Let’s Sing the Praises of UK Learning Disability Services
We are innovative leaders
Visiting Belgian social care students think that services for people with learning disabilities in the UK are wonderful, progressive and can show them the way forward.
Six students from Plantijn Hogeschool University, Antwerp were visiting the UK last week, as part of their final year of a three year Social Educational Care Worker course, to find out how we operate services in the UK. They visited a number of providers, including two supported living services run by the Fremantle Trust in Aylesbury. They were very impressed with what they saw and heard from everyone they met. In Belgium people with learning disabilities live in institutions of about 16 – 20 people, each with their own room but with little in terms of self determination and choice. The students were amazed at the levels of independence, choice and control that UK service users have and went away fired up with enthusiasm to help to change the system for people in their own country.
“It is so gratifying to know that UK policy and practice leads the way in Europe,” said Claire Gajeckyj, Marketing Manager at the Fremantle Trust. “Last year we hosted a delegation of six support workers from the Czech Republic (who were fact finding to help them with a re-provisioning project they were working on in Prague, bringing people out of long stay institutions and providing supported living services in shared flats within the community) they were equally impressed with what they learned about how things are done here in the UK. Let’s take heart from this and continue to innovate and progress.”
For more information please contact:
Claire Gajeckyj, Marketing Manager on
01296 737366
Woodley House, 64-65 Rabans Close, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP19 8RS
email: claire.gajeckyj@fremantletrust.org
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