Changing Lives

Annual Review

2014

23For more than

years Affinity Trust has supported people with

learning disabilities

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

Currently we support 800 people with a wide range of needs across the learning disability and autism spectrum.

During 2014 we have started the support of an additional 161 people with a learning disability across the UK. Every day we are enabling positive change in the lives of all the people we support, by getting to know and understand them as the unique individuals they are, and developing new ways of meeting their particular support needs.

Seeing the people we support achieve things they want to do, such as travel independently, take an active role in their community, take up sport or get a job for the first time, gives both them and us a great sense of achievement. Such things are not achieved overnight; it is often a long road. Every day our dedicated staff team is supporting people to

take steps towards their personal goals. These may not be headline grabbing – visiting a cafe for the first time, standing in a queue for 10 seconds, making new friends – but to the person supported it can be a huge step on the journey to living the way they want to, offering more choice and autonomy.

In the following pages we’d like you to meet some people whose lives are changing, and the staff and organisation who enable this.

Welcome to Affinity Trust’s Annual Review 2014

Leo SowerbyChief Executive

At Affinity Trust we embrace and celebrate change – for over 20 years we have been at the forefront of best practice and innovation as a support provider for people with learning disabilities.

How we change lives

During 2014 we have taken on the support of an additional 161 people with a learning disability across the UK.

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Leo with Kerry at the garden centre where she works

Leo with Kerry and her colleagues

30Affinity Trust is working in

local authority areas

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

In that time we have grown from a few staff in Berkshire supporting 29 people with learning disabilities to our current team of 1700 staff, working in over 30 local authority areas across the UK, supporting over 800 people.

Whilst Affinity Trust has grown and developed over the years, our outlook and ethos remain the same and informs everything we do. We believe that people with a learning disability have the right to live the life they want, to be empowered to make their own choices and to lead fulfilling lives. For us, this has always included those with complex and high support needs.

We consider that complex or specialist support needs should never be viewed as a barrier to achievement; rather that it is vital that people needing support (such as Lorraine, pictured) are supported in the right way to meet their full potential. There are many encouraging examples of how this attitude has borne fruit (see page 8 for Dexter’s story). These include people with specialist needs, including those who have mental health conditions,

have been involved with the criminal justice system, people who have autism, or whose behaviour has been described as challenging (see page 14 for Azim’s story).

Affinity Trust prides itself on supporting the whole spectrum of learning disabilities to the same high standard, including those who require specialist support.

Affinity Trust has long established working relationships with many local authorities and we were pleased to build new relationships in four more areas in 2014. This may be partly attributed to our success in supporting people to move from care to supported living, or from ‘out of area’ institutional settings to live in their local communities. By paying close attention to the wishes of the supported person, matching them to accommodation and staff that they like, and providing opportunities for development, we are able to ensure the move works to the benefit of all involved.

For over two decades, Affinity Trust has been supporting people with learning disabilities.

Experience to suit everyone

We support the whole spectrum of learning disabilities to the same high standard.

4 5

Lorraine

Ben

118Affinity Trust supports

people with autism

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

Supported Living offers increased stability and security for people as they enjoy the rights of a home owner or tenant and offers them greater control over their support and financial matters.

Affinity Trust puts the person we support at the centre of planning their support. They are involved in all aspects, including recruiting their support staff if they wish. Our staff are trained to take the time to understand the individual, using whatever approach is most appropriate, to ensure the individual’s wishes and feelings are understood. All of this information is reflected in Support Plans and Person Centred Plans that reflect the individual’s personality, interests and aspirations – and are key tools to ensure that the person receives the right high-quality support on an ongoing basis.

Ed, who is in his early 20s, has autism and moved from living with his mother into supported living with

Affinity Trust for the first time early in 2014. He took part in choosing his support staff, who must be active and fit to keep up with Ed, who likes cycling and other sports. Ed enjoyed choosing his furniture and other key items for kitting out his home. He was extremely particular about the music system he installed, as listening to his favourite tracks is one of the most important ways he relaxes. Ed also chose lots of coloured sensory lights throughout the bungalow.

