p. 1

1 winter 2011-12 welcome to camphill scotland s winter newsletter we have another bumper edition for you including an important date for your diary ­ the new lanark conference 2012 from tuesday 22nd may to thursday 24th may 2012 we have news from blair drummond loch arthur beannachar camphill school aberdeen and newton dee the legislation and policy section includes updates on care regulation and website requirements the news and features section includes the simeon housing group s work on housing for older co-workers a new initiative for camphill families and friends in scotland and a summary of camphill scotland s research on the quality gradings of camphill communities in scotland we hope you will all find something interesting and informative here in this edition diary out the 2012 new lanark conference communities news camphill blair drummond goes to downing street loch arthur is best food producer camphill school aberdeen is outstanding fundraising success for camphill communities in scotland newton dee goes from strength to strength new farm at beannachar 2 3 legislation and policy updates new website requirements care regulation update dla u-turn success health and social care integration 10 10 11 11 4 news and features 5 6 6 6 8 camphill families and friends scottish branch preparing for the future camphill scotland s case studies keep up to date with camphill scotland the simeon housing group camphill community thornbury research briefing quality of care and the camphill communities in scotland 12 13 13 14 15 16

[close]

p. 2

2 diary out the gathering 2012 wednesday 29 february thursday 1 march secc glasgow for the last eight years the annual third sector gathering organised by scvo has brought together people from across scotland and from all parts of the sector the gathering is the largest event of its kind in the uk the gathering incorporates an exhibition and marketplace with over 100 exhibitors as well as a packed events programme including over 50 workshops and seminars led by voluntary organisations social enterprises government the media and companies who work with and alongside the sector the events are free to attend and can be booked here the gathering workshop on risk in adult support and protection wednesday 15th march at the trades hall in glasgow the institute for research and innovation in social services iriss is holding this event entitled `bringing together perspectives on risk to promote participation in adult support and protection it will focus on improving interaction between the person supported by services and the practitioner on the subject of risk the workshop will include a summary of research undertaken by the workshop facilitators and a demonstration of tools developed to aid mutual understanding it will also provide a space for attendees to discuss and share their experiences of different ways of engaging with people about risk of harm it will be led by kathryn mackay lecturer in social work and beth cross research fellow from the university of stirling further information and registration is available at http www.iriss.org.uk the social enterprise exchange tuesday 27th march 2012 scottish exhibition and conference centre glasgow social enterprise uk and social enterprise scotland have joined forces bringing together voice and s2s for the first time to stage the world s biggest social enterprise event for those running and interested in social enterprise the social enterprise exchange will host over 1000 delegates and 150 business exhibitors providing a platform for exchange of knowledge and best practice and a unique opportunity to trade and do good business there is still the opportunity to apply for discounted bursary places if you are a small social enterprise camphill scotland is a member of social enterprise scotland and this will help your application they will be issuing one bursary place per organisation applications can be made with the following questionnaire.

[close]

p. 3

3 the community maze signposts to the heart tues 22 thurs 24 may 2012 new lanark conference the 5th conference on community building social renewal enabled by camphill scotland new lanark is an inclusive international conference with a broad range of participants participants include people with learning disabilities families and carers and representatives from a variety of organisations including camphill communities from across the world the vision underpinning all new lanark conferences is community building and social renewal anyone with a connection to this vision through life or work can participate as many of you will know the centenary of karl könig was the starting point for this conference first held at new lanark in 2003 both karl könig and rudolf steiner before him were inspired by the life and ideals of robert owen the pioneer of new lanark könig and steiner recognised his remarkable social endeavours in striving for a more equitable and just society and his pioneering 19th century initiative has been an enduring example for community development since then this is a key reason for holding the conference at new lanark this year our conference title the community maze signposts to the heart emerged from experiences of striving towards clarity and truth in life and work yet being constantly distracted by the complexities of social professional and political direction there is a simplicity we yearn for to be the best we can be to act with honesty and courage to listen with tenderness to respond with love how can we find the way to these qualities of the heart and allow their warmth to permeate our communities whatever form or shape these communities may take for more information richard snowden shscevents telephone +440131 275 7748 email info@newlanarkconference.co.uk www.newlanarkconference.co.uk

