Stories from individuals on how LACs supported them with housing issues

The Get Moving! Group was an 8-week course about moving home. Five people came to the course because they wanted to get more information about moving home. It was run by Local Area Co-ordinators (LACs) Rebecca Dale and Lisa Dunne

All five people who came to the group have learning disabilities. There were 3 men and 2 women. Everyone who came to the group had been thinking about moving home.

One woman knew she wanted to move away from the big group home she lives in to a smaller flat with 1 or 2 other people. She came to the group so she could think a bit more about what type of support she might need when she moves.

At our first session two people brought along supporters to assist them at the group. We did an exercise to get to know each other and agreed on ground rules for the group.

Each week we talked about different aspects of moving home. The things we discussed were:

* Where do you want to live?
* Do you want to live on your own or with other people?
* What support might you need in a new home?
* Who can help you with finding out about moving home?

We also invited workers from different organisations to tell us about:

* Direct Payments,
* advocacy
* forming friendships
* getting involved in the local community.

We used videos and small group discussion. We listened to presentations and did exercises.

In each session, we would do some work and then have a coffee break. The breaks were very useful because it gave us the chance to chat to other people and also the guest speakers.

People told us they though the course was good and they liked the videos and presentations. Some people told us they would have liked the course to be longer. They liked having time to talk and thought that hearing other people’s ideas was useful.