The Rowan Organisation has a small team of Independent Living Advisers; Jan, Jacqui and Hannah, and Gail who provide support across Conwy, Denbighshire and beyond. The project is overseen by Karen Smith, our Deputy Chief Executive, who also lives in North Wales.

Between us, the team has a wealth of knowledge and experience and our aim is to provide you with high quality information and support with regards to Direct Payments and how you can use them to achieve your outcomes.

We have compiled an extensive information pack which can be provided bilingually or in other preferred formats and we complement this with additional resources and support to help you to understand about Direct Payments and how they can be beneficial to you. We also provide support with practical tasks including the completion of associated paperwork, recruiting new staff and of course, ongoing support to become, and continue to be, a good employer. We work closely with the locally based payroll and managed accounts staff to ensure that these services are also tailored to your individual requirements, should you choose to access them, and that communication between us all is effective.

We hope that in time, people receiving Direct Payments will benefit from increased confidence and independence and naturally, this will result in you requiring less support from ourselves. However, should your circumstances change for any reason and you`d like a little helping hand, please remember that we are here to help so if you contact us, we will pick up where we left off.

Our Head Office is based in Coventry and is staffed between the hours of 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday however local staff are based within the locality in order to provide community based support.

To contact us, please contact our Information Team on the Freephone numbers of:

• 01248 668750 for Welsh Speakers
• 0800 783 1755 for English Speakers

You can also e-mail us via the welsh language information team on cymru@therowan.org or via the English email address of info@therowan.org

We look forward to hearing from you!

Our team is made up of…

Name	Role
Karen Smith	Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Gail Silver	Senior Independent Living Advisor
Jan Dodd	Independent Living Advisor
Hannah Stokes	Independent Living Advisor
Sarah Percy	Independent Living Advisor

COLEG LLANDRILLO

An introduction to British Sign Language
Held at Denbigh and Rhos on Sea – Part time – 3 hours a week for 12 weeks
Level 1 Health and Safety for Carers – 3.5 hours
Level 2 Awareness of Dementia – 6.5 hours
Moving and Handling People Safely – 20 hours
Level 3 First Aid at Work – 13 hours
Level 3 Emergency First Aid – 6 hours
(There is a cost for all the above training)

BRITISH RED CROSS

Red Cross House, Business Park, Abergele LL22 8LJ
First Aid at Work – 0844871800
First Aid for the public – 0344 412 2808
(There is a cost for the above training)

CONWY COMMUNITIES FIRST

E-mail communities.first@conwy.gov.uk
First aid
Food safety courses
(There is no cost for the above training)

THE DOWN’S SYNDROME ASSOCIATION SUPPORT SERVICES

Tel 0333 12 12 300
E-mail:wales@downs-syndrome.org.uk

We provide training to anyone with an interest in providing an inclusive service to children and adults with Down’s syndrome. Information and advice are free.
(Some resources and training services are charged for)

ST JOHN CYMRU

0345 678 5646

Basic First Aid
Emergency First Aid at Work
Emergency Paediatric First Aid
Manual Handling – Inanimate Loads
(There is a cost for all the above training)

WALES COUNCIL FOR VOUNTARY ACTION

0800 2888 329

All Wales Basic Safeguarding
(There is a cost for the above training)

NORTH WALES TRAINING LTD

www.nwtraining.co.uk 01492 543431

Award in Principles of Manual Handling Certificate
Food Safety Level 2, 3 and 4
Emergency First Aid at Work Level 2
Level 3 Paediatric First Aid
(There is a cost for the above training)

EPILEPSY ACTION

awareness@epilepsy.org.uk 0808 800 5050/01633 253407
Epilepsy Awareness training
(There is a cost for the above training)

WALES COUNCIL FOR DEAF PEOPLE

www.wcdeaf.org.uk 01443 485687

Sensory Loss Awareness
British Sign Language
Lip Reading Classes
(There is a cost for the above training)

LEARNING DISABILITY WALES

enquiries@ldw.org.uk 029 2068 1160

Delivering Better Services for People with Learning Disabilities
Effective Communication with People with a Learning Disability
Introduction to Autism Spectrum Conditions – Adults
Introduction to Autism Spectrum Conditions – Children and Young People
Learning Disability and Dementia – Exploring Support
Positive Ways of Changing Behaviour
Understanding and Promoting Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing
Visual Support Strategies: Supporting Adults with autism to become more independent
(There is a cost for the above training)

AGORED CYMRU

info@agored.cymru

Level 3 Award in Accessible Language for D/deaf People
Level 3 Certificate in Communication Support
Level 3 Diploma in Communication Support
Level 2 Diploma in Clinical Healthcare Support
Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work
Level 3 Award in First Aid at Work
Level 2/Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care (Adults) for Wales
Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care (Children And Young People) for Wales
Level 1 Certificate in Introduction to Health and Social Care (Adults and Children and Young People), Early Years and Childcare – Wales
Level 2/Level 3 Award in Introductory Awareness of Sensory Loss
Level 3 Diploma in Physiotherapy Support
Level 2 Award in Social Care Induction (Wales)
Level 3 Award in Paediatric First Aid
Level 3 Diploma in Occupational Therapy Support
Level 2 Award in Manual Handling of Inanimate Loads and People
(There is a cost for the above training)

Do you need money for for training?

