Network Development Co-ordinator’s Update
Hello Everyone! Welcome to our first newsletter of 2021. As we are in Lockdown 3 and many of you are supporting your service users remotely, or have blended models in place, I am going to focus on sources of support for our Karten Centres and members of our wider Karten Network. This is a reminder of things that have been shared previously, but many of the resources have been updated in recent weeks.
Support and resources
There are many ways that the Karten Network and others can help you so please don’t be shy, reach out to us and we’ll be delighted to help. The Karten team contact details can be found at the end of the newsletter.
Karten Centres are eligible to access bespoke support from TechAbility so why not contact the team and find out more. During the early stages of lockdown we developed a home learning/support resource on our website which is worth a look - https://karten-network.org.uk/home-learning-support/ Around the same time Natspec developed a website to support home learning - https://natspec.org.uk/resources/home-learning/ and TechAbility has a section to support remote learning https://www.techability.org.uk/resources/aiding-learning-from-home/
For Karten Centres that are not educational providers, don’t be put off by the use of the term “learning”, many of the resources transfer perfectly into independent living, day care and residential care contexts, there really is something for everyone.
Funding and applications
Many of you have been asking me about applying for Karten funding. Unfortunately, the pandemic has had an impact on the amount of funding that can be allocated to Centres. I will keep you informed about future funding opportunities. In the meantime, I urge you to remain closely involved with the Network as there are many more benefits of engagement in addition to direct financial support.
Ian Karten’s Charitable Trust website
In December 2020, the Trust launched a website to celebrate Ian’s life and legacy. You can also follow the Trust on Twitter @IanKarten.
Centenary Video
The students and staff at New Bridge Group produced a Centenary Video to mark Ian’s 100thyear.
Thank you so much to the students and staff at New Bridge Group for filming the activities in Karten Centres and for producing the video.
Thanks to the following organisations for participating in this project:
That’s all from me. I hope you stay safe and well and I look forward to being in touch with you soon.
Dawn Green
Karten Network and Development Co-ordinator
|
|
Nuvoic Project
The Karten Network has continued working on the Nuvoic Project our collaboration with specialist app developer Voiceitt, aiming to improve access to speech recognition technology for people who have speech difficulties. Voiceitt’s app supports people who want to communicate using their own voice but have difficulty being understood by unfamiliar people, or who want to use their voice for smart home control but can’t access mainstream technologies. The Karten Network is leading on user involvement and testing in the UK.
Updates
Since our last newsletter, we’ve been working with several of our partner organisations to recruit individuals to take part in the project, and we’re delighted that we now have participants from Beaumont College in Lancaster, Cedar Foundation in Northern Ireland, Enable Ireland, Hill House care home in Sandbach (Leonard Cheshire), Homefield College in Leicestershire, National Star in Cheltenham, The Grange Centre and Young Epilepsy in Surrey, as well as some individuals who’ve contacted us directly. We’d like to say a huge thank you to all of our participants and partner organisations for your contribution so far, especially in such challenging circumstances!
In December, Voiceitt announced their collaboration with Amazon to make Alexa accessible for users with impaired speech, and in January...Continue reading about the Nuvoic Project
|
|
Update from Mobile Technology Advisor
With a new year, comes renewed hope and enthusiasm for the potential that 2021 holds. Unfortunately, we still find ourselves facing many challenges due to the Coronavirus (COVID‑19) restrictions. Our Home Learning Support resource is still available on our website. This collection of information, links and resources can be accessed at: https://karten-network.org.uk/home-learning-support/
An app included in the Home Learning Support resources, BorrowBox allows you to access audio as well as eBooks from your local library for free. If not already registered with your local library, this can be done through the app.
You may find however, depending on your local library service that you get stuck in an error loop when trying to register on an iOS or iPadOS device. This is caused by Apple’s strong password feature which automatically generates a password when filling in forms. While you can choose to use this password or create your own, the library service web-form validation constantly alerts you to the error that you are unable to do this.
I would therefore suggest...Continue reading about Apple’s strong password feature, when devices misbehave, and website developments
Martin Pistorius
Karten Network Mobile Technology Advisor
|
|
Westfield’s Connected Autonomous Vehicles
 Karten Centres have been invited to be involved in an exciting project assessing the inclusive design and functionality of Westfield's Connected Autonomous Vehicles. Four of our Centres are currently involved in the project. Due to the lockdown, activity is limited to remote activity and virtual reality, but once restrictions are eased Westfield will be dropping vehicles off at Karten Centres and participants will have the opportunity to experience the vehicles first-hand. This is a fabulous opportunity for people with disabilities to input into the design process. Take a look at the Westfield's Connected Autonomous Vehicles website and the YouTube clip.
