‘Hear Our Voice’ is making significant progress on plans that support all adults with a learning disability in Sheffield, including people who have additional support needs because of a physical disability, sensory impairment or autism.
These plans were created with the Learning Disability Partnership Board and the key focus is making sure that people’s voices are an integral part of this progress.
The strategy was produced through the ‘Chance to Choose’ project in 2022, which engaged with more than 500 people with lived experience and was led by Sheffield Voices.
It sets the scene for improving the lives of people with a learning disability in the city through:
- ensuring the views of people with a learning disability and their families and carers drive change and contribute directly to planning
- raising awareness of learning disabilities in health care settings and other public places
- improving the experience and life chances of people with a learning disability
The programme has seen some successes already including:
- the provision of more overnight short breaks for different needs in three Sheffield locations
- more framework providers having properties that can be used for short and long-term support
- collaborative work with Housing and Adult Social Care teams has increased support for people with multiple disadvantage in needs of emergency support
- working to create ‘Safe Space’ provision with NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (SYICB)
Barriers to travel are being explored so that they can be removed where possible, and there are now 130 providers for supported living, activities outside the home and overnight short breaks.
The Enhanced Supported Living Framework now has a contract in place for 23 providers to meet needs of people who require complex support.
Day service providers are developing a ‘toilet map’ for the city centre and the Council is engaging with people who use services and family carers in the Specialist Accommodation Group and Transport Working Group.
More social activities just for people with a learning disability are taking place, including a successful social evening at Lughole night club as part of last year’s Learning Disability Week, with more planned for this year’s Learning Disability Week, from 16 to 22 June.
The Council’s enablement team is also working with groups of young people in social settings to establish compatibility for supported living.
Support for people who are Autistic is being delivered by Autism plus and there are conversations with more businesses around providing volunteering and work opportunities with the right accessibility support.
The ‘Developing Social Firms’ project, funded by Public Health, is supporting social enterprises and entrepreneurs to look at becoming Social Firms, which are social enterprises or businesses which aim for at least 25% of their employees to be disabled or disadvantaged.
"We work closely with Sheffield City Council in the best interests of the Learning Disability and Autistic communities. Our work is produced with the community, and we have seen the work of the Chance to Choose project transform into the Big Voice conferences, We speak, you Listen groups, and proportional representation at the Learning Disability Partnership Board and Sheffield Autism Partnership Board. We look forward to continuing this work, which provides a community base that enables real change in the way people actually want.”
Kelly Scargill, Manager of Sheffield Voices
"This is significant progress and it’s vital that we continue this momentum to support adults with learning disabilities to have the best opportunities and support that they can here in Sheffield. It’s a big agenda and we’re working steadily to turn our commitments into reality. This progress in our learning disability work over the past year wouldn’t have been possible without what we call a ‘Golden Thread’ of service user participation via Sheffield Voices, the Big Voice conferences and Learning Disability Partnership Board.
"Like all our work, this success so far is due to working closely together, with a robust strategy in place and common goals and with the right people around the table. I thank everyone for making these achievements possible and recognise the big difference that this work makes to so many people."
Councillor Angela Argenzio, Chair of Adult Health and Social Care Policy Committee
Further details on the progress of this work are at Updates on progress for Learning and Disability Strategy.