If you employ your own care and support staff using a social care budget or your own money you can apply to Skills for Care to get money for training for you and your personal assistant. The money that is available is called individual employer funding.

Examples of the type of training you could use the money for are:-

• Moving & Assisting
• First Aid
• Communication
• Dementia Awwareness
• Risk Assessment

To apply for the money and for further information please click here.

WALES COUNCIL FOR VOLUNATARY ACTION

Training and Events Digest

Fundraising camp – 25 September, Cardiff

Brought to you by UK Fundraising, WCVA, Institute of Fundraising and the Wales Millennium Centre, this ‘unconference’-style event is ‘informal and relentlessly practical’ and completely shaped by the fundraising questions you want answered!

Spend a day learning, talking about and maybe even solving the issues and challenges you face in your fundraising. Learn from other fundraisers in your area, find out how they’ve dealt with similar problems, and share your experience. Find out more about this unique event and book your place by clicking on the link above.

For further Events and Training dates please click here.

UNISON Cymru/Wales Personal Learning Grants

For UNISON MEMBERS working in a social care setting, e.g. local authority, private or charity-run/voluntary aided homes or employed directly by individuals.

For further information please click here.

Welsh Council for Voluntary Action – Training and events digest.

Get the knowledge, skills and confidence to plan, prepare and deliver training sessions with this three day accredited course. One of our most popular courses, Training Skills gives you an overview of learning theory, provides practical planning tools for designing and evaluating, and helps prepare you for delivering your training. The course is ideal for those who are new to training and/or may have taken on a training role in their organisation for the first time.

For further information and details please click here.

Betsi Cadwalade University

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board are pleased to offer Leadership & management, Manual Handling and Violence & Aggression training.

New dates have been released for the following sessions:-

HCSW CPD Sessions, including:-

• Sensory Loss
• Catheter Care
• Nutrition
• Stress
• Documentation
• De-escalation and Breakaway in Dementia Care
• Fairness, Rights and Responsibilities

If you would to make a booking or further information regarding available courses or room hire across North Wales, please e-mail ABH.TrainingGroup@wales.nhs.uk.

Awareness courses and software training for disabled people

Click on this link for further information.

Free staff training/ fforddiant staff am ddim

The CADCentre UK Ltd is an approved training provider working in partnership with the Welsh Government to deliver the Work Based Learning training scheme. The aim of the scheme is to provide high-quality vocational training and assessment without incurring any financial costs to the employer whatsoever.

The training courses are FREE OF CHARGE and, after successful completion, the staff will receive City & Guilds certification. The training is predominantly for Welsh speaking staff, however if you have English speaking staff who are interested they can work on a 1:1 ratio.

Courses available are:-

• Using IT – This course is suitable for all employees who use a computer on a daily basis. The qualification consists of training in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc) along with Improving Productivity by Using IT and IT User Fundamentals. (There is also an advanced course for competent IT Users).
• Business & Administration – This course is suitable for any staff in an administrative position. The qualification covers a wide range of topics from managing customer relations to using IT systems.
• Customer Service – This course is for staff who are responsible for delivering customer service and who interact directly with the customer, for example sales or retail staff, staff working on service desks, call centre staff, etc. (This course is only available through the medium of Welsh).
• Keyskills – Communication and Application of Number Keyskills are delivered alongside the qualifications and are at levels 1 or 2.
• All training is delivered on-site and employees are eligible for the courses if they meet the following criteria:
  • Not on any other scheme which is funded by the government.
  • Contracted to work 30+ hours per week
  • Have been an EU resident for at least 3 years

For further information on the courses or to find out more please call Shareen Jarrett directly on Freephone 0808 2000 129 or you can e-mail shareen.jarrett@cadcentreuk.com.

Free training from Denbighshire Council

Denbighshire County Council is pleased to offer free training to Direct Payment Recipients and their staff, free of charge.

For further details, please visit their website or contact the Training Department at:

Workforce Development Team,
Russell House,
Churton Road,
Rhyl,
Denbighshire,
LL18 3DP

Alternatively, we can support you to identify courses with the local colleges, such as those offered by Llandrillo.

Coleg Llandrillo Cymru,
Llandudno Road,
Rhos-on-Sea,
LL28 4HZ.

Telephone: 01492 546 666

Fax: 01492 543 052

E-mail: admissions@llandrillo.ac.uk

Coleg Llandrillo Rhyl,
Cefndy Road,
Rhyl,
Denbighshire,
LL18 2HG.

Telephone: 01745 354 797

Fax: 01745 334 315

E-mail: rhyladmissions@llandrillo.ac.uk

New Horizons with G2G Communities and the Open University

G2G Communities are offering training courses and Open University flexible training courses, some of which may be free. All courses are supported and flexible with drop in sessions and virtual support.

More information is available in their leaflet.