Social Groups
Stuck at home? Want to make new friends? Live in the County? Then Social Groups may be for you.
Since 1975, mosaic has supported a number of social groups in the County. Some have closed since that date e.g. one in Birstall but other new ones have opened. Some have been around since 1975.
All the groups are run by their members; no paid staff are involved although some may offer a volunteer an honorarium for their work. Each group is independent of mosaic in that they have their own bank accounts, raise money themselves for activities, develop a programme of activities and agree ‘subs’ if agreed. They meet on different days in different types of venues. The funding mosaic gets from Leicestershire County Council covers transport to the groups.
The groups are an important part of the services we have developed. A lot of group members say that the groups are the only time they have to get out of the house and meet other people and make friends. Most people find that attending a group reduces their reliance on other services offered by Adult Social Care.
Currently we are fortunate to have Barbara Harding working as a Project Worker for all the groups – not as an organiser. Barbara can help groups with finding funding and recruiting new members.
The current groups are:
- Fairfield meets on a Monday in South Wigston
- Fleckney meets every other Tuesday
- Great Glen meets every other Thursday
- Lutterworth meets every other Monday
- Endeavour Group meets in Desford
- Melton usually meets on a Thursday but is having a break
- Spinney, the newest group, meets every other Wednesday at Oak Spinney Park
For details about Social Groups contact Barbara Harding on 0116 2318720
“Pooling” your Budgets
mosaic runs a number of services where people meet together on a regular basis. Currently these are funded as groups but over the next few years disabled people who attend group will be assessed by a social worker. The result will be that people will probably be offered a Personal Budget. If you want to meet with other people on a regular basis you might want to “pool” your budget with other people. Currently these are the groups that we offer (there may be others in the future).
Monday
- A group meets at St Albans Church in Leicester. Currently this is funded by Leicester City Council.
- 9teen is a group for three young people from the Transitions Team in Leicester who have high physical care needs and meet at Oak Spinney Park. Individuals fund this through their Personal Budget
- Arts and Crafts Group has been meeting at Cross Corners Community Arts centre. This group has stopped for the time being but it is one which we want to start again once we have some new members. Members will fund this through their Personal Budget
- A group meets at the Palace in Ibstock funded by Leicestershire County Council
- The Exercise Group meets at Oak Spinney Park. Individuals fund this through their Personal Budget
Tuesday
- Tudor Centre in Leicester is a group that is funded by Leicester City Council
- Sapphire meets at Brockington Community College in Enderby funded by Leicestershire County Council
- Rendezvous meets at the Guildhall in Leicester for people aged 16-30 and is funded by both Leicester City and Leicestershire County Council
Wednesday
- A group meets at the Guildhall funded by Leicester City Council
- The Woodgate Group currently meets at Oak Spinney Park but is looking for another venue. Individuals fund this through their Personal Budget.
Thursday
- The Arts and Crafts group meets at Cross Corners Community Arts Centre from 10-1. Individuals fund this through their Personal Budgets
Friday
- Friday Verve meets at Walter Charles Centre and is funded by Leicestershire County Council
- A Second Friday Verve meets at Oak Spinney Park until another venue is found.
- The Loughborough Group (Panache) meets at St Peters Church Hall on Storer Road. Individuals fund this through their Personal Budgets
In addition, at weekends and some evenings we run Friendship Groups. There is a programme of events and people chose what they want to do. Friendship Groups are funded by an Individual’s Personal Budget. For a programme and more detail about these contact Rachael Moore on 0116 2318720
During the summer we are offering activities to young people who usually attend college during the week. This would also be funded by an Individual’s Personal Budget – for more detail contact Katie Barradell on 0116 2318720
While all the groups in mosaic work with different groups of people, of different ages in different locations funded in different ways they have one thing in common – the groups are planned by group members. Core to these groups is the fact that they are user-led; the groups ‘belong’ to the members. The staff facilitate what members want. The groups are open to people with different levels of personal care support needs. Being either based in the community or using community facilities makes a big difference to what can happen. Where attendence at a group is funded through direct payments or personal budgets and you want to try out a group you are entitled to one free Taster Day, after which you start paying.
Updated on 5 September, 2011