MacIntyre knows and values the importance of working with and welcoming our families. Nicola Payne, MacIntyre’s Family Engagement Lead recently hosted our 2nd Celebrating Families Week and wanted to share why this event is now a permanent date in our calendar, along with some of the highlights of the week.
Nicky explains: “The week went off with such a bang! This year Celebrating Families Week had a slightly different approach - I am so passionate about working in collaboration with other providers so I thought why wouldn’t we do this during Families Week? Coming together to share best practices and be stronger and louder with the messages and support we provide, knowing that we all have the same vision, knowing we want the best possible outcomes for people that we support living with a learning disability or a diagnosis of autism and, of course, their families."
Nicky made a few calls and before she knew it we had a jammed-packed schedule for the week consisting of:
• Jim Blair, Learning Disability Nurse
• Sally Warren from Paradigm
• Gail Hanrahan from Oxfordshire Family Support Network (OxFSN)
• Christine Towers, Founder of Together Matters
• MacIntyre staff teams to discuss our Dying to Talk Project, Person Centred Approaches and Meditation
• Jane Nickels, Learning Disabilities Admiral Nurse
"Having workshops which welcomed external organisations to be involved with MacIntyre filled me with excitement and I felt that this was just the right approach. We hear often “teamwork makes the dream work” and this week really saw this."
"I am already planning next year’s Celebrating Families Week. Our vision for 2023 is to work just as closely with other organisations and welcome new contributors too."
Sally and Michelle (Paradigm) said:
“We loved meeting people to share how the REACH Standards can support ALL to explore what a good life looks like for each person supported.”
“So good that we could connect with family members who so often tell us that they struggle to find out what the rights for them and their loved ones are. Underpinned by Human Rights, REACH works to ensure people aspire for a good ordinary life - just like all citizens.”
If you missed it, we have recordings of all sessions that were on offer- you can watch them here
Nicky Payne, Family Engagement Lead
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