Winter Volunteer Newsletter 2014
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The DIAS Annual General Meeting was held at DVA on Wednesday 19 th November
2014.
Members adopted the DIAS Annual Report for 2013-2014, approved the Trustee Report
and Accounts and elected a new Board of Trustees and Office-bearers.
Graeme Wallace will continue as Chair until the end of February 2015.
Graeme Wallace (Chair and Treasurer)
Adrian Foot (Vice Chair)
Mandy Christie
David Hughes
Roy McGivney
Michelle Porter
Kevin Toshney
Arlene Mitchell (Dundee City Council Service Manager for Learning Disability) gave an
interesting presentation about the new Learning Disability and Autism Strategy
A copy of the DIAS Annual Report for 2013-14 is now available in the office or can be
emailed on request.
FAREWELL TO TOM
Former DIAS Chair Tom Garnett has retired from the Board after over 18 years of
service. DIAS will remain forever indebted to Tom for his hard work and input over that
time and we all would like to thank him for his time, hard work and commitment.
Tom was presented with a card and book voucher at
the AGM. He later enjoyed a farewell meal at Papa
Joe’s with Board members.
Tom told us: “Mandy asked me to record my reflections
as I stand down from the DIAS Board. I regularly find
others can express what I would like to say much better than I. In the spirit of advocacy,
I therefore draw your attention to the end of the Reith lecture, the Future of Medicine,
broadcast 2.12.13, and the reply by Dr Atul Gawande to the question “do you have
anything to make us all into compassionate, caring clinicians?”
“At a minimum it’s about our ability to connect with people and understand their
priorities in their life. And being able to capture that and understand the skills required
around how we’re able to do that really turns out from the second thing, which is not
recognising people have priorities besides just being alive; it’s being able to ask them
what their priorities are, and we haven’t learned those skills and we haven’t
incorporated them into what we do. But the power of it is that I think we’re discovering
how there are even ways to reach that goal of simply being human beings caring for
human beings while having all the advantage of these systems around us.”
A succinct expression of the values on which advocacy is based and I wish DIAS all
success in continuing to promote them.
VOLUNTEER CONFERENCE
The first Tayside Volunteer Advocacy Conference was held
at Discovery Point in Dundee on Wednesday 3rd September
2014. About 50 volunteers from DIAS, Angus Independent
Advocacy and Independent Advocacy Perth and Kinross
attended the event.
Shaben Begum( Director of Scottish Independent Advocacy
Alliance) opened the Conference and inspired those present
with her dedication and enthusiasm.
Volunteers were able to attend a choice of workshops which included: Lone Working,
Power of Attorney and Guardianship, Endings and Non-instructed Advocacy.
It was interesting and fun to meet advocates from neighbouring organisations.
Everyone enjoyed the day and the chance to visit the old ship Discovery!
Feedback from the day was overall very positive and 97% of attendees felt it met or
exceeded their expectations in attending. Comments about the day included:
“Very good programmes today. It has been a very good learning experience” and
“Excellent day - very informative (and we did like the soup!)”.
VOLUNTEER SOCIAL FORUMS
The last Volunteer Social Forum was held on Thursday 30th October 2014. The topic
was ‘Boundaries’. Veronica asked volunteers to complete a ‘Boundaries’ questionnaire
which led to some thought-provoking questions and answers as well as some
discussion and debate. Only 3 volunteers managed to attend so it would be good to see
lots more at the next Forum.
The meeting ended with volunteers sharing their stories of providing advocacy support
and getting some peer support from each other about sticky situations.
FUTURE VOLUNTEER SOCIAL FORUMS
The next Volunteer Social Forum is being held on Wednesday 14 th January 2015 from
1.30pm to 3.30pm. The guest speaker will be Duane Patterson who is a Social Worker
in the Physical Disabilities team at Dundee City Council. Duane has a special interest in
supporting people with Multiple Sclerosis and will give a short talk and presentation
about his work.
If you have any ideas for future topics or speakers then please contact Veronica!
These forums are an opportunity for you to find out more about areas of interest, meet
other volunteers and get some peer support with a chance to discuss difficult situations
you may have experienced to get the perspective from other volunteers.
Kate likes to attend the Social Forums and commented "The social forum is ideal for
getting face to face updates from the DIAS staff, meeting other volunteers, sharing
experiences and most of all getting reassurance that what you are doing is mostly
correct!"
PAULA’S STORY
“My husband and I were at a very low point three years ago when his Physical Disability
Care Manager referred us to DIAS. The DIAS Volunteer Coordinator visited us at home
and matched us with an Advocate. We were then introduced to our Citizen Advocate.
We all got on well from the start.
We had felt hopeless. Our 3 teenage children had been taken into foster care and
we couldn’t get Social Work to understand us. They focused on the children and
we felt ignored. No one told us our rights. We needed support with formal
meetings such as Children’s Hearings and LAAC Reviews. We had a solicitor, but
felt he was not interested in us as people. DIAS provided someone to listen,
someone to bother about you. Someone to sit next to you at those awful
meetings where everyone seemed to be against you and didn’t care what you had
to say.
