Dear Family Carer,
The next meeting of the Family Carers Reference Group will be on:
Wednesday 23rd September from 11.00am to 1.00pm.
It will take place on ZOOM, for further information and to book your space please contact Emily – Emilyb@centre404.org.uk for the meeting details. Please note this meeting is specific to family carers of adults who have a disability or SEN living in Islington.
‘The New Normal’
We will be updating each other on our experiences since we last met in July, and any issues that have arisen in the support and services provided to those we care for. Looking forward, it may be that we are faced with a new period of lockdown, with all the implications of that, including access to those living in supported residential settings.
We are very pleased that Gill James, who has been developing the Council’s new all-age strategy for people with a learning disability, will be joining us. She has been given a particular brief to look at how Islington services can be best delivered in a time of Covid, and is looking forward to discussing this with us.
Public Health England
As you will be well aware, Public Health England has had a central role in implementing government policy on Covid, including testing, and access to Care Homes and supported accommodation.
Its therefore very useful that we will also be joined by Shanti Chingen from Camden and Islington Public Health. Shanti has written the following to explain her research:
The Covid-19 pandemic is changing the way we go about our day-to-day lives and can be a challenging time for many of us. In order to better support residents during this time, Islington Council’s Public Health team would like to speak to residents who are carers to understand more about what life is like for you during the pandemic. Sharing your views and experiences will help us to offer the right support to residents who are carers over the coming months.
If you decide to take part in the one hour discussion you will be provided with a £10 shopping voucher as a thank you for your time.
If you are interested in taking part in the session, which will form the last hour of the Family Carers Reference Group on 23rd September 2020, please let Mark know and complete a recruitment form and consent form. A researcher from the Public Health team, Shanti Chingen, will be leading this part of the session.’
So that we can give her as full a picture as possible of our experience, please request the relevant forms from Emily – Emilyb@centre404.org.uk to complete the forms prior to the meeting and passed onto Shanti so she has the necessary permission to go ahead with the focus group. Shanti has told us that where a signature is asked for, a typed name is perfectly ok. Many thanks for doing this.
Looking forward to seeing you all next week
With our best wishes
Mark Austin Emily Brooks
Chair FCRG Centre 404
