Capability Scotland Matters - Winter 2021
Introducing Capability Scotland's new Community Magazine!
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:.....................