Sadly, my husband died suddenly due to a long term health condition. I now felt I had
no one at all. No husband or children. I took an overdose. My Citizen Advocate gave
me much needed support, over the phone or meeting up. I have gradually been
able to change my life for the better and am now feeling more positive about my future.
My children do not live with me but I believe we can continue to have a good
relationship in the future. I have overcome a long standing drug dependency problem
and have a new partner. I hope to start doing voluntary work in the New Year.
I really do appreciate the work done by DIAS. I would recommend it to anyone
who needs some help and support in their life dealing with authorities.”
VOLUNTEER SURVEY
The Volunteer Survey has now closed and the report has been completed. We had
responses from 20 out of 33 volunteers and everyone who responded said that they
would recommend volunteering to other people. Overall it is a very positive result but a
couple of areas for extra work have been highlighted giving DIAS a chance to look at its
practice.
DIAS would like to thank everyone who took the time to submit their views and
comments. We would also like to thank Amanda Lim who took the time to help write the
questions, collated the results and drafted the preliminary and final reports. Amanda
was doing this on a voluntary basis in order to gain some experience ready for writing
her dissertation so we hope we have given her some valuable experience.
DISCO
It is likely that the next Disco will be held in March 2015 at
the Queen’s Hotel.
Further details will follow nearer to the time!
PEER ADVOCACY
Linda Sheridan recently resigned as a Peer Advocate after over 8 years with DIAS.
DIAS would like to thank Linda for her contribution and wish her well for the future.
Diane Maxfield and Tracey McGrandle have both become Peer Advocates and joined
the group making 6 in total following the loss of Linda.
STAFFING UPDATE
With the ending of the Danshell contract Andy Park left DIAS on
31/10/2014 to take up a new post with Perth and Kinross Independent
Advocacy. Andy had been employed with DIAS at Danshell’s Monroe
House and Ellen Mhor since January 2012. He made a very positive
contribution to the DIAS team. We all wish Andy good luck in his new post.
Paul Thomas left DIAS on 31/10/2014 as the contract with Danshell ended
at Trinity House in Lockerbie too. Paul started working with DIAS in
January 2012 and quickly became part of the DIAS team, despite being
based in Lockerbie. Paul facilitated a workshop on ‘Non-instructed
Advocacy’ at the Volunteer Conference on 03/09/2014. We all wish Paul
well in the future.
WELCOME TO MY WORLD!
We asked 5 questions to find out more about their world!
This time it is the turn of Lesley Russell, Advocacy Worker. Lesley joined DIAS in March
2013 initially on a sessional basis to cover for staff shortages. She was then offered
extra hours when additional funding was secured and as a result of staff changes.
Lesley is currently working full time until the end of January 2015 when she will revert to
her 28 hours.
1. What do you most like about working at DIAS?
The diversity and variety of work. I like to think I am making a
difference.
2. What are your hobbies or interests outside DIAS?
I like reading when I get the chance, walking, every summer I
go camping most weekends, lawn bowling and watching
sports live – I was lucky enough to get to go to the Olympics in London, the
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
3. What kind of TV programmes and movies do you enjoy?
I don’t watch TV but I love watching DVD’s when I have the time. Sci-fi and thrillers are
my favourite. I prefer to go to the theatre.
4. What kind of music are you listening to just now?
At the moment I am listening to Neil Diamond and Fleetwood Mac. I also like Bob Dylan,
AC/DC, The Who and Queen.
5. Where is your favourite holiday destination?
Orkney for sure.
CHRISTMAS CRACKER!
Why did no one bid for Rudolph and Blitzen on eBay?
Because they were two deer!
What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations? Tinsilitis!
What happened to the man who stole an Advent Calendar? He got 25 days!
HOLIDAY PERIOD ARRANGEMENTS
The DIAS Office will be closed on Wednesday 24th December, Thursday 25th
December, Friday 26th December, Thursday 1st January and Friday 2nd January. There
will be staff cover for the other working days during the Christmas and New Year period.
USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS
First Contact Team – 01382 434019. The First Contact team are the Social Work team
to contact if you have concerns that an advocacy partner is at risk from abuse or harm
or is being abused or harmed. (Please also contact Veronica in this situation).
AND FINALLY…
DIAS currently has 7 paid staff, 4 of whom are advocates but we have 33 active
volunteers. Without our volunteers we truly would not be able to provide advocacy to so
many people. We are grateful for your support and would like to thank everyone for their
continued hard work and commitment to DIAS.
We always welcome any comments and feedback at any time. Please do not feel you
have to wait until our next survey to let us know how we are doing. Veronica as
Volunteer Co-ordinator is your first point of contact but if you would prefer to speak to
another member of the team or the Board of Trustees then please let us know.