Disabled Adults and Supported Employment Services

Living and learning

Specialising in day-care, employment, residential places and supported living, the Adults with a Disability Service helps people with a learning disability, while the Community Disability Team provides nursing and social work support to people with a physical or sensory impairment.

Our vision is one of person-centred, proactive and seamless services delivered by skilled and committed staff. Services include small, independent homes for people with a learning disability and support to those living in their own homes, as well as day and employment services.

Serving a register of around 250 people with a learning disability, we develop strategic initiatives to provide accommodation, improve transport and mobility, create employment opportunities, promote good health and ease the transition from education to adult life.

Traditional day services are provided at the Mignot Centre, attended by up to 40 people a day. Interwork Services provides employment either at its own premises or by placing people with external employers. This employment service is currently working with almost 100 people. This service has recently expanded to include a sheltered workshop and supported employment for people with mental health issues.

Six residential homes provide accommodation for 50 service users, while 24 others are able to live in their own homes, with the help of specialist staff, thanks to our Supported Living service. The Health and Social Services Department also funds various placements in the UK for adults whose needs cannot be easily met in Guernsey.

Our services for people with physical and/or sensory impairment are still at the developmental stage. A community team is in the process of identifying the types of service needed and exploring how those needs can best be met.

Guernsey’s Supported Employment Services enable people with learning disabilities to live in their own homes and play an active role in the community. Graham, 55, is a typical example of a service user - renting a studio flat in St Peter Port and getting practical help with everyday living.

Until a couple of years ago, Graham lived with his parents who took care of his various needs. But moving out has changed his life by giving him far greater independence and more opportunity to socialise.

Having chosen early retirement from his job at a local bank, Graham keeps himself busy studying at the reference library, following football (Liverpool FC) and playing pool. He attends a drama class at a local college and is doing an evening course to improve his reading and writing.

Graham gets around by public transport and, given a little help with his shopping list, is able to make his own supermarket trips. At home, he manages most household tasks, but needs support to get him started on cleaning and laundry.

Support workers provide a tailored package of care which may include not just domestic help, but also financial and emotional advice. Bryn Morse joined the Supported Living team in 2001, bringing five years’ previous experience in day and residential care for people with learning disabilities.

For Bryn, the keys to his role are creativity and sensitivity - finding ways to help, yet often taking a ‘back seat’ so that service users can explore new experiences and take responsibility for making choices and decisions.

Working in Guernsey, he maintains, is preferable to life on the mainland. The community is much smaller and the infrastructure of health and social services very different. Sunshine and fishing were also factors in making the move.

Bryn had been keen to live near the sea - and being close to such a stunning coastline helps alleviate any stresses he may feel at work. He believes he made a smooth transition from city to island living and very much enjoys the quieter, more relaxed way of life here, within a virtually crime-free community.