation<br />

detailed overleaf, given on the date shown. I<br />

understand that if I pay less Income Tax or Capital<br />

Gains Tax in the current tax year than the amount<br />

of Gift Aid claimed on all of my donations it is my<br />

responsibility to pay the difference. I understand the<br />

charity will reclaim 25p of tax on every £1 that I have<br />

given.<br />

Signature.....................................................................<br />

Date:.....................

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