If you would like further information please email dawn@karten-network.org.uk
|
|
Launch of pioneering Covid-19 support app for people with SEND
 Our Summer 2020 newsletter featured Derwen College Industry Champion, Neil Bevan, and the work his company had been doing with Derwen College in the development of their award-winning ‘Support Work’ mobile apps.
The lessons learned, the success of the project and the collaboration with the college, which includes the ‘Working in a Printshop’ app used in Derwen’s Karten Printshop, prompted Neil to separate out the app development side of his design and marketing business to form a new company – Starfish Labs Ltd.
Starfish Labs has recently launched the first of a suite of apps to support people with special educational needs and disabilities to understand the changes in society and regulations due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
The app, ‘COVID-19: Staying Safe’, has been part...Continue reading about the pioneering Covid-19 support app
|
|
News from the Karten Centres
|
|
Percy Hedley
Smiles of Thanks from Ellie
 Ellie is one of the hundreds of disabled people whose lives have been enhanced by a new state of the art sensory suite, which was generously funded by The Ian Karten Charitable Trust.
The gift of £24,582 for Percy Hedley’s adult day services in Forest Hall has been used to create a sensory suite with a range of specialist equipment which will improve the lives of the many disabled people across the North East.
Ellie has a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, she is quadriplegic in all limbs, has visual impairment, severe learning development delay, epilepsy and is not able to communicate verbally.
The care team at Percy Hedley have an interactive session in the sensory suite with Ellie every week. These sessions are calm and soothing incorporating music, visuals, lighting, massage and tactile touch, creating a perfect environment for increasing bonding and reducing sensitivity to touch.
Over time, as a result of the sensory therapy, the stress which Ellie has experienced in daily life, where touch is needed, has reduced. This has impacted on her overall stress levels, her happiness and her ability to become socially involved with her family, friends and peers. These sessions have drastically improved Ellie’s life and have opened up opportunities...Continue reading about the smiles of thanks from Ellie
|
|
Linkage College
Blended learning at Linkage College
 The Karten Trust grant awarded to Linkage’s Weelsby campus has had a significant impact upon the Linkage blended learning approach. Learners are now able to regularly access the equipment beyond the Karten centres, and this has enabled learners to develop their skills and led to a reduction in support required from teaching staff when completing a range of tasks and activities. To date 73 of the 83 learners at the Weelsby campus (88%) have accessed equipment funded by the grant outside of formal Karten centre sessions.
Prior to the lockdown in March 2020 the media group of 15 learners planned, developed and facilitated an exhibition to showcase their fantastic work. Some of the group were working towards a qualification in Creative Media Production and creating images was a key aspect of their course of study. The theme for the photography project had been 'Nature'. Having some beautiful grounds, we were very lucky to be able to capture images of nature every week with slightly different themes and purposes, for example macro photography, remembrance photography, landscape photography, autumn, Halloween, and Christmas. The images were a mixture of original and edited images all created by the learners. Showcasing their work really boosted their confidence and pride in their work and ability.
The exhibition was promoted to...Continue reading about Blended learning at Linkage College, including a case studies
|
|
Orchardville Works
The Impact of our Karten Centre
 Our participants have enjoyed experimenting with the new learning methods, equipment and services we have been able to provide since our successful application of the Karten application in September 2019. We have been privileged to be able to purchase an Epson wide format printer, height adjustable desks, a Tajima Sai embroidery machine, sewing Machine, semi-automatic creaser, a projector, a screen to project onto, iPad pro air tablets with keyboards and iPad arms so we can connect them to the participants desks. All of this equipment has significantly improved the learning experience for our participants as well as the range of services available to our customers.
Impact of Orchardville Works Karten Centre on our participants
Orchardville Works is a Social Enterprise of Orchardville, a charity organisation that believes that with the right support anyone with a learning disability or autism can reach their employment aspirations. In total we support over 500 adults with learning disability or autism in Northern Ireland. Our main employment project is called Ignite2, each Participant that joins Orchardville follows a journey to help them achieve their goals by developing personal, social and employability skills.
Some participants feel ready to head straight to paid employment with the support of their appointed employment officer, others feel they need some more time to develop their skills further. Fortunately, we can provide...Continue reading about the impact of our Karten Centre, including a case study
|
|
Keeping in touch
You can keep up to date with the activities of the Karten Network in a number of ways:
Karten Network website – www.karten-network.org.uk
Jiscmail - are you signed up to the jiscmail distribution list? Let Dawn know (dawn@karten-network.org.uk) if you would like any other members of staff adding to this email group
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – search for Karten Network
Contact us
Dawn Green: dawn@karten-network.org.uk Tel 07821 723941
Debbie Ben-Tal: debbie@karten-network.org.uk
Liz Howarth: liz@karten-network.org.uk Tel 07536 987077
Martin Pistorius: martin@karten-network.org.uk
Inés Meza-Mitcher: ines@iankartencharitabletrust.org.uk
|
|
|
|
|