[close]

p. 4

4 communities news camphill blair drummond goes to downing street in september 2012 camphill blair drummond had the fabulous opportunity to celebrate their fundraising successes with a reception hosted by the prime minister s wife samantha cameron at no 10 downing street blair drummond were allowed just a small number of spaces which they offered to existing donors as a thank you for their role they also had the chance for a small number of staff residents and camphill representatives from all over scotland to attend the reception see photo the event also launched the next exciting stage of blair drummond s fundraising appeal the extension and refurbishment of the clockhouse blair drummond outside number ten all in all the end of september marked a turning point for blair drummond s development and appeal they had already celebrated the opening of eastwood their new woodwork and estate building over the following months they appreciated the difference that purpose-built premises can have on the wellbeing happiness and learning of all their students how exciting then to see construction commence in late august on the new craft and in touch work shops the aim is to have these second two workshops open for use in the springtime the new year will also see work planned on residential houses with the completion of these buildings blair drummond will be a third of the way through their ambitious vision to secure the future of their community all of this work has been achieved through the hard work of the whole community not to mention the generosity of many individuals and organisations to date the funds raised for blair drummond total just over £4m adapted from camphill blair drummond newsletter issue 4 2011

[close]

p. 5

5 loch arthur is best food producer as most of you will know by now loch arthur creamery won the highly prestigious radio four best food producer of 2011 but still lets wallow in it again sky plus best in the uk the creamery in dumfries and galloway was named best food producer at the bbc radio four food and farming awards rural affairs secretary richard lochhead congratulated the creamery on the award for the cheese butter and bread it produces this is a fantastic achievement seeing off tough competition from across the uk and is rightful recognition of the high calibre of scotland s food and drink he said i wish loch arthur and all the other outstanding scottish nominees every success for the future each one is a credit to scotland quality product the three other scottish nominations were for carol mcmath of the kibble care and education centre in paisley golspie mill in sutherland and the hebridean distillers bruichladdich of islay however it was only the camphill community near beeswing which ended up winning its category loch arthur s barry graham said to actually get the award for the best food producer in the whole of britain is a bit more than one would ever have expected we work as a social enterprise and we are working in a very particular way with a group of people who are needing support and care in their lives he said he believed the judges had been impressed by how they did that work and also produced a world-class quality product sky plus

[close]

p. 6

6 camphill school aberdeen is outstanding aberdeen press and journal has reported praise for camphill school aberdeen from education scotland and the care inspectorate the care inspectorate evaluated eight aspects of the school ranking three as excellent signifying `out-standing sector leading standards while the remaining five were graded `very good the inspectorate commented that `the school s ethos is outstanding and the levels of pastoral care of the children and their families are very high camphill school s laurence alfred was encouraged by the report `at a time when we face considerable challenges the report is tremendously encouraging for everyone at the school our emphasis is on mutual care and respect everyone contributes to the life of the school to the extent of their abilities so this very positive report really does reflect the combined efforts of staff volunteers the young people themselves and their parents adapted from aberdeen press and journal 24/1/12 fundraising success for camphill communities in scotland at the end of last year camphill scotland circulated information about the voluntary sector development fund a scottish government fund to help voluntary organisations train their staff in qualifications needed for sssc registration we are delighted that five camphill communities have between them been successful in gaining funding of nearly £25,000 congratulations to all concerned newton dee goes from strength to strength by colin haldane in a previous edition of the camphill scotland newsletter we contributed an article regarding the phoenix community centre the community centre is now virtually completed and various aspects of the community will be moving in over the next weeks and months as you can see our photographer has recently managed to capture the phoenix as it emerges from the bieldside earth newton dee s new community centre

[close]

p. 7

7 we will be having an internal event on candlemas day to acknowledge and mark this event this will include the placing of a finishing stone over the site of the `beginning/foundation stone laid during our 50th birthday activities later in the year at whitsun we will have a more formal opening for which we are presently sending out specific invitations elsewhere in this newsletter you will read a summary of camphill scotland research group s comparative study of the gradings given to camphill communities in scotland by the care inspectorate we were very glad to see that newton dee was graded highly while this is well received and is an indication of the high quality of the services offered by everyone at newton dee it is by no means a cause for any form of complacency or for a sense of relaxation in this light newton dee is currently updating upgrading and reviewing many of its systems and forms policies and procedures we attempt to do this in an inclusive way and practice as far as is possible a mandate system within a group management structure this can at times result in time consuming processes but in something that we can relate to and that we feel connected to and can answer for the way that we live and the results that can be achieved are we hope a reflection of the validity of our life/lifestyle and that we have a rightful place among the many choices available the pheonix emerges

