Centre for Independent Living - user led philosophy
The centre for independent living project will be user – led, that means apart from the annual general meetings where members have the opportunity to scrutinise how their organisation is being run, service users and other stakeholders will also be given the opportunity to shape the centre’s services and develop the organisation in a way which meets service user needs.
Centre for Independent Living - Sub Committee
Disability in Camden has set up a sub –committee of the management committee to develop the centre for independent living. Members of the sub – committee’s membership are both from the management committee and from d/Deaf and disabled people in Camden. The membership also reflects expertise in various fields and the different impairment groups in Camden. The committee will have an initial term of 2 years but DISC’s management committee reserves the right to dissolve it before the term of 2 years or extend its mandate.
Facilitating peer support groups
The CIL will encourage and promote peer support groups and facilitate them to respond to policy and practice change in the borough, there will also be events designed to the needs of each group. These events will be exciting and speakers will be invited to speak on topics that are relevant to each group.
Disability Awareness in Camden
There will be disability awareness training and consultancy and businesses in Camden. The social model of disability will underpin the training. Members and disabled people/PAs will be encouraged to take part in some of the trainings
d/Deaf Awareness in Camden
The CIL will promote d/Deaf awareness in Camden. The cultural model of deafness will underpin d/Deaf awareness training, the centre will also promote people who are not BSL users and recognise their access requirements and empowerment.
Youth Forum and empowerment
The CIL will be a welcoming place for young d/Deaf and disabled young people, the centre will promote the arts, music and what young people would like to see in a CIL. The CIL will be an empowerment and development centre where young people will receive training and encouraged to lead projects for themselves. The projects will focus on transition from childhood to adulthood and consultants will be encouraged to deliver trainings to young people.
CIL partnership network
We are in the process of developing a network of organisations to offer services in the CIL. The network includes all our member organisations (unless they opt out) and other organisations willing to take advantage of the rooms and facilities that will be available in the centre. The person focused one stop centre will enable personal budget holders and members of the public to enjoy a variety of services and projects developed by member organisations of the network.
Iyiola Olafimihan