United Response Supporting you to live the life you choose Easy read version
Page 2 About United Response United Response is a charity. We support people all over England and Wales. We support young people and adults of all ages with disabilities. Many of the people we support have learning disabilities. Some people have mental health needs or physical disabilities. We know everyone is different and we will support you the way you want us to.
Page 3 How We Can Support You We can support you for just a few hours a week or 24 hours a day. We can support you at home. We can support you to meet people and do things in your community. We can support you at college or to learn new skills or to get a job. We can support you to make choices and to live the life you want.
Page 4 Communicating We will work with you to find out how you like to communicate. This might be with pictures, or easy words, or signing. We can use British Sign Language. We can use Makaton. Your support worker will help by showing others how to communicate with you.
Page 5 We can give you information about your support in a way you can understand. If you want, we will give you the information about your support in Braille or audio. We can support you to use technology to help you communicate. We have a CD-ROM called About Me and My Life which lets you tell others about you. You can also use it to tell your support team what you want to do and where you want to go.
Page 6 Your Support Plan United Response will help you make decisions about your support. We will work with you, and those important to you, to find out what you need and what you want to do. We will also find out what you don t like to do. We will work with you to make a support plan and change it when you want. Other people can be involved in your support plan, such as your family.
Page 7 We promise to support you in the way you want. You will have meetings to plan what you want to do each week. You will have meetings to plan what you want to do in the future. You can ask your family or carers to be part of these meetings if you want. If you are unhappy with any of your support, we will listen to you and change things.
Page 8 Becoming More Independent We can help you become more independent and more confident. We can help you make decisions about your life. We can support you to choose what you eat and how you dress. We can support you to do things in the community. We can support you to meet new people.
Page 9 We can help you get a job. We can support you to use public transport. We can support you to go on holiday. We can support you to manage your money. Where possible we will provide assistive technology and adapt your home so that you are able do more things by yourself.
Page 10 Personal Care We will always treat you with respect and dignity when giving you personal care. You can choose whether you want a man or a woman to support you with your personal care. We can support you to keep active. We will support you to have a healthy diet. We can support you to dress in the clothes you want to wear.
Page 11 We can support you to do your hair in the style you like. We can support you to brush your teeth and visit the dentist. If you need to take medicine, we will remind you so you don t forget. We will help you go to the doctors if you feel ill or need treatment or medicine. If you need to see a specialist we will support you to understand what they tell you.
Page 12 Supporting You at Home In your home, we will respect your rules and your privacy. We can support you get involved in household activities. Even if you can t do all of an activity, we can help you take part. We will help you to get involved in decisions and day-to-day things. We can support you to manage your bills.
Page 13 We can support you to keep your home clean. We can support you with household tasks and shopping. If you do not want to live on your own, we can support you to live with other people in a shared home. If you want to buy your own home, we will tell you about what choices you have, including shared ownership. If you want to rent your own home, we will help you understand the rules and understand your responsibilities.
Page 14 Employment If you want to work, we can support you to do this. We can help you to try and find a job. We will help you find a job which matches what you like to do. If you need to learn new skills to get ready for a job, we will help you do this. We can help you to prepare for your interview.
Page 15 If you want, we will go with you to an interview for a job. We can go with you when you start your job to help you learn what to do. We can support you to be on time getting to work. We can support you so that you are wearing the right clothes for the work you do. If you want, we will talk to your manager or work colleagues about anything that you are worried about at work.
Page 16 Hobbies, Interests and Learning We will support you to do the things you like to do in the community. We will support you to do things around your home. If you have a hobby, we will help you to meet people who like to do the same thing. We will find out with you any new things you would like to learn how to do. Remember, if you don t want to do something, you can stop at any time.
Page 17 Supporting You in the Community We will find out what things you like to do and what you would like to try. We will help you find out what things there are to do. We will help you find out what places there are to visit. We will support you to go out as much as you want. We will support you to use public transport to get around.
Page 18 Advocacy We can support you to get your voice heard and make decisions about your life. Sometimes you may want someone to help you make your choices understood. Our staff will communicate your wishes to other people if you ask them to. We can support you make sure your views are respected. We can help you make complaints if you feel you have been treated unfairly.
Page 19 Your Family United Response will work closely with your family if you want us to. We can involve your family in your support plan. Your family can come to your meetings and make sure you are happy. They can tell us if they are not happy about the support we give you. United Response has a families panel where they can tell us what they think.
Page 20 Our Staff Our staff are highly trained. Our staff have to pass a CRB check to work with you. They will treat you with dignity and respect at all times. They will treat you as an individual. They will get to know you to find out how you want to be supported.
Page 21 They will find out the things that you like and the things that you don t like. They will communicate with you the way you want. If you want to, you can get involved in choosing the person who supports you. We will try to find people who have the same interests as you. If you don t like your support worker, we will do our best to find someone else.
Page 22 Complaining We have a complaints procedure where you can tell us if you are not happy with your support. We take all complaints very seriously and fix anything that is wrong. We encourage our staff and people we support to complain when they see things which aren t right. We make regular checks on all our support to make sure that everything is right. Our Health and Safety team regularly check that everyone is supported in a healthy and safe way.
Involving You in United Response If you want to you can get involved with United Response in lots of ways. You could join our National User Panel and tell our Trustees what it is like being supported by United Response. You could become a Quality Checker and visit other services and tell us what we are good at and what we are bad at. We have Leadership and Coaches Teams where you can share your stories and tell our managers what you think. When we know what you do like and don t like about the way we work, we can get better at supporting you.
Page 24 If you want to be supported by us, you can also pay using a Personal Budget, Direct Payments, benefits you might have, or any other money you have. If you would like this leaflet in another format, please contact our communications team on: 020 8246 5235 If you want to find out more about United Response and how we could support you, you can contact us using the details below: Registered Office Vantage House, 1 Weir Road, Wimbledon Park, London SW19 8UX 020 8246 5200 info@unitedresponse.org.uk www.unitedresponse.org.uk www.facebook.com/unitedresponse www.twitter.com/unitedresponse www.unitedresponse.org.uk/blog Registered charity no. 265249. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England no. 1133776. Thanks to CHANGE for the Picture Bank. Copyright of United Response