It has been a very positive move for Ed, who doesn’t always like change. With an understanding support team, Ed has settled in extremely well – although he enjoys visiting his parents, grandparents and sister regularly, he really enjoys coming back home again. He is taking part in lots of new activities too – he has started college and also goes cycling locally, both of which he really likes.

Our experience is that supported living offers the best opportunity to provide meaningful, appropriate independence.

Greater independence

Affinity Trust puts the person we support at the centre of planning their support.

6 7

Ed

800people are supported by Affinity Trust

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

Some people have physical disabilities or sensory impairments, or other chronic health conditions such as diabetes or dementia, in addition to a learning disability.

We feel passionately that these specific needs should never be a barrier to someone leading the life they want, with the same rights and choices as everyone else.

We ensure that we offer the same person-centred approach, carefully matching the individual with support staff who have the right additional expertise in supporting the person’s additional health needs or specific behaviours.

Dexter, who is in his early 20s, has no verbal communication skills, is a wheelchair user and has a number of additional health conditions. He moved into supported living for the first time in late 2012. His dedicated round-the-clock support team use a number of techniques to communicate with him, including intensive interaction – a one to one approach using the person’s non-verbal communication to interact with them. As a result they all know him really well, understand

his preferences and can ensure they provide opportunities for Dexter to take part in activities he enjoys.

Since being supported by Affinity Trust, Dexter has started swimming again; something that he loves as the water allows him greater freedom of movement than he can have elsewhere. His support worker Hollie says: ‘Dexter is always keen to go swimming, and is excited from the moment we get in the car to go to the pool! He is always hungry when we are finished, thinking about his lunch as soon as we come through the door. Dexter has a great sense of humour. Since he moved in, he has also appreciated trying many new things such as cooking. Baking cakes is his forte and friends he lives with all appreciate his efforts in the kitchen.’

Dexter also enjoys going on trips out and holidays, but is always delighted to return to his home. His lifestyle suits him well; he has the independence a young man of his age wants, and he enjoys socialising with two good friends of a similar age, David and Oliver, with whom he shares his home.

Affinity Trust has always supported people who have ‘complex needs’.

Complex needs

“Dexter is always keen to go swimming.”Dexter’s support worker Hollie goes swimming with him every week

8 9

Dexter with his support worker

Hollie

161people were supported by Affinity Trust for the first time in 2014

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

In addition, a number of local authorities have chosen Affinity Trust for the first time to deliver special schemes which were important to them.

These schemes were special because they involved moving people from local authority residential care and/or the provision of new, purpose-built accommodation.

• In Maidenhead we worked with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and housing provider Support Solutions to convert residential accommodation for 28 people to Supported Living.

• In Southend we worked with Southend Borough Council and Genesis Housing to enable another 28 people to move into 13 flats, 3 four-bedroom houses and 3 converted Alms Houses.

• In Cannock and Cheadle we worked with Staffordshire County Council and housing providers Your Housing Group, Heantun Housing, and BeST to enable 16 people to move from residential care into a mix of self-contained flats and shared housing.

All of these involved detailed consultation and work with people being supported, their families and staff.

For Affinity Trust, growth is part of our strategy to enable us to reach and improve the lives of more people and it also enables us to stay at the leading edge of new approaches to support, including new arrangements for the provision of accommodation and assistive technology. For every new person we support we are able to bring about positive change, new opportunities and greater inclusion.

Many local authorities we already worked with have commissioned new services from us including Suffolk, Leicestershire, South Ayrshire, Argyll & Bute and Leeds.

Increasing our reach through planned growth

We’ve been selected to deliver new services in many new areas.

10 11

Stephen

KaranveerLucy (left) with support worker Debbie

Anna (left) with support worker Elizabeth

70people have taken part in our Northern Division

participation project

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

We aim to give everyone we support, whether this is for a few hours a week or 24/7, the opportunity to live happily in their own home.

