Kingwood News ArchiveDecember 2011Kingwood announced the results of the survey commissioned by 36 UK based autism charities into how everyday services could be made more accessible and less daunting for children and adults with autism. The survey revealed some important findings which indicate that services can be improved as much by introducing small, bottom-up changes driven by those with good knowledge and understanding of the needs of people with autism, as by top-down policy initiatives. For more information please click here. October 2011Kingwood College – opening in Reading, autumn 2012 From next year Kingwood will provide residential life skills training and education programmes for students with autism and Asperger’s aged between 18-25. Sue Osborn, Chief Executive of the Kingwood Trust said, "Kingwood College will extend the range of services we currently provide and enable us to focus more on supporting young people with autism as they prepare for adult life, no matter how profound their disability. Every student will follow a curriculum that’s been designed especially for them, which takes account of their individual interests, wishes and abilities. In this way students can develop a variety of skills which enable them to enjoy the same pleasures in life that many of us take for granted, such as greater independence and the opportunity to participate in paid work. This is just one of the ways Kingwood is committed to improving the lives of the people we support and we would like to thank our many supporters for their generosity in helping to make Kingwood College a reality". To learn more about our exciting new project please visit Kingwood College. To make a donation towards the capital costs of building Kingwood College, please visit our Buy a Brick appeal page or click here to go direct to Just Giving. October 2011Help young people with autism and Buy a Brick for Kingwood College Just £1.00 will make all the difference to helping us achieve this goal. Please join our campaign to raise £892,000 to build Kingwood College, an education facility that really can make a difference to the lives of young people with autism between 18-25. You can Buy a Brick by donating £1.00 when you visit Just Giving or follow the instructions on our website. Making a donation is easy and can be made direct from your mobile phone or credit card. Why not support our campaign and help spread the word by pressing 'like' on our facebook page. On behalf of our students we would like to say a very big THANK YOU! August 2011Kingwood announces an extension to its pilot programme for ‘Active Support’ Last year Kingwood commenced a trial of a new programme designed to support individuals with a learning disability to take part in everyday activities and relationships. Known as ‘Active Support’ the technique was initially introduced for two people Kingwood supports and has now been extended to others due to the positive response experienced so far. It’s not uncommon for people with autism to find the world, and the neuro typical people living within it, confusing and unpredictable; which in turn causes them to live in a constant state of anxiety that can result in challenging behaviour. Active Support focuses on delivering a consistent approach to support which not only assists individuals to gain the confidence to develop new skills, it also provides reassurance through consistency. As we continue to evaluate results, further information about Active Support can be found by visiting our glossary.
July 2011Kingwood Annual Report Kingwood held its AGM on the 6th July when the Statutory Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2011 were adopted by the Board of Trustees. June 2011Kingwood Summer newsletter Download our latest newsletter to read an update on what's happening at Kingwood. More detailsMarch 2011The Kingwood ‘Let’s Grow’ Garden Project Open Day - Saturday 21 May 2011, 10.30am- 2.30pm. More details. March 2011The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) are producing a number of ‘At a glance summaries’ to help people understand as quickly and easily as possible the important messages and practice advice in SCIE’s guides. Please read more on the SCIE website. Please find two summaries that may be of particular interest, both have been written by SCIE in conjunction with the Challenging Behaviour Foundation.
10 March 2011URGENT! Say “NO” to cuts in budgets for people with autism. Add your voice to the campaign NOW. Kingwood & NAS Challenge Cuts To Budgets 3 March 2011Autism Housing Design Handbook Launched at National Autistic Society Conference Posted February 2011Autistica 5th Anniversary lunch and fashion show February 2011Kingwood Spring Newsletter Posted - February 2011Autism Act Statutory Guidance Posted - September 2010Launch - Berkshire Autism Alert Card - 10.30 am, 6 October 2010 Posted - September 2010Kingwood announces next lectures in the Kingwood Lecture Series September 2010Latest news from 'Let's Grow', the Kingwood Horticulture Project 11 August 2010Lucy presents her video at 'The Shadowlight Artists' at the Oxford Town Hall 2 August 2010Kingwood launches its new website – www.kingwood.org.uk 21 July 2010Next Lecture Series date announced 6 July 2010Kingwood AGM 2010 4 June 2010Lucy presents her video at 'The Shadowlight Artists' at Modern Art Oxford 28 April 2010Kingwood celebrates World Autism Day with the launch of new case studies 23 March 2010Kingwood Lecture Series – "The New UK Brain Bank for Autism and Related Developmental Research" March 2010In March 2010 Kingwood began a weekly Creative Skills course in Wallingford that's open to everyone we support to come along and join in, or just watch. The sessions include arts and crafts, music, movement and drama and are specifically designed for individuals on the autistic spectrum and structured to meet their specific individual needs. March 2010Also in March 2010 a spin off Horticulture Project started in the garden of our Thatcham service. To date they have been growing a variety of vegetables, potatoes, runner beans, peas, lettuce, courgettes, peppers and beetroot. In July harvesting of tomatoes, peas and runner beansis was well underway. They also have a herb garden which includes chives, thyme and mint. 23 February 2010Kingwood Lecture Series – "Current issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome" February 2010Our Horticulture Project continued to flourish with a move to new premises at North Moreton in Oxfordshire. This expansion was made possible due to sponsorship from John and Annetta Slade who made land and a poly tunnel available for our use, enabling us to plant a variety of crops for the spring. We also began cultivating an allotment in Shiplake. The project also offers participants the opportunity to gain an ASDAN qualification in Horticulture should they wish to do so. 23 February 2010Kingwood Lecture Series – “Current issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome” February 2010Our Horticulture Project continued to flourish with a move to new premises at North Moreton in Oxfordshire. This expansion was made possible due to sponsorship from John and Annetta Slade who made land and a poly tunnel available for our use, enabling us to plant a variety of crops for the spring. We also began cultivating an allotment in Shiplake. The project also offers participants the opportunity to gain an ASDAN qualification in Horticulture should they wish to do so. 20 January 2010Kingwood Lecture Series – “Autism and Asperger Syndrome” 17 December 2009Kingwood Lecture Series – “Getting Answers from Babies about Autism” 25 November 2009Kingwood Lecture Series Launched – “Autism Now” June 2009June 2009 marked the start of the Kingwood Horticulture Project when individuals we support in Wallingford began growing organic vegetables in their own garden with the aim of cultivating, cooking and eating their own food. 2 April 2009Stand Up for Autism - World Autism Awareness Day 2009 April 2009Kingwood was awarded a second star by The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and adult social care services in England. The CQC is responsible for monitoring services delivered to individuals via a rigorous system of inspection which involves talking to the people being supported and their families, as well as reviewing paperwork produced by the organisation providing the support or care. A full copy of the report can be found on the CQC website. February 2009 - Kingwood opened new service in WallingfordKingwood opened a new service in Wallingford, when the number of people we support increased to 50. The number of people supported by the charity rose to 50. July 2008Bob Horwood, Kingwood’s Community Resource & Development Manager, became the charity’s representative on the “Looking At Us” Steering Committee. “Looking At Us” brings together a team of people from 8 Oxfordshire based support providers with a remit to help improve the quality of support provided by each organisation. The project supports people to change things in their lives that they may not be happy with. December 2007 – Kingwood Moved to New OfficesBy mid 2007, Kingwood had outgrown the Henley office and the search for alternative accommodation began. In December, the Head Office moved to Chalfont Court, Lower Earley which was refurbished to provide a training and meeting Room, Breakout Area and Kitchen for staff and the people we support. An upper floor accommodates head office personnel. May 2006 – Flash Forward Film FestivalBudding movie-makers got a taste of what life is like for real-life stars at the premier of Oxford’s first film festival for people with learning disabilities and autism, which took place on Sunday May 7th. Lucy won an award for best documentary with her first film entitled ‘My Name is Lucy ...’. This was a great achievement as Lucy had spent many years teaching herself to make documentaries. In her latest film she has moved on to animation and she has called this ‘The Magic Camera’. Jason was nominated for an award for his film ‘Jason’s Story’ as was Jill for ‘The Animal Sanctuary’. July 2005Kingwood became involved with “Looking At Us”, an Oxfordshire project which trains people with disabilities to assess the quality of services delivered to people supported by other care organisations. Following a visit a report is written which includes all the information gathered and is given to the organisation in question so they can see what’s happening. Each person visited also receives an individual report from the visit to share with their support staff and managers. The person visited is then invited to write an action plan based on the report in order to address areas which may not be going well. This report is followed up by the appropriate people 6 months later. 2005 New Kingwood LogoIn 2005 The Kingwood Trust adopted a new logo and ‘Kingwood’ was used on stationery and printed material. Kingwood opened a service in West Berkshire and provided support for a total of 35 people. 2004 - 10 Year AnniversaryKingwood celebrated its 10th anniversary at the Annual Meeting on 7 July 2004. The awards to the people we support were presented by Hugo Brunner, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire and the occasion was attended by Steve Shirley, Founder of Kingwood. Four films made by the people we support were shown to a large invited audience. September 2003 – Closing of ConchigliaOur residential home in Abingdon, Conchiglia, closed in 2003 and the move to Supported Living was achieved. Giles who had lived at Conchiglia wrote in the September Newsletter: “On 5th September I moved into my new house. It has helped me do more things for myself. If you would like to come and see me, please feel free to phone and arrange a visit” November 2002 – Boris Johnson MP Visits KingwoodWe had a great day on Friday when Lucy came to Head Office to meet Boris Johnson (our local MP). Lucy provided him with a whistle stop tour of her life and interests and made a video of the occasion as well as directing Boris to make a video of her. In exchange, Boris Johnson agreed to write a short article for the local paper informing people about our work and maintained an interest in the work of Kingwood. By 2002 with further services opened in North Oxfordshire, the number of people supported rose to 22. Summer 2002 - David Has a Driving LessonDavid had a lifelong passion for motor cars and motor sport, but driving had not previously been possible for him. Careful preparation with his support team working with the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation Mobility Centre in Surrey, enabled David to achieve his long held ambition in taking his first driving lesson. The Centre was established in 1981 and enables people with a wide range of disabilities to achieve mobility through driving. The Centre has both indoor simulators and its own outdoor road layout for instruction and assessment work. February 1999 - Investors In People AwardKingwood was recognised as an ‘Investors in People’ employer in February 1999. The assessor commented:“I was particularly impressed with the systems operating in the Trust which have been consistently applied through the four units and head office. The management team in the Trust are continually seeking improvements and involving more and more staff in the review and discussion processes”. (IIP Assessment Report Feb 1999). Since that date, Kingwood has continued to meet the IIP standards and have retained the Investors in People accreditation. June 1997Kingwood opened a residential care home, Conchiglia in Abingdon. The number of people supported by Kingwood rose to 8. March 1996The Kingwood Trust opened a small office in Henley, providing administrative and managerial support to the two existing services. Kingwood supported 3 people at this time. |
