The document is a monthly bulletin from ecdp that provides updates on various topics, including: upcoming training courses for disabled employers and personal assistants in Thurrock; ecdp working with Skills for Care to support employers; and information on the start of the Paralympics, including the torch relay and celebrations.

1. September 2012
This update includes
Monthly Bulletin 40 articles on the following
topics:
Dear Members,
Since the previous email bulletin, we have
enjoyed the Olympics and we’re now two days
ecdp news
into the Paralympics; the biggest international
celebration of disability sport in the world. At 1. ecdp running free
ecdp we are very excited about the Games, training for disabled
and many of our colleagues have tickets to employers and their
attend various events. Some were even lucky PAs in Thurrock
enough to attend the Opening Ceremony!  Empowering the
employer
If you would like to share your photos and  Personal Assistant
experiences from any events you go to see, Training
please get in touch using the details below. 2. ecdp – Working with
Skills for Care to
To mark the Paralympics, ecdp published a support you as an
special edition of the ecdp magazine, which employer.
has been posted to members and will also be
available on the ecdp website. In the magazine
you can read an interview with the world’s best national news
known Paralympian, Oscar Pistorius, as well as
many other Paralympics stories.
3. The Paralympics are
finally here!
In this edition of the bulletin we also have an
 Paralympic Flame
interview with one of ecdp’s members, who is
Lighting Ceremony
working as a producer for Channel 4, the
 Paralympic Torch
Paralympic broadcaster. He learned to run on
Relay
blades for a documentary and talks about his
 Celebrate the
experience in the interview on page 7.
Paralympics with
Together! 2012
Next month we will have an update on ecdp’s
 ecdp member learns
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 1 of 1

2. Monthly Bulletin 40 – September 2012
exciting new employment programme, Essex
Unite. Until then, you can read more about the to run on blades
programme on the ecdp website.
1. Skills for Care
Best wishes, Accolades
2. International
Faye Savage Volunteering: An
Lived Experience Officer Opportunity for
Disabled Young
People
We welcome member contributions to the
bulletin, our website and the ecdp
magazine. If you would like to write
something, or comment on any of the
articles in this edition of the bulletin, please
get in touch with us using the details below.
If you have missed a previous email
bulletin, they are all available on our
website: ecdp monthly email bulletin.
Telephone: 01245 392 300
Email: info@ecdp.org.uk
Post: Ivan Peck House, 1 Russell Way,
Chelmsford, Essex CM1 3AA
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 2 of 2

3. ecdp news
ecdp running free training for disabled
employers and their PAs in Thurrock
ecdp and Thurrock Borough Council are running two free training
courses, for disabled people who employ staff and for their Personal
Assistants. Details of both courses are below:
Empowering the Employer: Training for disabled people who employ
personal assistants.
This peer-led workshop covers a range of skills needed as a PA
employer, including:
 Rights and needs – examining how Human Rights and physical
and emotional needs are linked and why it is important to get
your needs met.
 Resolution – resolving difficult situations and elements of
compromise when managing a PA.
 Behavioural types – approaches to working with different types
of people.
 How disciplinary and dismissal procedures work – what you
need to have in place.
 Appropriate record keeping – A list of legal and necessary
paperwork needed to maintain Direct Payments/Personal
Budgets.
The training for employers will be repeated three times, on 27
September, 22 November and 21 January and will start at 10.30 and
end at 15.30.
Personal Assistant Training: Training for Personal Assistants who
support disabled or older people.
This workshop covers a range of information and skills needed as a
PA, including:
 Equality Act 2010 – basics of act and how it relates to being a
PA.
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 3 of 3

