Adult Social Care, Optalis and residents have started to review the Out and About Service, which helps people with learning disabilities connect with others and take part in activities and events in their local community. The review aims to create a combined service by merging the Out and About service with the Short Break Overnight Outreach scheme at Loddon Court.  

 What have we learned? 

We began by gathering feedback in a survey from people who already use the service, their families, and people who might be interested in using the service in the future, to help understand what works well, and where improvements can be made. Some of the things you told us are: 

Some people would like more choice of locations, days (like weekends) and of activities. The cost of some activities and staff shortages that effected activities running were also mentioned as areas that could be improved. The positives people told us about were the staff who run the service, the choice of activities and chance to meet others and socialise. 

What happens now? 

We will invite people who use the Out and About service to meet with us so we can learn more about their experiences and better understand what they want the service to offer.   

We will use this feedback to create a plan for the future of the service. This will help us make improvements and ensure the Out and About service continues to meet the needs of people it supports, while offering a high-quality experience and value for money. 

 Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback, and we look forward to updating you on the next steps in developing the service. 

Councillors have agreed an increase in frequency for bus route 3 between Wokingham and Barkham, Finchampstead and Arborfield.   

The service is currently hourly, but people at our Community Conversations said that this limits their options for getting to work or school, enjoying leisure time or seeing family and friends. As a result of this and other public feedback, the Council’s Transport Team put a case to Councillors for increasing the number of buses. 

Buses will run every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, so everyone has access to healthy, convenient and affordable ways to travel and live the lives they want to lead. 

The change, which could start from May, would be funded by contributions from developers building new homes in the area. It would run for two years initially with scope for two further one-year extensions. 

Direct Payment training for community group professionals

Last year we ran a project to look at how we could make Wokingham the best place to receive support via direct payments. The project team was made up of residents with experience of direct payments, local community groups and professionals involved in administering and promoting direct payments. One of the recommendations the group made was to provide direct payment training to people who work for voluntary and community groups, so they can provide more help to the individuals they support.   

Two-day Personal Budget and Direct Payment training for local voluntary and community groups is now planned on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 May. This online training will be free to staff and volunteers at groups that support local residents and will be run by SCIE (Social Care Institute for Excellence).  

The course content includes: 

• an overview of assessment, support planning and review 

• defining personal budgets, direct payments, local authority commissioned services and individual service funds, and legal duties around these 

• elements, principles and exclusions of the personal budget and how it is calculated 

• how the personal budget is used for both adults and carers 

• direct payments for adults with capacity and without capacity 

• ways of administering and reviewing direct payments. 

The aim is that by the end of the course, community groups will be better able to help residents know how to use direct payments and the extra support that’s available to people who need it. 

There are 20 spaces available, and to book VCS colleagues need to email  the Adult Social Care Statutory Services Admin team.