Welcome to the October newsletter from the Independent Living Group (ILG). Providing news for Individual Employers and Direct Payment support staff across the UK.
A message from “THE PLACE” to find support for Personal Assistants
Hello ILG members! At Care4CarersCommunity we make it our aim to support professional and unpaid carers in the UK.
We offer a private peer support group for PAs that can be accessed via “The Place” tab on the website (Here). At “The Place”, you can network with colleagues, share news and best practice and also access our professional development training.
Currently we are running “Speak up, Speak out! October”, in which we encourage carers both paid and unpaid to speak their mind about the struggles they face. We have a range of guest speakers throughout the month lending their professional advice and we would be delighted if you could join us!
Keep up to date via our website (Care4CarersClub) and our social medias (Here). We also offer an eBook, claim yours for free today!
We look forward to seeing you!
ENGLAND – Skills for care funding to train your PAs
Anyone who employs a Personal Assistant for care and support in England can now apply for funding to pay for training for you and your staff.
Visit the Skills for Care website for more info on how to apply, how the funding can be used and links to the application form and FAQs.
Closing date for applications is Monday 28th February 2022
WALES – Welsh government survey to better understand the PA workforce
The Welsh Government wants to better support people working in social care. To this end they have recently commissioned an independent survey to ask for information about the type of support PAs provide, how much they are paid and to hear their thoughts about the work crucial work they do.
ILG have supported the University of South Wales and Data Cymru with along with others to help develop this survey which aims to help PAs access the same rights and opportunities as the traditional social care workforce.
We will of course share a link to the survey widely throughout our network when it is launched in November.
For more info in the meantime, you can read the letter below from the Welsh Government about this piece of work.
ILG Community Update
The ILG Community steering group now meets monthly and are soon to be re-launching the ILG website. This will soon include information about the steering group, regular blog articles and a host of other useful resources for individual employers.
Watch this space for more updates and to be part of the UK launch.
Free Individual Employer Training from Your Support Matters
Your Support Matters are offering a free online course, an introduction to being an individual employer, taking place on Friday 15th October from 1-5pm over Zoom.
Part of the session will be provided by the Independent Living Group covering your legal obligations as an employer in the UK.
See poster above for more details and link to Eventbrite should you wish to register your attendance.
Attendance is free to any individual employer wherever you may be in the UK.
Free training for people in the London Boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark
Disability Advice Service Lambeth (DASL) will be offering a series of training courses for people who employ Personal Assistants (PAs) between October 2021 and March 2022.
Whether you are new to Direct Payments or an experienced employer, these courses will offer you a chance to develop your knowledge and build your confidence with a group of other employers and our experienced trainer Joseph Healy. The training is funded by Skills for Care and organised in partnership with People Plus, which supports Direct Payment users in Southwark.
For more information or to sign up for these courses, please contact DASL at direct.payments@disabilitylambeth.org.uk or on 020 7501 8960.
