Here, you will find details of a number of projects and services that we run at and away from the centre in Harborne.
LIFE Skills Project
LIFE Skills (LIFE - standing for learning independence for everyone) is an educational project to develop the skills necessary for daily life.
This educational project will enable people to obtain experience in finance and money management, health, hygiene, nutrition, social skills, awareness of facilities available in the wider community.
The project will enable people who live in residential care to develop skills and awareness which will enrich their daily lives.
Person 1st
Person 1st is an awareness and education project. The project seeks to make the word disabled an obsolete term. On looking at the dictionary one finds many words incorporating “dis” e.g. disadvantage, discomfort, disabled. Usually these words denote negative or adverse meanings. There are few positive words e.g. discover, discuss. The awareness project seeks to put person first, hence instead of saying “a disabled person” one would say “a person with cerebral palsy”.
This project is now the underpinning ethos of Cerebral Palsy Midlands’ work.
URconnectABLE
URconnectABLE is an advocacy and advice service for people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities, plus their families and carers.
If you need any support with housing, benefit claims, support planning or any other issues, our social work team speak to Barbara Brand or Jane Stewart on 0121 427 3182 for more information
Makeable
Makeable is an educational project run in conjunction with the Grundtvig Learning Partnership. Our VeraNicArt project allowed us to receive funding to help with people’s costs for going on each overseas visit.
The project aims to help people attain unique life experiences by being involved in a rewarding educational programme on each overseas visit, as well as gaining a knowledge on how people perceive disability in different countries in Europe.
Over the past 2 years, we have visited Stuttgart (Germany), Valencia (Spain), Udine (Italy), Geele (Belgium) and Prague (Czech Republic). Our partner organisations from these countries will visit Birmingham in June 2012 and we will provide a programme of activities and events for them.
Being Heard
Being Heard is a work based music project which aims to support and empower people in gaining music fulfilment.
The group learn the theory of music, how to compose and write music, as well as being active performers and doing performances at different venues around Birmingham.
The group has also worked with the Birmingham Hippodrome and is led by an experienced music teacher.
Vera Nica
VeraNicArt (meaning 'True Image') is a work based arts project project that supports people in showing off their art talents. Our group of artists gain tuition in many different art forms, such as watercolours and craft work. The group have produced a large portfolio of works which are of the highest quality, and the group are regarded as practicing artists.
We currently have an arts and history exhibition in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Titled Empowered, the exhibition presents artwork created by our artists, based around different themes. The history of CPM is also presented.
The group is led by a qualified art tutor. To find out more about VeraNicArt, and how you could get involved with the project and gain art tuition, please contact us.
Heritage Project
"Fulfilment through Achievement: The History of Cerebral Palsy Midlands and its community of people 1947 - 2012" is a heritage project that will explore the life history of individuals who have been involved with the charity, and the challenges and successes people with cerebral palsy have had during the 20th century. We have been fortunate enough to receive funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to support us with this project.
The activities of the project are:
1. To interview 40 people who have been involved with our charity on their life stories, and maintaining an oral history archive
2. To recruit a Heritage Project Assistant to support in running the project
3. To provide a volunteer programme for local people and students to support us with our project
4. To write and publish a book on the history of Cerebral Palsy Midlands and its people, to mark our 65th Anniversary in 2012. We will also create a history archive of items, so that our history is preserved for the future
5. To host an exhibition on our history. We will also be running a programme of educational workshops for local schools to get involved with