Tuesday 9th August 2022 from 12noon-2:00pm
Please find below link to join the Tapestry meeting:
Author Archive: Caryn Magee
Dementia Awareness Day
An Awareness Day on Dementia took place on 14th December 2021. Dr Frances Duffy, Consultant Lead Clinical Psychologist for Older People in the Northern Trust, an expert in the field, spoke about Dementia, with a particular focus on caring for a loved one who has dementia.
Deafness and Hearing Loss
An Awareness Day on Deafness and Hearing Loss took place on 14th January 2021. The focus was given to the particular difficulties faced by people who are deaf and hard of hearing during the Covid pandemic. A member of staff from RNID delivered a presentation via videoconference on the day.
Two members of staff who are deaf have told us about their experience of working during Covid. Click to read Hazel’s Experience and Siobhan’s Experience.
Click here to view a presentation by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID)
Please click to view Questions & Answers
Please click here to see previous editions of Disability Insight.
My Story – Diane
My name is Diane Marks and I am totally blind with a wonderful guide dog called Morris. I am currently working as part time admin support for the Equality Unit within the Business Services Organisation (BSO).
I acquired this role by being involved in the RNIB Eye Work too program and the Disability Placement Scheme run by the BSO and Supported Employment Solutions.
I had moved to Northern Ireland five years ago from England and throughout my time of living in the UK I have always encountered some kind of discrimination whether overt or blatant when applying for work. I trained as a physiotherapist at the University of Brighton and even when I qualified every NHS hospital recruitment drive I approached was met with an overt form of discrimination. When I then went on to work for a rehab case company the blatant discrimination was very obvious as it was intended to make me quit due to ensuring that the reasonable adjustments were not in place and if they were, they were not explained to me. I was left to flounder on my own.
When I joined the Disability Placement Scheme I was made to feel like a real member of the team. My colleagues couldn’t do more and if they were unsure of something they just asked me which made so much difference. To be able to explain myself and my needs regarding reasonable adjustments and also having the support of the RNIB and my Employment Support Officer ensured that when I finally entered the job environment I was able to make a positive impact right from the start. My colleagues are amazing and have included me in everything. They have used my passion for equality and inclusivity and have allowed me to give my lived experience and input into any piece of work they have been doing.
My role within the Equality Unit is to be the admin support for my colleagues i.e. answering phones, keeping an eye on the shared team inbox, working on pieces of work like our Disability Awareness Days, organizing room bookings and catering for events taking place, keeping on top of set daily, weekly and monthly pieces of work that need to be monitored.
My colleagues have treated me like an equal member of the team and have not given me any preferential treatment which has made me feel like an equal and valuable member of the working community.
I also received fantastic real on the job training for interview techniques when it came to interviewing for the Band 3 waiting list for full time recruitment within the BSO. It was only due to this training that I was able to confidently go forward for the interview and get to the point where I have now got a full time permanent job as a band 3 admin support within the Health and Social Care Board.
I feel that I’ve brought my passion for inclusivity and equality to the role. I continued to work from home throughout Covid within the equality unit with some additional adjustments such as working from home and remote access. I feel that my honesty, professionalism and hard work will stand me in good stead and this is only reinforced with all the work I’ve done for the Equality Unit at the BSO. They have given me the increased confidence to know that I can do anything I put my mind to with the right kind of support. I have hopefully been able to smash some myths around sight loss and assistance dogs. My guide dog, Morris, has become a very loved member of the staff within the BSO as he always goes and says hello to everybody who comes into the office. Explaining from the start the do’s and don’ts with regards to my dog has helped to settle a lot of nerves from the staff’s point of view. They accepted him as one of their own and he has become an unofficial mascot.
Apart from the part time work I do for the Equality Unit I am still involved in my disability activism although it is all done via zoom or Microsoft teams these days. I play sound tennis and still broadcast online for an internet radio station. I work voluntarily as a personal assistant for the CEO of the internet radio group.
My Story – Diane
My name is Diane Marks and I am totally blind with a wonderful guide dog called Morris. I am currently working as part time admin support for the Equality Unit within the Business Services Organisation (BSO).
I acquired this role by being involved in the RNIB Eye Work too program and the Disability Placement Scheme run by the BSO and Supported Employment Solutions.
I had moved to Northern Ireland five years ago from England and throughout my time of living in the UK I have always encountered some kind of discrimination whether overt or blatant when applying for work. I trained as a physiotherapist at the University of Brighton and even when I qualified every NHS hospital recruitment drive I approached was met with an overt form of discrimination. When I then went on to work for a rehab case company the blatant discrimination was very obvious as it was intended to make me quit due to ensuring that the reasonable adjustments were not in place and if they were, they were not explained to me. I was left to flounder on my own.
When I joined the Disability Placement Scheme I was made to feel like a real member of the team. My colleagues couldn’t do more and if they were unsure of something they just asked me which made so much difference. To be able to explain myself and my needs regarding reasonable adjustments and also having the support of the RNIB and my Employment Support Officer ensured that when I finally entered the job environment I was able to make a positive impact right from the start. My colleagues are amazing and have included me in everything. They have used my passion for equality and inclusivity and have allowed me to give my lived experience and input into any piece of work they have been doing.