This person-centred approach means that the choice of who supports an individual is extremely important. We take time in matching the supported person’s needs to staff experience, as well as personality, interests and approach. Someone we support will be involved in the choice of their staff team as much or as little as they wish. This may range from listing the interests and characteristics they would like their support staff to have which will be used as part of the interview process, to being on the interview panel themselves.

Recruitment of all senior managers, from Divisional Directors upwards, including Trustees, always includes an interview by people we support. Their feedback is part of the overall score and directly affects who is appointed.

Getting the right result is essential to people’s wellbeing, such as Paul. He has autism and feels happy and safe when he has stability and routine and requires a staff team that have expertise in autism and

can take time to get to know him, his rituals and what he likes and dislikes. His staff are patient, appreciate that Paul dislikes change and adapt their support accordingly. They listen to what Paul wants from life, and ensure they provide opportunities to meet his ambitions. They support him to manage situations he finds difficult, such as social situations or crowds. As a result he is doing much more socialising and has been on holiday, which he greatly enjoyed.

People with complex needs, such as Gerard, often require round the clock support. His staff are trained to manage Gerard’s specific conditions to ensure he stays well and comfortable. Again, it is vitally important that staff facilitate Gerard to follow his interests – in Gerard’s case, a great love of trains – and enable him to lead a fulfilled life.

We ensure the people we support can participate fully in decision making. This year we have brought together people supported, staff and other stakeholders across our Northern division to produce a charter. The content for the charter is being gathered using creative activities. The results will inform our participation strategy throughout the organisation going forward.

Affinity Trust staff are trained to listen and communicate effectively with the person supported, their friends, family and any previous support providers, to ensure we have a complete picture of that individual.

Making it personal

We support people to make their own decisions where they can.

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Gerard (right) with support worker Mansoor

Paul (left) with support worker Jermaine

365Affinity Trust supports

people with specialist needs

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

This can encompass a whole range of situations.

It could be a person who has had numerous placement breakdowns, someone who has been involved with the criminal justice system or a person who has a mental health condition or been described as having challenging behaviour. We also support people who have previously been living in low or medium secure assessment and treatment units.

Our approach is always to ensure that people with specialist needs live valued lives in ordinary settings. By supporting in the right way we can facilitate people to stay safe, express their opinions, wants, hopes and dreams. We listen and act on their wishes.

Affinity Trust staff help people with specialist needs to make choices they are comfortable with. We have had great success in turning around people’s lives, by our understanding of the individual and by choosing the right staff to support that person - staff who understand that individual’s specific behaviours and preferences. As a result we have made a significant positive difference to people’s lives.

The key to this is that we never forget that the cause of a person’s erratic, unusual or ‘challenging’ behaviour can be due to their difficulty in communicating their needs or feelings or practical issues such as inappropriate accommodation.

Azim (pictured) is one such person. He is now living in his own home for the first time and has never been happier – he says: ‘I like my house very much and going walking.’ His family is also delighted with how his recent move to Affinity Trust has worked out.

We provide 24/7 support to Azim, who was described as having extremely challenging behaviour by another support provider. Before he moved to us, staff met with him several times and listened carefully to his preferences. They realised Azim had been very unhappy in all his previous places as he was sharing accommodation and that he doesn’t like sharing his possessions. His frustration from this, and the fact that his wishes had not been taken into account, had led to some upsetting situations for all involved. We believed there was a simple way to improve things for Azim – when he moved to being supported by Affinity Trust, we ensured he had his own bungalow. As a result Azim has never looked back. He is very proud of his home, is calm, content and has an excellent relationship with his support team, and is out virtually every day doing things he enjoys.

As daily strolls are one of Azim’s greatest pleasures, we made it a key requirement that those who support him must be fit and enjoy being out in the fresh air, rain or shine. As well as usually walking several miles every day, Azim also enjoys playing football, going shopping and writing.

Affinity Trust will always support people with ‘specialist needs’.

Specialist support makes the difference

“I like my house very much and going walking.”Azim is living in his own home for the first time

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Azim with support worker Rebecca

1,700people work for

Affinity Trust

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

The support a person gets from us is only as good as the staff providing it.

