North Lincolnshire Council

The Do Something Different project was founded in 2012. It was a partnership between North Lincolnshire Museum Service, Sports Development, and the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre and Arts Development.

The key outcome of the project was to increase the number of adults with a learning disability choosing to participate in sport, leisure and culture.

In order to achieve this, outcomes set for the project included ensuring all venues within Sport, Leisure and Cultural Services were accessible to all, and removing any barriers preventing adults with a learning disability from using these services; and ensuring all staff and volunteers working in Sport, Leisure and Cultural Services were trained and had the skills to support adults with a learning disability to access universal services.

The project was funded by North Lincolnshire Council Learning Disability Partnership Board.

The two year funding included a full time learning disability development officer, part time admin assistant and funding for a consultation event.

The funding for this project ended in March 2014. To continue the project, the learning disability development officer has been funded for one year by Public Health to include sport and leisure activities for adults with all disabilities.

The arts and culture side of the project has continued to be funded by the North Lincolnshire Council Learning Disability Partnership Board for one year and is just for adults with a learning disability. Negotiations are currently taking place with North Lincolnshire Council to fund the project as a whole.

The consultation event for adults with a learning disability in 2012 was a great opportunity to provide taster activities and find out what people wanted. Activities included sport sessions, African drumming, museum activities, arts and drama.

From the feedback the service was able to provide activities at a range of venues including both Normanby Hall Country Park and North Lincolnshire Museum.

Through the consultation a database of contact details were collated of those interested in particular activities.

These were then targeted through branded mailed leaflets, emails and follow up telephone calls.

A page on the North Lincolnshire Council website was set up and press releases and articles for newsletters were also written.

The learning disability development officer attended most events so that people could be signposted to other activities that they may be interested in. Having the same person at all the activities was a major success and enabled people to try new things.

North Lincolnshire Museum Service continues to provide activities for adults with a learning disability at Normanby Hall Country Park and North Lincolnshire Museum. These are marketed under the Do Something Different project.

Activities at Normanby Hall include bug hunting, pond-dipping, rag rug making and Victorian laundry workshops. At North Lincolnshire Museum a themed hands-on session was created and includes object handling, games and craft activities.

Access has been high on the agenda for North Lincolnshire Museum Service before the project started. This work has continued throughout the project to ensure both venues are accessible to all visitors. Some of the positive developments are not a direct result of the Do Something Different project, though many are linked to it.

Normanby Hall Country Park has received two accessible cycles from North Lincolnshire Council Sports Development. This is a direct result of the partnership through the Do Something Different project. Normanby Hall Country Park now has a Changing Places facility. This has made a huge impact to those that would not have been able to access the venue.

Museum service and 20-21 Visual Arts Centre staff are now trained in communication and interaction. The training was provided by a speech therapist at St Hugh’s Communication and Interaction Charter Mark. This training is ongoing and new staff will be trained from April 2015.

Normanby Hall Country Park has accessible paths into the woodland area of the park. These were funded by the Natural England Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. It enables those with wheelchairs and pushchairs to access the woodland, which was previously a muddy track.

At the end of the project a film was made to showcase the activities that had taken place through the project.

The film was a useful tool to show funding bodies as it includes comments from those taking part in the activities, and has been used to secure future funding throughout the project.