Inclusion seems to be the 'buzz-word' that generously emerges whenever organisations wish to illustrate that they are meeting criteria to involve people who use their services.
However, after closer scrutiny it can quite often appear that less tangible evidence exists to demonstrate that true participation and involvement is actually occurring.
Involving people who use services in the development and growth of an organisation ought not to be viewed as a supplementary task but rather as an ongoing shift in culture and philosophy.
During the 1990s Quarriers embarked on a culture change that embraced the principles of person centred planning. From this beginning, inclusion emerged as the next logical step to take for the organisation and the people it supports.
Although individual services were providing specific opportunities for people to design their own services, Quarriers recognised that there were less options for people to collectively influence events and set about to change this.
The following four groups are examples of how Quarriers have developed an Inclusion Policy that aims to increase the ways that the organisation directly engages with the people who use services.
Below is more information on each of the groups that have been set up as a direct result of Quarriers' Inclusion Policy:
Future of inclusion
These groups are representative of the moves forward that Quarriers has taken towards engaging more with people who use services.
However, groups are not ends in themselves but more a springboard for greater involvement of people who use services.
This year, Quarriers' Training Department have launched a range of training events for people who use disability services and are looking at ways to develop further events to include people who use other services. These courses include opportunities to learn more about self-advocacy, communication, decision making and assertiveness. The courses are open to all people who use Quarriers services. Staff and people who use services attend these courses together in order to appreciate the ethos of shared learning. It is expected that these opportunities will in turn enable even more people to develop greater skills and confidence in self-advocacy.
