What sort of activities?
That's entirely up to the individual receiving the service. The objective of the project is to encourage people, who have generally become very isolated to get out and have the opportunity to take up old hobbies that they used to enjoy, but for one reason or another, no longer get to do, or to start new ones. Our current service users have been going to:
- walking groups
- shopping
- the cinema
- out for meals, or just a coffee
- to Mahoney's (Mind's social group - see User Participation)
- the zoo, nature reserves etc.
- yoga
- play crazy golf
- bolwing
- learning to crochet
- computer classes
The potential list is really endless. Whatever people would like to have a go at (within reason!) we'll be right there with them - encouraging them every step of the way until we are not needed anymore. From time-to-time we might have a group meeting so all our service users can get to meet each other, the other sessional workers and also the project manager.
Who pays for all this?
We think it's really important that if service users are going to make long-term progress they need to be able to continue with the activities after we have withdrawn. With that in mind we decided service users should pay for their own activities, so they become used to doing so, and we will pay for the sessional workers expenses. We also pay the support worker and generally cover the transport costs (unless using public transport is part of the care plan). By doing this, each service user is able to work within their own budget, enabling them to continue with the activities later should they wish to do so.