It’s been a busy month for Take Charge, with lots of training and activities delivered across Cardiff and Rhondda Cynon Taff in partnership with other organisations. We capped off the month with Innovate Trust’s Annual General Meeting, an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of all our participants and volunteers this year!
Training with Cardiff Council Supported Living Service
We may be nearing the end of the project, but that hasn’t stop us starting a new partnership with Cardiff Council to deliver training to tenants of their supported living service. We started off with Emergency First Aid; always a popular course thanks to its many practical elements. Participants enjoyed learning CPR, the recovery position and simple skills to help someone when they are choking. Everyone had a certificate from the British Heart Foundation to take home. We also delivered a non-accredited health and safety course to help individuals keep themselves and others safe. The course touched upon many topics including hazards and risks in the workplace, fire safety and food hygiene.
Activities and training with Autism Directory
This year, we’ve been pleased to form a new partnership with Autism Directory, a charity which aims to pull together useful resources and information concerning autism and signposting it from the directory in order to help people on the autism spectrum. Take Charge has been working with an Autism Directory support group to provide opportunities which encourage the development of confidence and new skills. We’ve delivered a confidence course, hosted a tour at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff for those interested in volunteering in the arts, and arranged a volunteer taster day alongside the Cardiff Community Park Ranger team. What an amazing job they did repairing the towpath along the canal at Forest Farm Country Park!
Moving on from Take Charge
A big part of the Take Charge project is supporting people to find volunteering and further learning opportunities once they are ready to leave us. When Oliver and Ray started with Take Charge, they indicated that they would like to try volunteering. We knew that both participants have great communication skills and enjoy meeting new people, so when we saw a volunteering opportunity with Tesco to help collect food donations in store for Fareshare, we thought it might be just the right fit! On the day, Oliver and Ray did an amazing job chatting to customers and encouraging them to make donations. They did so well that they collected enough food for 400 meals which Fareshare will distribute to homeless hostels, refuges and kids’ breakfast clubs.
Innovate Trust’s Annual General Meeting
Innovate Trust’s AGM is a great opportunity to look back over the year and celebrate the achievements of all our participants and volunteers. We would love to invite everyone we’ve worked with over the course of the project, but due to limited spaces this just isn’t possible. So this year it was the turn of Marie and Ian to represent their peers at the AGM! Both Marie and Ian have attended lots of our Take Charge activities and training since the project began. Marie was ultimately supported to set up her own bird watching group at Cosmeston Lakes for the enjoyment of other Innovate tenants, whilst Ian became a Health and Safety Volunteer at Field Days Organic. All of the attendees were given some chocolates as an acknowledgement of their hard work and also enjoyed the opportunity to socialise with friends.
On the night we showed a video about Take Charge and although Ian and Marie chose not to come up on stage, Brian and Craig, two previous participants were happy to help staff member Sophie introduce the video.
We’ll be posting a new blog in December to mark the end of the project, but don’t forget to check out our Twitter page for up to date news! https://twitter.com/TakeChargeIT