We have a dedicated workforce of over 1,700 people that have the right values for our organisation and whom we develop to ensure they have the right skills and knowledge.

All of our employees, such as Adam, have a unique variety of skills and experience. We build on these and develop staff to ensure they provide the best support possible.

Adam – like all of our staff – received a thorough induction, including mandatory training before receiving additional training specific to individual support requirements. All staff attend a compulsory safeguarding course and are tested for understanding of our Whistleblowing Policy.

All managers follow our bespoke Essential Management Programme. This enables them to provide supportive and effective supervision and to lead and support their teams in the best

way possible. The focus is on staff’s professional development and ensuring their focus on the outcomes of the people we support.

Adam has benefitted from this; having started work with us as a support worker, he is now a Team Leader supervising a team of support workers.

We are committed to equipping our staff with the right level of expertise, but ultimately it is their drive and dedication which ensures people receive the best possible support.

As Adam confirms, there is huge satisfaction in doing a good job, which he has done for nine years now. He says: ‘I like this job because I can see the difference we make to lives of people we support – witnessing how they become more independent, how their dreams become reality and that we can be part of it. Previously I used to work in a hospital helping lots of people on a daily basis, but I much prefer this. It is really person-centred, where quality is more important than quantity.‘

Our staff are always at the heart of what we do at Affinity Trust.

Staff who change lives

“I see the difference we make to lives of people we support.”Adam has worked for Affinity Trust for nine years

16 17

Adam supports Reena (left) and

Sheena (right)

100people participated in

the 2014 Herefordshire Learning Disability

Community Games

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

We enable the people we support to have fun and push the boundaries, to pursue more unusual or challenging interests they enjoy.

At Score Community Opportunities – our service in Herefordshire – we have the Living Book Theatre Company where people we support get the opportunity to act and work backstage on a number of productions.

In 2014 the company previewed the play ‘A Christmas Carol’, as part of national ‘Big Dance Week’. In December they will perform the full production at the Courtyard Theatre Hereford to a paying audience. Jack, who plays Scrooge, has attended Score for several years. He says: ‘I’m looking forward to the play. I’m a good actor and Scrooge is a great character.’

In September 2014, Score was also a key player in organising the second Herefordshire Learning Disability Community Games (which it helped create in 2012). Working with other learning disability organisations, it brought together over 100 people with a learning disability to take part in events

including football, giant skittles, Wii Fit, Tai Chi and boxing. Matthew, who is supported by Score, says: ‘I liked the Community Games; I thought it was really fun. I can’t wait for the next one.’

At Affinity Trust’s Opportunities Service in Leeds, there is always an interesting range of activities on offer, dictated by the supported people’s interests, including cookery courses, craft workshops, bowling, building bird boxes, trampolining, swimming and football.

In June 2014 World Cup fever hit, and some of the keen footballers we support took part in a World Cup 5-a-side football tournament with other support providers and people supported.

Fourteen teams competed, representing different nations taking part in the real World Cup. The Affinity Trust team was allocated Argentina, so as well as training, preparation involved spray painting white t-shirts to make the Argentine kit. Argentina (Affinity Trust) played well to get through to the Quarter Finals, before being defeated by Germany – but not on penalties.

Enjoying life is important. Affinity Trust believes that people with a learning disability should have every opportunity to experience new and different activities.

Fulfilling and active lives

“I’m looking forward to the play. I’m a good actor.”Jack (right) is playing Scrooge in the play

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“I liked the Community Games. I thought it was really fun.”Matthew is supported by Score

The Affinity Trust World Cup team

Ndukwe loves bird watching and making bird boxes

Jack

Community Games hockey

391people supported by

Affinity Trust are in supported living

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

Affinity Trust makes it easy for the people we support to share their lives with those who are important to them whilst living independently.

We work closely with the people we support and their relatives and carers to facilitate the contact they want, whether by daily or more infrequent visits, trips away together, phone calls, emails or interaction on social media.