[close]

p. 8

8 new farm at beannachar by gabriele prits and robert foerster photos by john phethean ever since beannachar camphill community was founded in 1978 working on the land and caring for farm animals has been an important part of the community s life entering the estate for most of the year one can see and hear pigs cows sheep and chickens on the fields left and right of the drive learning to care for the animals and looking after the fields woodland estate and garden are part of the training the students experience while they live and work here needless to say wellies wellingtons are a standard piece of footwear in beannachar there are at least as many pairs around as there are people plus some extra for visitors we even have the famous `wellie song we sing during our morning work meeting over the years lots of work has gone into developing the farm the space around the farmyard was filled with a variety of sheds with barns and a maintenance workshop as well as the old lean-to stone sheds outside the victorian garden wall to lose all this in less than an hour was a devastating experience for us all when on 15 june 2009 an accidental fire destroyed the barn cow shed equipment tools animal feed a small tractor and robert the farmer s car thanks to the fire brigade part of the maintenance workshop and the lean-to sheds housing the tea break room and pig shed were still usable from then on we met as a community on the farmyard every week after our sunday morning gathering to read the foundation stone meditation by rudolf steiner and listen to some flute or bagpipe music accompanied by the singing of birds and the forces of sun wind and weather our extended land group reviewed the situation damage done to nearby trees was surveyed and the farm and estate teams began to clean up and make the site safe again.

[close]

p. 9

9 robert asked the camphill architects for advice and then went to the scottish agricultural planning department to have plans made for a new barn and properly constructed farmyard many trips to stonehaven followed until planning permission was finally granted and a survey of the site could be carried out by the construction firm building work was due to start at the end of october 2010 however the very day we expected the builders to arrive it started snowing heavily winter was around the corner so nothing further happened until the end of january 2011 by easter the steelwork was up and the concreting of the farmyard had begun the farmers re-gained access to the old tractor shed that in the meantime had been converted into a store room and shed for lambing what would we have done without help from our neighbours across the river thanks to newton dee farm for lending us some of their farm equipment and to camphill rudolf steiner estates for financing the parts of the project not covered by the insurance money by st john s building work was complete and we could start with painting the wood and stonework of the new barn in the week before michaelmas one of the festive activity groups landscaped the area around the new building and planted lots of spring bulbs for the last two years we have visited the site on candelmas day 2nd february and lit earth candles as a gesture of bringing light back to the earth that had been disturbed during the building process and the places where trees needed to be felled after being damaged by the fire especially the huge old copper beech this year we will meet there again to celebrate completion of the project.

[close]

p. 10

10 the day after michaelmas day 30 september 2011 we celebrated the official opening of our new farm it was a beautiful warm sunny day chris carlson representing the farm team cut the ribbon made of baler twine there was festive music from the upstairs loft a song a guided tour led by robert the farmer a magnificent bbq lunch in the place where the animals live now and a giant cake in the shape of a tractor it was a special pleasure to have ann and eric hoyland formerly of tiphereth now oaklands park with us on this occasion by chance they had played a crucial part in beannachar through an earlier period of its development and it seemed as if their presence completed a circle for us as a community the students and co-workers are all very happy to have such a wonderful new farm to work on not to speak of the cows pigs and sheep who live happily under the same roof after spending two harsh winters in makeshift shelters in the fields legislation and policy updates new website requirements from the 1st of may regulations passed at the end of last year mean that charities will have to display some specific information on the homepage of their website this is the same information that you currently have to have on your headed notepaper that is your scottish charity number the name under which you are registered with oscr any other name by which you are commonly known and if the work charity does not appear in your name the fact that you are a charity as an example camphill scotland will use camphill scotland is a registered scottish charity sc024428 kh care regulation updates just as we were all getting used to the fact that scswis social care and social work improvement scotland had replaced the care commission and swia social work inspection agency there is a new name change to remember from now on scswis will be commonly known as the care inspectorate it will still be legally known as social care and social work improvement scotland but

[close]

