Capability Scotland Matters - Summer 2022

DUNDEE
DELIVERS
Dundee
offers day
opportunities,
care at home, and
housing support
Kay making the Chinese dragon
Recently, the Capability Scotland Matters team popped
up to our Dundee Services for a visit. Gillian Dunlop,
Service Manager in Dundee, invited us to experience a
day in the life of their service and what they provide.
And what a service
it is! Dundee offers
three different
services to disabled people
in Dundee & Angus.
Day opportunities, where people
attend a building-based service for
meaningful activities; community
living where we support people
at home and accessing their
local communities; and a
housing support service,
assisting two customers (Jamie and
Jenny) in 24-hour accommodation.
When we arrived at the City
Quay day service, in central
Dundee, we were greeted by Scott
and Jennifer, Team Leaders.
You know you’re in a Capability
Scotland building when you arrive -
everything is completely accessible.
Door entries are wide with access
buttons at a reasonable height for
everyone’s use, sinks and worktops
are on electronic rails and move
depending on the user’s height,
bathrooms are accessible by default.
Gillian, her team, and the customers
have made the atmosphere in the
centre a memorable one: the place
is luminous and colourful, which
was most welcome on a dreary
looking Wednesday morning. After
settling in, we were able to meet
many of our customers, including
Usmaan, who was curious about
what we were doing and surprised
we didn’t have a larger camera!
We got to meet the lovely Kay, Laura,
Phyllis, and Arthur, too. Numbers
are a little reduced, like everywhere
in Capability Scotland just now,
but it’s still a warm and vibrant
place. Customers were hard at work
making their large, Chinese dragon
model from paper, card, and other
crafty materials. We were invited
to be the recipient of this
dragon - easily over seven
feet in length - but we didn’t think it
would fit in the little hatchback car!
The customers are at the absolute
centre of this piece of artwork, they’re
involved in every creative decision.
Getting involved in this project is
more than just making a piece of
art. The staff are taking time to talk
about the Chinese Lunar New Year,
its meaning and why it’s important;
it’s obvious that integrating learning
within each activity is an ongoing
theme at the Dundee day service.
Near lunchtime, we join Usmaan and
Andy, our Community Living Assistant
(CLA), in the kitchen. We’re making
lentil soup. Usmaan is supported in
making the soup from scratch and
it’s an activity that he’s getting a lot
of reward from - he regularly enjoys
making lunch for people in the service.
The support he’s been given isn’t
intrusive, it’s a light touch - he’s the
centre of the activity, and Andy is
observing for safety and assistance,
Usmaan is thrilled to be
given the independence
to complete this activity himself.
With dragons and soup done, we
met with Lewis, one of the younger
customers who’s supported in the
community. Lewis is in his early
twenties, and he’s supported
by Scott (CLA). The gents have
come to the centre to collect us
for a trip to the McManus Art
Gallery. We take a walk up together
and note the bond between Lewis
and Scott, a great set of friends.
“We just go with the flow, that’s
how we roll”, Scott tells us, and
Lewis heartedly agrees with a fistbump;
they take the days as they
come, whatever comes along they
deal with together. “We’ll go to a
group, have lunch together and then
see where the afternoon takes us.”
Throughout our walk, seeing the
two gents speaking together and
just talking about life is a simple
yet impactful experience. It offers
space for Lewis to talk about what’s
going on, what’s in his head, and
Scott’s encouragement
and thoughts give Lewis
Eyes of the dragon are on!
Hot chilli - check!
Usmaan making the soup.
Phyllis and Rainha
6 7
Arthur hiding from the camera.