Great Communities – More than a Provider

Kathryn, Jade and Pete tell us about an initiative that started when Sian Lockwood met a young woman with learning disabilities begging after her modest support had been withdrawn and lost her flat. The not for profit support provider Macintyre had also been noticing people “falling into the gap”. Jointly with Community Catalysts they set up Great Communities. Now operating in Warrington and Worcestershire it aims to build community inclusion with local partners and links with people with learning disabilities and autism who want to make a local contribution and become leaders. This is not a traditionally commissioned “service”. Our interviewees tell us stories of how they have been going about this and lovely developments like Kieran’s film club. An exciting extension is the connection that has been built to a number of other national charities – Choice Support, CVT, Certitude and United Response to share ideas and approaches and develop the skills of leaders to make more of this happen.