It has been more than three years since the “Make A Difference” project started in Oldham. Staff had to attend a two day course facilitated by John O’Brien and they were then equipped to support people on their making a difference journey. They also had the support of mentors and their different teams.
Julie and Martin have made a difference in their local community by being really involved in what’s happening and playing a valued role.
Julie expressed to her staffs that she wanted to start going to church and she was supported to do so and from there, she joined the Ladies Fellowship at the church. Julie was really enjoying being part of the group and they were glad to have her present.
For Julie, this wasn’t enough as she wanted to play a role and move from just being present to being able to make a contribution.
With the support of her staffs, Julie Lee wanted to open a magazine exchange stall and the ladies would have an opportunity to take a magazine home and bring it back and get another one. The leader of the group was approached with the idea and she was very well pleased with it. A presentation was done one night and all were really looking forward to it.
Since then, Julie has been doing the magazine exchange once a month and she is very proud of it.
This has made a big difference in Julie’s life and how she is now seen as any other citizen and beyond her disability. She is valued in her community as has even made friendships. It was nice to see that when Julie didn’t manage to go due to not being well, two of the ladies went to visit her with a bunch of flowers.
Martin is a lover of gardening and he had been doing this at a local allotment with staffs support. This wasn’t enough for him as he wanted to make a difference in his local community and make some contribution.
Martin has started doing this as he has now a vegetable patch at his house and has been growing different vegetables which he shares with his neighbours.
Also, Martin has chickens now and he is distributing eggs in his neighbourhood. This is a fantastic opportunity for Martin to be recognised as a valued member of his local community and be seen as someone who has something to offer rather than someone who’s taking things from the community.
On top of this, Martin is managing to go to the local church on Sundays. Slowly but surely, he is making friends and this will again make a difference in Martin’s life and relationship circle.
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