p. 11

11 in recognition of the fact that that s a bit of a mouthful it will adopt the new name day to day you may also be interested to know that the new chief executive of the care inspectorate annette bruton will take up post at the beginning of february following the retirement of the interim chief executive jacquie roberts the care inspectorate has announced that any organisation not submitting its annual return by 20 february 2012 without a satisfactory explanation being agreed with their inspector will receive an `unsatisfactory grade 1 in relation to the quality of management and leadership all services have been notified of this directly by the care inspectorate and hopefully this does not apply to any camphill places but it is interesting to note that the care inspectorate is starting to `show its teeth we will of course keep you updated of any other developments like this an interesting document for communities to look at might be the guidance on financial viability that the care inspectorate has issued for inspectors this guidance gives care inspectorate officers information on things to check for in terms of an organisation s financial viability these include whether the annual accounts show the organisation to be a going concern services are now required to notify the care inspectorate if this is not the case and a closer examination of the organisation s contingency plan including what would happen in the event of a short notice closure the guidance contains some useful information on what should be included in such a plan you can access the guidance on the care inspectorate s website under publications kh dla u-turn success in the last edition of the camphill scotland newsletter we reported that plans to remove the mobility component of the disability living allowance dla from people in residential care which we had joined with other voluntary organisations in opposing looked likely to come into force at the eleventh hour however the westminster government abandoned these plans meaning that this aspect of dla will remain unchanged for people living in camphill communities the proposal to replace the dla with a personal independence payment for people aged 16-64 from 2013 remains and we will provide further information on this as it becomes available kh health and social care integration in december the scottish government announced plans for health and social care integration a lot of the detail of the plans is still to be decided and a consultation on the proposals is due to come out soon to which we will be responding it is likely that the process will take a long time partly because there are local authority elections coming up below is a short summary of what we know at the moment about the government s ideas the plan is not for a whole scale structural change in health and social care rather the idea is that each local area will create a social care partnership for which local authorities and health boards will be jointly responsible these will replace community health partnerships for which health boards are responsible social care partnerships will work towards nationally agreed outcomes it is not yet clear how the partnerships will form for example in areas where the health board and local authority do not have the same boundaries it is intended that the local social care partnerships will eventually be responsible for all adult health and social care in their area but in the first instance the focus will be on older people s services there is likely to be some variation across the country as some local areas are already quite well

[close]

p. 12

12 integrated for adult services and will likely continue this while others will focus only on older people to start with the social care partnership will be asked to spend a smaller proportion of their budget on institutional care initially this will apply only to older people s services but we should be alert to the wider implications of this for funding patterns it is also possible that an unintended consequence of the changes might be a reduction in funding available for learning disability services as social work services have traditionally used some of the generous allocation of funding for older people s services to subsidise other services including learning disabilities and the removal of older people s funding from local authorities to the social care partnerships might leave a funding gap the consultation is due to come out in february and will likely run until june we will read the consultation carefully and contact communities to help us draft a response kh news and features camphill families and friends ­ scottish branch by elaine dowell parent and trustee of camphill families and friends camphill families and friends cff is an organisation that has been in existence for some years in england and wales providing a platform for relatives and friends to support camphill by engaging in issues affecting people who are resident in camphill an example is the recent dilnot commission and the law commission on the future of social care where cff argued for portable funding and assessments my involvement occurred because i was concerned about the cuts local authorities were making to their social care budgets on discovering that my local authority had refused to pay my son s fee increase i wrote letters to the authority my mp and my local councillor and the fee increase was paid i m not the only pushy parent camphill has and who is keen to use her experience on behalf of camphill cff gives me the opportunity to do so but my son lives in scotland at corbenic and i live in north yorkshire there must be many other cross border families now cff is expanding its charitable purposes and reaching out to relatives connected with communities in scotland with the formation of a scottish branch the initiative has the broad support of camphill scotland and has a set up grant from the camphill foundation all the communities in scotland have now been contacted for assistance with distributing a letter and form to their relatives the form asks relatives if they are interested in becoming a part of a scottish branch and what level of involvement they would like to have people completing the form will be sent regular newsletters and invited to a launch meeting later in the year andrew with his pushy parent on whitby beach

[close]

p. 13

13 preparing for the future camphill scotland s case studies a big priority for camphill scotland is to help all camphill communities prepare for the future primarily we do this by ensuring there are good links between camphill communities and between communities and the wider world we aim to help communities survive and thrive in their social political and economic environments all communities and organisations can be vulnerable if their links to the wider world are not strong and their ways of working are not clear and understandable to others camphill scotland will be setting some time and energy aside this year to have a systematic look at how best communities can `future proof themselves this will involve looking in detail at a number of case studies of camphill communities in scotland the lessons learned will be useful to the communities themselves but will have a wider relevance to all communities in scotland the work will be carried out by camphill scotland facilitators over the course of this year and will be guided by camphill scotland s council and co-ordinating team the facilitators are in the process of approaching communities willing to take part participating communities will be able to consider their community from a variety of perspectives and so develop a clearer sense of what they need to survive and grow evaluate how well they communicate their purpose to the external environment develop a set of ideas about how they might do things differently the case studies would therefore help camphill scotland and member communities to develop mutually supportive innovations emerging from a shared dialogue and a shared evidence base more information can be gained from neil henery on neil@camphillscotland.org.uk keep up to date with camphill scotland during this year we will be making some changes to the way that we keep in touch with communities to make sure that everyone has access to the information that they need the first change we have planned is to our website all of the information that communities currently access including papers from camphill scotland meetings copies of policies from other communities and articles in the library will still be there but we hope to make the website more useful to people from outside camphill who want to find out more about what we do we hope the new website will be ready by spring still at the same address www.camphillscotland.org.uk so look out for more information in the next newsletter we also hope to make better use of email this year by setting up a range of email groups that you can join in this way information from camphill scotland will get directly to the people in communities who need it this means for example that if you are responsible for dealing with the

