While Pilton Equalities Project (PEP) will receive some Health & Social Care funding in March, PEP’s application for grant funding for key elements of their programme was unsuccessful. Adult literacy and ESOL services will be lost, learning and training, volunteering, the handyperson service face closure and the withdrawal of funding for the citywide LOOPS service for older people will also impact on local people.
PEP explain how the cuts they face will affect the local community:
PEPs Adults learning classes are primarily gauged to improving overall literacy and numeracy skills. However within this overarching remit, we are also able to provide support in many other areas. Our two main client groups are ESOL (English Speakers of other Languages) and Additional Support Needs.
We are able to provide flexible language support to ESOL learners who are unable to access formal college based provision. This includes offering support when local college places are over-subscribed.
We have local community representatives who know of our service and regularly refer individuals’ requiring assistance with their language skills. This includes local leaders from the Chinese community and organisations such as Y-People who support refugees and asylum seekers. This service can be accessed at short notice by individuals who are in immediate need; and classes can be tailored to suit the individual’s abilities.
Whilst concentrating on English language we are also able to provide support in other areas such as job seeking, housing issues, administrative tasks, medical assistance…etc. This is invaluable to our students who often do not know how to access these services or where to get appropriate help.
Our service assists with people’s integration into the local community including learning about local customs and traditions.
Many of the adult learners who attend PEP’s literacy classes have additional support needs and live in supported accommodation. They have a basic level of reading and writing but are no longer in formal education. We are able to continue to develop their skills which in turn encourages independent living. We focus on basic life-skills such as time telling and shopping.
We are in a unique position to be able to provide this service due to our flexibility, knowledge and experience. This service greatly improves our learners self-esteem and confidence. Because we offer an integrated provision we are able to offer wide support as demonstrated in this next case study.
Case Study 1: Mrs F
Mrs F self-referred for ESOL support having newly arrived in the area. She had heard about us from a local community centre. In discussion with the literacy worker she informed us that her daughter had additional support needs. We were able to offer her a place for literacy support but were also then able to cross refer her to our mental health support group based at PEP.
Mrs F was keen to integrate into the local community and we have been able to support her with this aim. She has also used the literacy sessions to investigate benefit support for her daughter. This is information that was inaccessible to her before attending classes.
Case Study 2: Mr S
Mr S was an ESOL learner. His language skills were good and he was able to read and write well with good overall comprehension. However he struggled with informal language and situations. This, as we learned, was partly a cultural aspect, but also reflected Mr S formality as an individual. Much of the time spent in classes was about getting Mr S to relax and explore colloquial language and meaning.
An aspect we helped Mr S with was job applications and interview techniques. Mr S was a highly educated individual looking for employment as an engineer. He had attended many job interviews and had adopted a strict ‘script’ that he adhered to. We felt that this was not the best way to enter an interview and encouraged him to become more spontaneous and genuine with his answers.
For his final job interview he announced to us that he had dropped his pre-prepared script and had felt that this had served him well and had definitely contributed to his getting the job.
Literacy skills are not just about language but about context, appropriateness and relevance and we were able to demonstrate this to Mr S and help him back into the labour market. It is this qualitative feedback from people that demonstrates the flexibility and value of our service; a service that goes beyond ‘just reading and writing’.
Our services can be accessed both for short term help and long-term support; but it is sometimes hard to demonstrate ‘value’, especially where ‘value’ is not monetary. Some of our long term service users have been attending for many years for support, friendship and continuity; continuity that is often missing in other aspects of their lives. The loss of this service will be greatly felt by these individuals in particular; individuals who are some of the most vulnerable in society.
“I like being able to come to PEP. I see my friends” (ASN)
“I am worried about losing my classes, they help me with all sorts of things.” (ESOL)
“Adult learning is important and we have a great community at PEP with the computer class, it would be a great loss.” (ICT)
Funding cuts to services – LOOPS (Local Opportunities for Older People)
Case Study: Mrs C
Mrs C moved down to Edinburgh from Aberdeenshire after her husband passed away. Her daughter lived in Edinburgh but otherwise she had no contacts in the city. Mrs C was first introduced to LOOPs North West in April 2017 when she subscribed to our biannual magazine on services for older people, “Discover North West Edinburgh”.
The Community Navigators met with Mrs C in Blackhall Library during one of our regular information stations in the community. She expressed an interest in attending social clubs and advised that she would like to come along to one of our LOOPs North West Events – as part of the project, we run several events throughout the year for isolated older people. Mrs C later attended our tour of Lauriston Castle and our History Tour of Edinburgh. At both those events, Mrs C was able to meet with other older people and share in discussions about activities and social groups in the local area.
