Changing Perspectives

It has been a hectic month so far and next week it's going to be even busier for me as I am helping out on two Moving on Up Together days. These days are part of a transitions project we are currently working on at ARC which is to help young people with learning disabilities learn more about the opportunities available to them after leaving school. This project is mainly aimed at people from a black or minority community as these communities don't always have great access to information on services.

I'll be going to Tower Hamlets on 23 February and Bradford on 27 February so it'll be a tiring, travel packed week with no rest in between. But the last fun day I went to in Luton, was a LOT OF FUN and I met some interesting teens, had my hand henna painted and took part in African Dancing. So i'm actually looking forward to it. If you would like to learn more about the Moving on Up project then visit our website www.movingonup.info which we are currently updating.

The reason January and February have been so hectic is because I have been working on the second issue of our member's magazine Changing Perspectives. The second issue looks at Communities and how organisations are trying to get people with learning disabilities involved and included. There are some excellent articles written by ARC members and LD organisations and I think it's going to be a great issue.

Don't forget that if you're a member of ARC then you'll get a copy of Changing Perspectives by email when it is finished but only if you have a login and password - you can contact me if you haven't got one but would like one.

Welcome to the ARC Info Blog

Hi I'm Nic the Information Officer at the Association for Real Change (ARC). I've set up this blog so that I can share news and general issues of interest from the field of Learning Disabilities, developments at ARC and share my opinion.

So first of all I just want to write a little about what I do at ARC. I started my job in June 2008 and this is my first job in the social care sector - so I ask you to forgive the gaps in my knowledge! I am responsible for compiling the weekly newsletter 'The Weekly Despatch,' editing web pages on the ARC website and more recently i've been working on the ARC e-zine Changing Perspectives - this is the most exciting part of my job at the moment as I get to write articles, ask 'experts' to write for us and watch the whole issue coming together - it feels great!

Of course a lot of this is for ARC's members, I wouldn't have a job if it weren't for these organisations, so if you're part of an organisation that supports people with a learning disability and you're not a member of ARC get signing up now! If you are a member - thanks!

I hope this has given you a short background into what I do at ARC and the sort of thing i'll be talking about in my future posts.