My role within the Equality Unit is to be the admin support for my colleagues i.e. answering phones, keeping an eye on the shared team inbox, working on pieces of work like our Disability Awareness Days, organizing room bookings and catering for events taking place, keeping on top of set daily, weekly and monthly pieces of work that need to be monitored.
My colleagues have treated me like an equal member of the team and have not given me any preferential treatment which has made me feel like an equal and valuable member of the working community.
I also received fantastic real on the job training for interview techniques when it came to interviewing for the Band 3 waiting list for full time recruitment within the BSO. It was only due to this training that I was able to confidently go forward for the interview and get to the point where I have now got a full time permanent job as a band 3 admin support within the Health and Social Care Board.
I feel that I’ve brought my passion for inclusivity and equality to the role. I continued to work from home throughout Covid within the equality unit with some additional adjustments such as working from home and remote access. I feel that my honesty, professionalism and hard work will stand me in good stead and this is only reinforced with all the work I’ve done for the Equality Unit at the BSO. They have given me the increased confidence to know that I can do anything I put my mind to with the right kind of support. I have hopefully been able to smash some myths around sight loss and assistance dogs. My guide dog, Morris, has become a very loved member of the staff within the BSO as he always goes and says hello to everybody who comes into the office. Explaining from the start the do’s and don’ts with regards to my dog has helped to settle a lot of nerves from the staff’s point of view. They accepted him as one of their own and he has become an unofficial mascot.
Apart from the part time work I do for the Equality Unit I am still involved in my disability activism although it is all done via zoom or Microsoft teams these days. I play sound tennis and still broadcast online for an internet radio station. I work voluntarily as a personal assistant for the CEO of the internet radio group.
My Story – Gerard
My name is Gerard McWilliams and I have a learning disability. I have worked as a Personal and Public Involvement Officer for the Patient Client Council since 2014.
Before I worked for PCC I was met with a few challenges. I felt that a lot of organisations had quite big barriers in terms of the experience they were looking for and what I could get into. In the past I was told by careers advisors that I could work in a supermarket or in catering and that I could not do an office job. I always thought that I could do more and I fought very hard to get to where I am today. I have an NVQ level 2 in Health and Social care and an NVQ level 3 in play work which I was also told I would not be able to do.
I applied for a post in the PCC that was set up specifically for a person with a learning disability or a mental health condition. I was approached by the Orchardville society to apply as I am a service user with them. I attended the interview with assistance from my employment support officer from Orchardville. PCC staff who interviewed me took their time and asked questions in a way that I could understand. I was successful in getting the post and I started my role on 9th October 2014. I am supported in many ways to carry out the functions of my Personal and Public Involvement Officer role including an Employment Support Officer, Access to Work, Workable and I also have a mentor within PCC. Because I struggle with reading and writing, I also have reasonable adjustments in the form of software packages Dragon, Read and Write Gold and a Live Scribe Pen to help me carry out the administrative functions of my job.
My role within Patient and Client Council is to go out to various organisations to promote the voices of people who use health and social care services within Northern Ireland. I deliver presentations, hold focus groups and advise on the main functions of PCC and how people can get involved in our work. I also give talks on the importance of my role as a person with a learning disability and how I am able to do my job.
When I first started in PCC my managers and colleagues were really well prepared and were extremely patient with me. I do still face some barriers in my work. For example, within Health and Social Care there is a lot of high level terminology and a lot of acronyms are used which I sometimes find difficult. I think sometimes people forget that I have a learning disability because I am so capable in many ways. Sometimes there is so much information coming at me that my brain gets tired and it is important that my colleagues and line managers are realistic about what I can and cannot do. My manager has been extremely supportive of me and has gotten to know my strengths and weaknesses and recognises that I may need additional information or explanation for some tasks. I do the same work as anyone else at my grade, I just do it differently!
What I feel I bring to my role apart from information and services is honesty, directness and helping colleagues to have a better understanding of learning disabilities and get rid of assumptions surrounding disability. I am very direct.
Aside from my role in PCC I am also involved in the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) participation partnership, I have volunteered for the special Olympics as a team leader at the world games, I have worked as a childcare worker in an after schools club, in a nursing home and volunteered at weekends for children and young people with disabilities teaching them life and social skills.
I am a member of the Disability Champions Network and Tapestry, the Disability Staff Network for the 11 regional HSCNI organisations and I bring real life experience to these groups. My main aim through all the work that I do is to raise awareness and educate people on all the positive aspects of disability, of which there are many!
My Story – Janet
My name is Janet Sproule and I work as a Corporate Services Officer, BSO Estates Team.
I started working with BSO and the Estates team in June 2018 after being made redundant from a long term post.
I was originally diagnosed with an anxiety disorder/chronic depression at the age of 17 but was diagnosed again at the age of 35 with bipolar disorder. The only reason I was diagnosed again is a total change in my behaviour and ability to cope with my day to day working and personal life.
I have been through many struggles over the years and have experienced a number of particularly difficult work environments where my mental health hasn’t been taken into consideration. In fact, I have experienced the stigma on a number of occasions, both at work and with family members which made me reluctant to talk about it.
Since taking up my post at BSO, I have been encouraged, supported, accepted and reminded of my value as a team member and my illness has not been a source of concern for my employer.
I consider myself an advocate for eliminating the stigma attached to mental illness and encourage people to talk about it. The more we share our stories, the better educated people will be and the more respect, understanding, and support we will receive.