[close]

p. 14

14 care inspectorate for your community we will be able to send information directly to you on changes that might be introduced or if you are interested in energy generation we will be able to keep you up to date more easily with our work in this area there will be quite a few groups to choose from we will be sending out a list of the groups in the next week or so to camphill scotland council reps and asking them to let us know who in their communities is interested in the different topics so look out for the opportunity to sign up at your next community meeting kh the simeon housing group a camphill scotland working group is addressing a vital issue for camphill communities across scotland ­ our responsibilities towards older co-workers and residents the group is informed by the specialist knowledge and expertise of the simeon community the views and expertise of older coworkers in camphill and is facilitated by camphill scotland facilitator neil henery if you wish further information about this group and/or wish to get involved please contact neil at neil@camphillscotland.org.uk this article will give you an idea of the kind of work the group is doing and the insight provided by recent research into older camphill co-workers needs the work of the group the group is exploring the potential use of the whithorn building at simeon and the bungalow at the corner for housing provision for older camphill co-workers these buildings and the land they occupy will become available once the new simeon is built there is an exciting 0pportunity to cater for older camphill co-workers looking to take a step back from full active involvement in their communities while maintaining active cultural and social links with the camphill communities at simeon and cairnlee whithorn and the bungalow may be used as they are they could be converted or they could be torn down and a new building or buildings created although this project covers one particular site the learning gained will be of relevance across camphill recent research the group has drawn upon recent research by the camphill thornbury eldercare project group march 2011 who interviewed 24 people and had questionnaire responses from 23 more respondents were mainly co-workers in england but also included older co-workers living at murtle estate camphill estate and newton dee communities what follows are a few highlights from a detailed report which may be obtained from neil on neil@camphillscotland.org.uk where people would like to live the research underlined the great importance for older camphill co-workers of remaining fully within camphill community life throughout their remaining years about half said they would like to live in the new camphill thornbury community see later article while the remainder said they would like to remain in their own communities health issues most people declared themselves to be in good health it was clear to many however that their health could change radically with very little notice for some this was such a reality that they were

[close]

p. 15

15 considering moving to a more supported situation now while they were in good health rather than wait for a crisis that forced an unprepared move social and cultural life far and away the most important part of the cultural life for older co-workers was music classical music concerts and music making with groups and choirs close second was the anthroposophical life including anthroposophical meetings study groups class lessons camphill meetings bible evening and the festivals there was a strong feeling that these things needed to be approached freely out of individual interest facilities it was very important to the older co-workers that there was a place for family and friends to stay similarly there was a wish for a dining room run as a restaurant where guests could to eat some people also expressed a desire for cooking facilities in their flats others felt very strongly that they did not want to come together at a specific time but rather they wished that there should be a freer unstructured life living with others there was a universal wish to live in community with people with special needs but not necessarily as `close neighbours all of the people interviewed were delighted at the prospect of local older people joining the elder community there was a feeling this would bring new energy and stimulation some people spoke about the need to adjust the cultural life so as not to alienate local residents ­ to have an inclusive culture and community attitudes to aging and death many were looking forward to time to read visit and participate freely in cultural life it seems from the interviews that good health a positive stimulating social network and security in where you live and your finances are important factors in enjoying old age as one would imagine with such a group of people whose study over the years has been so involved with destiny and karma there is a philosophical acceptance of the future financial issues the research reported that in some communities there seemed to be a lack of financial transparency some older co-workers did not know how much their community received for their support from the camphill benevolent fund or how that money was allocated the report suggested that there is a need to provide more information about who is administering the system how it is appropriate to people s needs and how it will protect older people even if camphill should face difficulties in future nh camphill community thornbury on the topic of housing for older co-workers we thought it would be helpful to highlight camphill community thornbury in england this community is at the planning stage and aims to cater for older co-workers older camphill community members with learning disabilities and people from the immediate locality the community could consist of around 35 two and three-bedroomed flats built around a care centre restaurant and garden the intention is that it will be an `extracare community

[close]