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Disability Sheffield

Overview

We are a membership and user led organisation, run and controlled by disabled people. We promote independent living for disabled people in Sheffield. By independent living we mean that disabled people have the same freedom and rights to exercise choice and control over their own lives as any other person. We are committed to the 'social approach' to disability, rather than the 'medical approach'. People with impairments are disabled by the barriers they face in every day life – such as inaccessible communication formats, people's attitudes or inaccessible buildings – not by the way minds and bodies work. This approach has now been adopted as good practice by central government, Sheffield City Council and NHS Sheffield as well as internationally. Our Aims are: To work with and encourage disabled people to take control over their lives and achieve full participation in society – at home, at work and in the community. To strengthen the participation and voice of disabled people within the planning, delivery and monitoring of resources and services to support independent living. To work in partnership with the public, private, voluntary community and faith sectors in the best interests of disabled people. To deliver responsive, high quality and professional services and projects that meet needs identified by disabled people to support independent living. Our Aims are: To work with and encourage disabled people to take control over their lives and achieve full participation in society – at home, at work and in the community. To strengthen the participation and voice of disabled people within the planning, delivery and monitoring of resources and services to support independent living. To work in partnership with the public, private, voluntary community and faith sectors in the best interests of disabled people. To deliver responsive, high quality and professional services and projects that meet needs identified by disabled people to support independent living.

Contact details

The Circle 33 Rockingham Lane Sheffield South Yorkshire Yorkshire and the Humber S1 4FW United Kingdom

http://www.disabilitysheffield.org.uk/

emily.morton@inclusivesheffield.org.uk

01142 536750

Access guidance

• We have a long history of working with disabled people with physical impairment and we take care to look out for suitable seating arrangements in the office and when holding events.
• Our office is fully accessible to wheelchair users and where barriers exist we offer assistance to overcome these physical barriers by removing them or when that isn't possible making adjustments or helping physically.
• Our offices are situated in premises with bookable parking spaces and are relatively near to public transport amenities. Some of our services include home visits to ensure people's involvement.
• All our staff are inducted in the social model and we are aware of the additional needs of people with certain impairments or long term conditions, including those who may need urgent access to toileting facilities.
• We are an inner city service with no grassed area, the nearest grassed area is relatively close some 300/400 yards away from the building. We have a water bowl and are inclusive of people who use working dogs to aid their independence.
• We have a pro active strictly observed plus one policy and staff members help one another and any visitors we have in the office or elsewhere. Being an Individual Employer of Personal Assistants ensures that you are in control of your own care. For Personal Assistants, being employed under this style of care can be more varied than working for an agency or organisation. However, we at Disability Sheffield recognise that there is a lot to learn when becoming an Individual Employer or a Personal Assistant, and at times, both roles can be quite challenging. As well as offering training for employers of PAs we also have staf members who are aided by support workers via Access2Work.
• Information, it is often said, is power. Access to information has been identified by disabled people as one of the seven needs for independent living but knowing where to find accurate information to suit your individual requirements can be a problem. We work directly with disabled people to inform us if they require information in any particular format on any given disability related topic. Our disability information service is provided by staff and volunteers who have direct experience of disability themselves and we have been answering enquiries from disabled people for over five years. We aim to provide the information people require using our own fact sheets and carefully selected local and national information databases and resources. We will also tell people about those resources and where to find them if they need to use them again.
• Information, it is often said, is power. Access to information has been identified by disabled people as one of the seven needs for independent living but knowing where to find accurate information to suit your individual requirements can be a problem. We work directly with disabled people to inform us if they require information in any particular format on any given disability related topic. Our disability information service is provided by staff and volunteers who have direct experience of disability themselves and we have been answering enquiries from disabled people for over five years. We aim to provide the information people require using our own factsheets and carefully selected local and national information databases and resources. We will also tell people about those resources and where to find them if they need to use them again. We provide sign language interepters, indeed one member of staff uses BSL in the delivery of our services with those who use BSL.
• Our disability information service is provided by staff and volunteers who have direct experience of disability themselves and we have been answering enquiries from disabled people for over five years. We aim to provide the information you require using our own fact sheets and carefully selected local and national information databases and resources. We will also tell you about those resources and where to find them if you need to use them again.