Ordinary Opportunities, Ordinary Experiences, Ordinary Lives

December 2011

Mince pies and carol singing, card making & decoration preparation. Going shopping for presents to send to relatives or to give to one another. Lots of conversations about what makes a good Christmas celebration, making arrangements for people visiting family & friends and making plans for those who will be staying to have a very Merry Christmas with lots of good cheer.

The rabbits and guinea pigs are now happily settled in their winter home in the greenhouse all snuggled in time for some proper winter weather.

Angie and the team are busy working on new day time activity programmes for the new year and we are very excited anticipating the opening of Applewood our new sensory room & chill out zone.

November 2011

We collected wood and fallen leaves and built a bonfire. We held a small firework party on 6th November and although some people decided that they did not want to watch them as they do not like loud bangs other people really enjoyed the occasion getting really quite excited about it.

November has been a month in which a lot of people have been having their annual reviews getting together with their social workers, family & Dignity staff to talk about all aspects of their life and designing a Person Centred Plan for the coming months. For some people this can be a difficult thing as they find it difficult to express their likes and dislikes or perhaps they struggle to be in a meeting environment. We understand that, so for some people they have a chat or spend some time with their key worker or advocate so that their views can be brought to the meeting even if they are not there in person.

October 2011

October was a month of celebration as there were a number of birthdays including a very special 21st. We all joined in making banners and blowing balloons, baking cakes and getting our glad rags on for the various parties and discos. The strings of paper chains that were made by several of the residents at Singleton were almost record breaking in length.

We welcomed some new staff members who have been busy doing their induction training and getting to know everyone. We find change can be difficult but sometimes it can also be a good thing to have a new face around the place. Very quickly new people find their feet and already it is possible to see how connections are being made with some of our residents requesting to work alongside some of the new staff perhaps because they have a shared interest or a particular skill that they bring to their role.

We ended the month with various Halloween activities. Trying to keep this as low key and non threatening as possible but recognising that some people find it fun to participate in apple bobbing and dressing up. Many took part in the local Gateway Club Halloween fancy dress party and amongst our residents there were winners of the Best Costume prize.

September 2011

Lots of changes have been happening at Singleton this month while the apples are ripening on our trees. Brian & the team have been busy decorating and renovating in the main house and at Segal House. We now have a new ramp at Segal & a few people have moved into new rooms to make sure that they have the en-suite facilities that they need.

Sadly we have had to say goodbye to Parsnip, one of our rabbits, as he had become very unwell. But Woody, his guinea pig companion is now living happily with Toffee. We welcomed Patch & Ginger, 2 lovely guinea pigs who belong to one of our new residents. Patch & Ginger are very happy to be in their new home & have quickly become favourites amongst the Singleton gang.

September brings the new term for this like horse riding & dance classes so there has been real excitement that this has begun again after the summer break. Some of us have been making papier mache piggy banks & baking delicious cakes while others have been getting to grips with learning how to use public transport.

August 2011

The month has seemed to whizz by. We have welcomed some new friends to join us for respite during the summer holiday season and we have tried as much as possible to make the most of the light evenings with barbecues & games of football on the lawn, visits to the beach and taking advantage of all the local festivities in and around Chichester. The weekly programme has been packed with activities over the summer as there are so many opportunities for people to get involved in. We have especially enjoyed going to the cinema on the wet days and seeing all the amazing engines at the Festival of Steam at the Weald & Downland museum in Singleton. The zebra finches in our aviary have been breeding & this month we have seen several new babies emerging from their nests.

July 2011

While some of our residents have been taking holidays in Devon accompanied by members of staff many of us have been enjoying days out to the local beaches, eating ice creams and soaking up a few rays of sunshine.There have been trips to the cinema & to the bowling alley using the local bus services to make sure that we can be as independent as possible. July is always full of fetes and fun days here in West Sussex and we have been joining in with the fun as much as possible.