As a result of her contact with LOOPs North West, Mrs C was able to discover new opportunities and the services available to her in the city. She was also able to meet other isolated older people and form social links; for example, discussions with other group members led to Mrs C finding out about local history groups, a source of interest for her.
The contact with LOOPs North West has provided a valuable service to Mrs C in helping her settle in to Edinburgh and make links with social activities and other individuals.
Case Study: Mr S
Mr S contacted LOOPs North West after his wife passed away in June 2018. He had previously been subscribed to the LOOPs North West magazine, “Discover North West Edinburgh”. He advised that he was feeling lonely and expressed an interest in getting involved with social clubs and activities in the local area.
In September, he attended the LOOPs North West History Tour of Edinburgh, a minibus tour of the historical sites of the city. He attended this event with a dozen other isolated older people. In December, Mr S came along to the Pilton Equalities Project Christmas Party with a group of 70 older people.
Through this contact with LOOPs North West, Mr S has been able to increase socialisation at a time when he was experiencing loneliness after the death of his wife. Attending these events and subscribing to the magazine ensures Mr S had a point of social contact and has been able to find out about the range of services, clubs and activities available to him in the local area.
Case Study: Mr Y
Mr Y was referred on to the LOOPs North West service by his support workers as they were concerned about his isolation and lack of activities throughout the week. He has impaired speech and mobility issues as a result of a car accident several years ago. The Community Navigators attended a visit in his home, along with two of his support workers, on May 18th 2017.
Whilst having a great sense of humour, Mr Y was still lacking the confidence to go into a group setting, worrying that he would be referred onto something which was too much of an “older people’s club”, and hoping to attend a club which was relaxed and “good banter”. Working closely with Mr Y and his support workers, it was ascertained that he would like a social group and, while lacking confidence, with additional support he would attend groups.
Mr Y was given information on several of the groups which were available in the local area and was advised that he was under no pressure to commit to a group, and that the Community Navigators would be happy to accompany him along to anything he was interested in should he not feel confident enough.
Mr Y agreed to visit the three clubs which were advised to him in order to see which would be the best fit for his personality and needs. He is now attending all three of the clubs he visited, with his support worker, and is additionally using the Pilton Equalities Project’s Shoppers bus and attending Pilton Equalities Project events, such as the recent Christmas Party.
As a result of his contact with LOOPs North West, Mr Y enjoys a busier social calendar, has made new friends and is now more confident within himself.
Without the LOOPS service it would have been significantly more difficult for these individuals to make the social and community links needed to prevent further isolation. This service is vital in optimising quality of life for older people in Edinburgh.
“It was a weight off my mind having someone help me [find services].”
“I’m here myself so it was nice to be able to get help from you.” (Community Navigators)
“Excellent information passed on to me.”
Funding cuts to services – Preventative Service – Learning and Training
PEP’s learning and training service is also affected by the funding cuts. This encapsulates training of staff, volunteers and individuals from other local organisations.
One of the main training aspects covers transport provision. This is for MiDAS (Minibus Drives Awareness Scheme) and PATs (Passenger Assistant Training Scheme). PEP provides this training in-house to staff and volunteers who support the transport service both in driving buses and assisting passengers, including those with mobility issues, board and alight the bus.
As one of only five providers of accessible community transport in Edinburgh the consequences of losing this training will be immense. As PEP’s transport service is supported by volunteers; it will severely impact on the ability of PEP to provide available and safe transportation for vulnerable adults. It also means that volunteers will not be offered the range of training and support previously available.
This will have a direct impact to volunteers as these courses are often a way to up-skill individuals getting them ready to enter the jobs market.
Additionally this training is also offered to local community organisations. Losing this training will impact directly on PEP and on many other local organisations.
“This was one of the best training classes we’ve had… speaking clearly and making us feel at home.” (Outside organisation – PATs)
“Thanks, I’ve learnt a lot about helping older people.” (PATs Volunteer)
“Useful and informative course” (MiDAS Volunteer)
Funding cuts to services – Preventative Service – Handyperson Service
PEP’s handyperson service is a highly respected service that is well used in the local area. While many individuals self-refer we also get a lot of referrals from other local organisation and the local council.
Losing this service will have a huge impact for local people, many of whom use the service regularly for gardening and/or decorating. Come the spring we are inundated by calls from older people looking for their gardens to be tidied and often have a two week waiting list due to demand. We are currently formulating how to inform older people that this low-cost, friendly, volunteer-supported service will have to be withdrawn.
Again this impacts on the skills and opportunities available to individuals volunteering within PEP.
It is also ironic that only yesterday we received three separate calls from the council looking for our decorating service for people moving into new properties.
