| | | Guild - Equal Futures -
18 February 2019 |
 Sarah
Murphy was the special guest at the St. Mungo's Guild meeting on Monday
18 February. Sarah presented the work of Equal Futures charity, where
she is a project coordinator.
She began by giving us a little of the
background to the work of the charity she is involved with, focusing
on community and kindness, which we all have the ability to share and
give. Sarah was also asking for our help, either personally if we
could, or by spreading the word of the organisation to those who might
benefit from the help Equal Futures can provide.
Equal
Futures is a local charity here in Penicuik and across the Lothians.
Founded by a group of parents with a family member with a
learning disability. They were concerned for the well being of their
children when they were no longer there to look after them.
The
first option is to look at what support services are out there
from government agencies and elsewhere. These unfortunately are on
the decrease with the ever rising pressure on resources. The founding families
quickly identified that out there thee are free resources
everywhere, living in our community. They decided the way to
bring these people together was to form what they termed a 'circle' .
Most of us have a circle,such as a circle of friends around us, some
small other very large. Sarah used the example of the foodbank and as
well as providing food parcels they occasionally extend the hand of
kindness offering flowers. A bunch of flowers may seem a small gift,
but it is a kindness that person may not have received in a long time,
and received with gratitude.
Sarah
introduced us to what she called a relationships circle. At the inner
circle in the centre are the people closest to us, close
family, friends. The middle circle we have our acquaintances,
people we see quite regularly, family friends etc. The outer circle are
the paid relationships, hairdresser, shopkeeper, anyone you meet when
paying for a service. Outside of the circles are people that you may
vaguely know.
 The people that Sarah often meets in her work
among the disabled are invariably in the middle circle, i.e.
acquaintances, family friends, but most are in the outer circle, i.e.
staff, and support workers. Unfortunately these people keep changing
all the time, going to a new job, moving on to support someone else,
promotion etc. This makes it very difficult for the individual in the
centre to make a relationship when they keep changing. This on top of
all the difficulties living with a disability, e.g. problem walking,
mobility, seeing, hearing etc.
Equal Futures aim is to find
someone who can work with the individual to build more people
relationships in the inner circle, unlike those in the outer circle who
are paid to do a job, no matter how essential that work is.
Sarah
related a story of a young man who really wanted a cat, which Sarah
though a good idea, providing company and friendship. However the
support worker didn't think it a good idea, worried that the young man
would not be able to look after the cat. Sarah's response was 'why
not?' If that person had relationships in the inner circle they
would likely have said go ahead. But without anyone there the young
man had no other guidance but the support worker's advice, and ended up
without a cat.
What
if it's not a cat, but something wrong with
the person, that the support worker with limited time fails to spot,
but
someone within the inner circle relationship would. What Sarah was
asking was if anyone had a couple of hours a week to befriend
someone disabled, as part of their 'inner circle', or knew of someone
who could, then she would love to hear from us.
Sarah
told us how the system works, matching befrienders with a person
in need, looking at age, interests, locations. Once identified bring
the two together to see if it works. We heard of an example that had
blossomed with two meeting for just a cup of tea and chat. Growing it
into 'community mapping' exploring together what is going on around
them, in the next circle, will follow.
Sarah then handed us a
diagram where we had to identify five things: Places where I am a
customer, Places where I feel good, Places where I am a member, Places
where new connections can be made, and Places where connections can be
strengthened. We worked in pairs to fill in our answers. No two teams
would be the same, and there were no right or wrong answers.
Sarah
provided some help in what went in which area, using her own
experiences as an example. Then how to use it if working with a
person as a befriender.
In closing Sarah asked that
if we can't help directly then to publicise the charities work
and how to get in touch with them, so that help can be offered to those
with disabilities, that feel cut-off and isolated from other
people in our community.
Published 21 February 2019
Webmaster - Jim
Paterson
Penicuik: St. Mungo's Parish
Church (Church of
Scotland). Scottish Charity No SC005838 | |
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