Parents are often worried when their son or daughter leaves home for the first time. Affinity Trust has a good track record of paying attention to detail and ensuring this goes smoothly, making it a positive experience for all.

Lisa, Dexter’s mother, had great anxiety about her son living independently. She says: ‘I was a single mother for many years, and so we are particularly close. He had been living away at school during the week but was never completely happy there and he came home every weekend and holiday. When the idea of Dexter moving to his own home was mooted, I was sceptical about it working out. The support Dexter received before had never been exactly right for him – I frequently had to intervene if there was a crisis. I couldn’t be very far away from him, I just wasn’t confident that there wouldn’t be a problem.’

Affinity Trust listened to what Dexter and Lisa had

to say about the frustrations and limitations of his previous support and made sure that his new home would be very different. One key thing was that Dexter should be able to participate fully in activities.

‘We were both delighted with the bungalow,’ says Lisa. ‘Dexter can get into the kitchen – which had been really difficult, if not impossible, for him before. Whilst the building is good, it is the support team that have really made the difference. They know Dexter so well, understand his likes and dislikes and are fantastic at encouraging his interests.

‘I started off visiting every day, frequently taking Dexter home with me, then realised this was for me, not him. Dexter made it clear that he’d rather be at his home, not with the family! He does so many interesting things now, swimming, ice skating, crafts, cooking and more, has a real zest for life and is thriving. For the first time ever Dexter is not underweight. The support team help prepare delicious meals and get him involved in cooking – and he is actually a good weight and has been signed off by the doctor.

‘I don’t need to be nearby at all times, I am totally confident in his care, that the support staff understands him and that he will be happy. So much so, that I have been to visit relatives in Australia for the first time in 25 years.’

Relationships with family and friends are a significant part of everyone’s life.

Empowering families

“Affinity Trust know Dexter so well and are fantastic at encouraging his interests.”Lisa feels confident knowing the support staff understand her son20 21

Dexter with his mum Lisa

Affinity Trust Annual Review 2014

People we support need us to be reliable in every way, including financially, both now and in the years to come.

Happily we are again able to report a strong financial position. We have continued to grow both in terms of income and the number of people we support.

For the year ending September 2013 our audited income was £35,426,270, up from £30,057,644 the previous year. The annual income ending September 2014 was over £37,800,000.

We remain, as ever, fully committed to our mission to enable people with learning disabilities to pursue active and fulfilling lives, gain increased independence and achieve equal rights as citizens.

We know that the quality of our support is dependent on the quality of our staff. As Chairman of Affinity Trust, I would like to thank every member of staff for their dedicated work during what has been another very successful year for Affinity Trust.

I am confident we will carry on delivering excellent support to over 800 people and I am hopeful that we will continue to be given the opportunity to support more people to meet their full potential.

Malcolm ThomasChairman

In order to deliver high quality services, and stable, long-lasting support, it is essential that Affinity Trust is financially secure, well-run and has good governance.

Ensuring our financial future

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95% Local authorities & NHS Trusts

2.7% Contributions from people we support

1% Supporting People funding1% Trading sales0.3% Housing benefit

Where our money came from:

75% Supported living 16% Shared living 5% Outreach services 2% Supported employment

& day opportunities1% Social enterprises 1% Housing

Where money was spent by support type:

Malcolm

Our mission is to enable people with learning disabilities to

pursue active and fulfilling lives, gain increased independence and achieve equal rights as citizens.

To find out more on our life-changing work, please go to: www.affinitytrust.org

Affinity Trust Head Office, 1 St. Andrew’s Court, Wellington Street, Thame, Oxfordshire, OX9 3WT Telephone: 01844 267800 Email: info@affinitytrust.org www.affinitytrust.org

Affinity Trust is a limited company registered in the UK. Registered company number: 06893564.

Registered charity in England and Wales no.1139891 and in Scotland no. SC043881 © Affinity Trust 2014

Front cover images: (from left) Reena and Sheena, Azim with support worker Rebecca, Ben, Ndukwe