We now have disco lights and have been enjoying holding friday night discos at Pithers. We held our annual BBQ at The Old Rectory on 15th July which was a great success. Lots of family and friends were there to join in the music and the sausage eating.

Our vegetable plots have been going from strength to strength and we have had a tremendous crop of beetroot and lettuces. So far we have managed to keep the creepy crawlies at bay.

Segal House has had some much needed renovation and we are looking forward to the arrival of our new stair lift at The Old Rectory which will mean that anyone with difficulty on the stairs will no longer have to struggle.

June 2011

What a busy month it's been. We have been planting vegetables at many of the houses & starting to see the fruits of our labours with a few strawberries being enjoyed just in time for Wimbledon fortnight.

We have been painting terracotta pots & planting herbs and some of us decorated plates and cups as presents for Father's day. At the Lighthouse a beautiful scented garden has been planted to be especially enjoyed by one lady who has very sadly recently lost her parents. She is enjoying being able to sit outside in the warm evenings and relax surrounded by the beautiful aromas.

We have been holding birthday barbecues with lots of cake baking and decorations and we have enjoyed several trips to the Weald & Downland museum where the heavy horses were a special favourite.

Many of the people we support in our Supported Living projects in Chichester have been undergoing re-assessments of their needs as the local authority is looking to make efficiency savings. We do hope that this reasessment will be realistic & will not result in too many having reductions in their allocation of support hours unless of course the individuals in question have significantly increased their ability to be more independent.

May 2011

21st May marks 10 years since we opened The Lighthouse in Selsey.
We celebrated in style with a garden party & bbq and we raised money in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care through selling tea & cakes, and a stall of home made produce, plants and flowers & a raffle.

This month the rabbits and guinea pigs have been having lots of fun and games. We now have leads for the rabbits and we have been taking them on walks around the garden at Singleton.

Thanks to the help of Phil, our expert gardener, we now have raised beds ready for growing vegetables at Singleton. Let's hope that we can keep the free range chickens off them. This is one place the bunnies will definitely not be allowed to go for a walk.

This bank holiday weekend some of the people who live at our home in Singleton have erected tents on the lawn. The plan is to practice for a camping trip this summer. Let's hope the weather stays fine for those who are going to be trying out sleeping under canvas!

April 2011

What a wonderful time we had planning & preparing the party to celebrate The Royal Wedding on 29th April 2011. Up at Singleton we decorated "Pithers", our day services building, with bunting & balloons and thanks to some excellent team work in the kitchen we made cakes and laid out a delicious buffet. We watched the wedding on our big screen & later we all danced and partied along to a disco.

March 2011

Spring is here and the animals have certainly been enjoying their new home. We said goodbye to Smarty, the rabbit, as he was finding it difficult to settle in and he is now happy in his new home with one of our staff.

We have been preparing the garden and planting hanging baskets which have made the houses look lovely and welcoming. With easter being so late this year we have had even more time than usual to make cards and gifts for friends and family.

February 2011

We are excited to announce the arrival of our new animals at The Old Rectory in Singleton.

We now have a rabbit and guinea pig village and on 7th February 2011 four rabbits and four guinea pigs took up residence. Thankfully we have been enjoying some lovely spring weather here in West Sussex and so they have all been enjoying their new surroundings. Everyone has been involved in naming the new additions and so we are pleased to introduce:- Snoopy & Parsnip, Smarty & Toffee the rabbits, Woody & Elvis, Gizmo & Widget the guineas.

Following on at the curly tail end of february we welcomed Gladys & Talullah our new pet Gloucester Old Spots. Located in their paddock in the grounds at The Old Rectory they are very keen on their cosy ark and have quickly adapted to regular visitors and are happy to receive a pat and a friendly scratch.

January 2011

Happy New Year & welcome to our new website. While West Sussex was covered in snow we have been planning for 2011 aware of all the challenges that may face us due to the financial climate but nonetheless excited by the prospect of the opportunities that Dignity can bring to the lives of people who have learning disabilities.