Barod - Ready to Work

Drill Wales Roadshows- Alan Armstrong (Barod Worker) We went to Cardiff to Disability Wales meeting. The point of the meeting was to do with research that people could put in the bids to get money for research. How did I find the day? I found it interesting but very long day. Some of the information they gave is okay but could have been done better it had a lot of jargon. It was very easy to talk to people in groups. Anne’s talk about co working research was very interesting. What next? I think it would be good to have a day to get skills to put in a bid. It would be good if there is a day like this. Barod could put in a bid for a research work shop so that we could have a day with people we work with and can learn how to coproduce and so that people can learn to how to put in for bids of research. I think that we need to think about what we want to research before trying to do research work. I learnt this when I went in front of Mars research group. ...

One worker-director’s personal journey I value myself as an ordinary person, as a human being, and went down the route of looking for employment. I was told by Job Centre Plus that I had to seek advice from a disability employment advisor (DEA). I attended the appointment where the DEA spent the appointment on explaining how I’d never find employment. It made me feel unworthy and felt I was the problem, where the problem was they couldn’t find the appropriate employment for me because it wasn’t out there. So the message I’m giving is it wasn’t my problem, it was theirs. So, he sent me to supported employment agencies that he thought would suit me, and the various work placements and training came into this. I decided to knock that on the head because it made me feel ‘special’ in the shut out and stared at way. And none of it led to employment. I’ve always remembered the Wetherspoon’s story, and that story kept me going. Wetherspoon’s was started by someone who was ...

Coproduction is a buzz word. It gets used a lot. And it gets used to describe a lot of things. We always start by thinking about power and control. I guess that's because we are used to not having either, despite being told we have been given them. So, for us, coproduction is not a new type of engagement or involvement. Engagement and involvement always rely on someone else saying you can get involved. Usually the "someone else" is your service provider, local authority or government. As long as someone has the power to choose to involve you, they can choose to stop involving you as well. Same goes for empowerment, engagement and all these other buzz words for shifting how things work between the powerful and less powerful. The hard reality is that the "someone else" really does hold the power and control. They have the money, the influence, the professional training, sometimes even the democratic right if they were elected. As long as "someone else...

Barod at the All Wales People First Conference All Wales People First held their annual conference in Cardiff this week. Never Mind the Politics What about Advocacy was a chance for the members to write their manifesto to campaign at the Welsh Assembly elections in 2016. People First conferences are always really exciting and energy filled events. We've been involved in many over the years as participants, organisers and speakers. This years event was no exception. it was full of experienced and skilled self advocates from across Wales. It's a chance for sharing ideas and recharging campaigning batteries, especially important with the tough times groups are facing. Barod was asked to run two discussion groups talking about what it's like to be a young person with a learning disability in Wales in 2016. Alan and Simon made a short film to talk about setting up and running the groups.