4. ecdp news
 Safeguarding – recognising abuse and what you can do to stop
it.
 Employer’s responsibilities – the responsibilities of your
employer to you as their employee.
 Best working practice – good practice and how you can be a
great PA.
 Lone working – risks and how to keep safe.
 Dignity in care – what is dignity and why it is important in PA
work?
The training for Personal Assistants will be repeated three times, on 28
September, 23 November and 23 January and will start at 10.30 and
end at 15.30.
If you or your PA are interested in participating, please contact Faye
Savage at ecdp: 01245 214 023 or email: fsavage@ecdp.co.uk.
Could you be an ecdp Trustee?
Could you help set the strategic direction at ecdp – a leading
Disabled People’s User Led Organisation (DPULO) – which
serves, and represents, the interests of disabled people in Essex
and beyond?
We are a charity and company limited by guarantee and are
looking for people to join our existing Board of Trustees/Directors.
To find out more, please contact the Companies and Charity
Secretary, Margaret Watchorn (mwatchorn@ecdp.org.uk ) or
telephone 07546 597044.
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 4 of 4

5. ecdp news
ecdp – Working with Skills for Care to
support you as an employer
ecdp is delighted to be working with Skills for Care to support
disabled people in Essex and beyond who employ their own
staff to access Skills for Care’s useful and time-saving
resources.
Skills for Care wants to ensure the people who work for disabled and
older people in providing care – often paid for by Direct Payments or
Personal Budgets – have the right skills and qualifications to do so.
We know Direct Payments can be a very beneficial way of arranging
your social care. But we also understand that it can sometimes take
time to get the right information to feel fully in control. This is
why ecdp is working with Skills for Care to ensure their useful
information is made as available as possible to you. There are lots of
ways you can get involved in this work.
We have already hosted two focus groups and will be holding one
more, which all our members are invited to attend. The meeting will
take place at 1pm on Tuesday 4 September. The meeting will be about
‘Building Your Qualification Card Kit’.
We can pay for people’s travel to and from the focus group as well as
£15 for your time. If you’re interested in attending this focus group or
for more information, please contact Faye Savage on
fsavage@ecdp.co.uk or 01245 214023.
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 5 of 5

6. national news
The Paralympics are finally here!
Paralympic Flame Lighting Ceremony
Last week, Stoke Mandeville Stadium was the venue
for the official Paralympic Flame Lighting Ceremony.
Stoke Mandeville is seen as the home of the
Paralympics, as this was where the Games were
started by Dr Guttman, who revolutionised the
treatment of people with spinal injuries.
Four flames travelled from London, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh and
were united in the Stoke Mandeville Stadium to form the Paralympic
Flame ahead of the 24 hour Relay, which concluded at the Olympic
Stadium in Stratford.
Paralympic Torch Relay
The 24 hour Paralympic Torch Relay saw the flame
carried 87 miles by 580 inspirational Torchbearers,
working in teams of five, from Stoke Mandeville in
Buckinghamshire to the site of the Olympic Park.
The Flame travelled through communities in Buckinghamshire and
Hertfordshire before visiting a number of iconic London landmarks,
including Piccadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street and
Trafalgar Square – each of which hosted live entertainment and sport
screened throughout the Paralympic Games.
The Flame, which was carried in a miner’s lantern, also crossed the
River Thames over some of London’s most famous bridges including
Lambeth Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and Tower Bridge, which will have a
spectacular Agitos (the symbol of the Paralympics) on display
throughout the Games.
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 6 of 6

7. national news
Celebrate the Paralympics with Together! 2012
Throughout the Paralympics, the UK Disabled People’s Council
(UKDPC) a Disability Arts and Human Rights festival that will be based
at London Pleasure Gardens, a new artist-led venue opposite the
Excel centre (one of the main Games venues).
The festival, Together! 2012, will be free and aims to provide a space
for disabled people, families and friends to come together to watch the
Games broadcasts, to be entertained, and to discuss, debate and
raise awareness of our lives and culture and the issues that matter to
disabled people.
A brief programme is available on our website and more information is
available on the Together! 2012 festival website.
ecdp member learns to run on blades
ecdp member Paul Carter has recently learned to run on blades,
similar to those used by Oscar Pistorius and many other
Paralympic runners. Here he talks about his experience and why
he took on the challenge:
How did you come to get blades?
It was for a programme that my company produced for the BBC
documentary series Inside Out.
What was the reasoning behind the documentary?
There’s been a lot of discussion in the media recently about whether
prosthetic blades give an unfair advantage, particularly after Oscar
Pistorius began running against non-disabled athletes and then
qualified for the Olympic Games. We felt that they’d started to be seen
as these almost mythic devices - that anyone could put them on and
suddenly they’d become a superstar athlete. With me, there was a
unique opportunity to try and prove that’s not the case!
So, was the experiment a success?!
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 7 of 7

