A book based on the extraordinary experience of Manavodaya, a non-profit organisation in India that has facilitated self-help groups among poor villagers and trained development practitioners for over 20 years.   Varun Vidyarthi, leader of Manavodaya and the book’s co-author, says that ‘development from below’ is not enough. The key to social change is development from within – change in individual and group consciousness. This change leads to collective capacity for self-management among people’s organisations….

A book describing how to help your family member to be in control. This resource guide was written by a family member. It was written for families who have a relative who needs support in order to have a good life.   This book by Caroline Tomlinson offers suggestions about how you can help your relative – son, daughter, husband, wife, partner or friend – to get a better life. The guide tries to explode…

As we know, there is a very big rhetoric-reality gap between the policy on personalisation and many people’s real life experience. At a local level, too many people are struggling to get their rights to control their own support and are facing bureaucracy, lack of support, over control by the system. Many local groups and organisations are working as hard as they can to support people, but such support has often been decimated by cuts…

Catch up on the latest Partners in Policymaking courses and news… All Together Better, Portsmouth As part of the Transforming Care agenda, In Control have been supported by NHSE and the IPC programme to start an ‘All Together Better’ course in Portsmouth, led by Lynne Elwell and Julie Stansfield. The course sessions deliver both inspiration and information to participants, giving people cutting-edge information and confidence in the belief that people and their families have always…

Does your CCG need some practical help and advice to support the further roll-out of personal health budgets? The Government’s Mandate expects 50,000 -100,000 personal health budgets (PHBs) by 2020/21, as well as CCG responsibilities regarding the legal right to have a personal health budget for people who are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare and continuing care for children. The Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View published in March 2017 further promotes supporting…

The Guardian Article   Campaigners say growing use of prepaid cards for people to spend on support at home is removing their independence   For the past 10 years, Edwina McCarthy, 63, has lived contentedly in her own home in south London with the support of personal assistants she employs through a personal budget for needs arising from cerebral palsy. In many ways, she is an advertisement for the merits of the personalisation of care…

Lynne Elwell has put her heart and soul into the disability rights and inclusion movements. She has collated a realm of good information and inspiration along the way and we have had the honour and pleasure to record these and create a handbook which can gifted it to people and parents all over the world.   As you would expect it is a brilliant valuable resource, a comprehensive dossier of quotes, tools, advice and stories….

  More than 200 people from all walks of life gathered yesterday (30th April 2014) at Making the Future Together in Manchester.     The event, hosted by In Control, was an opportunity for people from all areas of the health, social care and education sectors, as well as provider organisations, community groups, and ‘experts by experience’ to share ideas, plan action and build alliances for a future of inclusion and independent living.   The…