8. national news
Well, let’s just say that Oscar doesn’t have anything to worry about for
the time being.
How did they feel? It must have been an unusual experience.
I used to wear full-length prosthetics as a child, so the height wasn’t
such a shock, but the balance issue was very, very strange indeed.
The only way I can describe it is like trying to stand still on a
trampoline - they’re effectively giant springs, so they have a huge
amount of give and bounce in them, much more than ‘traditional’ legs
anyway.
How long did it take you to adjust to them?
A few hours to take steps unaided, and then a few more hours until I
was able to walk confidently outside. It was a good week before I felt
brave enough to try running on my own.
What would you like to achieve now you have them?
I’d love to attempt a 10k at some point, but for someone who up to
now has never even run for a bus, that might prove a step too far!
How much do the blades normally cost?
The model that I have are the same used by Oscar, they’re called the
Cheetah FlexFoot, and they can cost up to £3,000 each and are
usually bought privately or with sponsorship. It is possible to get
blades from the NHS, but it has to be proved there is a clinical need.
This is usually for people who may have been very active before
amputation for example, or who are using sport for rehabilitation
purposes.
We understand you’re going to be working on the Paralympics
coverage? That must be exciting.
Yes, very exciting. I’m taking time out of my day job at the company to
work as an assistant producer for Channel 4. It’s a once in a lifetime
opportunity to cover a games in your home country. One I certainly
couldn’t turn down.
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 8 of 8

9. national news
Skills for Care Accolades
Skills for Care award Accolades to individuals or organisations
who have improved the lives of people who use social care
services through workforce development and a commitment to
innovation.
Since the first Accolades ceremony was held in 2003, the
popularity of the competition has grown to become one of the
most prestigious and enjoyable events of the social care calendar.
Nominations for this year's Accolades are now open and will close on
Thursday 6 September 2012.
The awards ceremony will take place on Thursday 14 March 2013 at
Park Plaza Victoria, London.
The categories are:
1. Best employer of under 250 staff
2. Best employer of over 250 staff
3. Best individual employer who employs their own staff
4. Best provider of learning and development
5. Best employer support for social care Apprenticeships
6. Best employer support for newly qualified social workers
7. Best recruitment initiatives
8. Most effective new approach to service delivery
For more information or to make a nomination, see the Skills for Care
website: Accolades 2012/13.
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 9 of 9

10. national news
International Volunteering: An
Opportunity for Disabled Young People
Invitation to Workshop - Recruiting and Supporting Disabled Young
People as International Citizen Service Volunteers
Location: York St John University, York
Date: Wednesday 12 September 2012
Time: 9.30am- 5.30pm (lunch is provided)
Who should attend: Representatives from agencies and charities
working with disabled young people, aged 18 - 25, throughout the UK.
The aim: To explore the International Citizen Service scheme as an
opportunity for all disabled young people. To enable all young people
to be proactive participants in global citizenship, making a difference to
the world and potentially transform their sense of who they are. To
learn from the pilot ICS scheme, hearing from returned disabled young
volunteers and their project partners.
Discussions will explore:
 the challenges and practicalities of international volunteering for
disabled young people
 the expectations before, during and after placement: how to
ensure everyone involved has a happy and fulfilling placement
 how to make the International Citizen Service scheme
 the promotion of ICS to disabled young people: supporting them
through the application process and preparing for departure
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 10 of 10

11. national news
This workshop is offered without booking fee; however places are
limited and must be confirmed. Please book your place via Event Brite.
If you have any queries, please contact Holly Rawlings, via
hrawlings@internationalservice.org.uk or 01904 647799.
September 2012: Monthly Bulletin 40 Page 11 of 11