Birmingham

Information and Advice

We provide one to one confidential Information & Advice services across England. 

The Information & Advice support we offer includes, but is not limited to: 

• Welfare Benefits 
• Housing 
• Debt 
• Employment 
• Consumer and community care 
• Access to council services 
• Advice on access to legal services 

You can also visit our digital hub to get information on various topics.  If you can’t get to one of our branches, book an appointment on our video BSL Advice Line.

Independent Advocacy

What is Advocacy? 

Advocacy can support you to speak out, or speak out on your behalf, to ensure your views are heard and represented. 
deafPLUS’ confidential Independent Advocacy Service works with individuals to: 

• Speak up for themselves 
• Understand their rights 
• Make informed decisions 
• Understand the consequences of their actions 
• Know the right questions to ask 
• Make a complaint 
• Feel confident and have greater control of their lives 
• Access information and services 
• Providing advocacy support at meetings with other agencies  

Who can access our service? 
We will seek funding from your Local Authority or NHS to receive an Independent Advocacy Service from us. Our service is available to Deaf and hard of hearing people aged 16 or over who need an advocate to provide support with social services, NHS, court, prison service or if you have mental health issues and need support. 

Why might I need Advocacy? 
During a period of mental ill health it can be difficult to deal with issues that would usually be easy. For example, it can feel difficult and sometimes, intimidating, meeting with doctors, social workers, housing officers, solicitors or other service providers. 

What can my Advocacy Worker do? 

• Help you to be at the centre of your care and treatment. 
• Support and help you to put your views across at mental health tribunals and meeting with other professionals. 
• Get you the information you need in a way you can understand. This will ensure you are fully informed, understand your rights and are aware of your options/choices. 
• Put you in touch with other organisations and sources of support & advice.  

Independent 
We are independent. Our only loyalty is to our service users. We stand alongside you and put you first.  We are not part of National Health Service, the local authority or any other service providers. 

What will my Advocacy Worker do? 

• Contact you, as soon as they can, by email or text message. 
• Talk to you to see if they can help you and, if so, arrange to meet you. 
• Talk to you in person to get a full picture of the issues you have. 
• Agree with you how Advocacy Service can help and what to expect from us. 
• Ensure you know how to tell us your views about the service we’ve given you. 

Carer Service

A carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without their support. 

Anyone could be a carer – a 16-year-old girl looking after a parent with a disability, a 40-year-old man caring for his partner who has terminal cancer, or an 80-year-old woman looking after her husband who has dementia. 

If that is you, we can support you: 

1. Information and Advice – Caring can lead to poverty if you have to give up work to care for your partner or family member. Make an appointment on our Advice Line [insert link] where an Advice Worker can assess whether you can claim Carer’s Allowance or any other benefit or credit.  The Advice Line will be able to signpost you to:

• your local Social Services for a Carers Assessment, 
• a local Carers Centre to provide you with respite, 
• deafPLUS’ PA Community Support Service for a PA (Personal Assistant), 
• and any other information you might need to support you in your caring role. 

2.  Carers Assessment and Advocacy – A carer’s assessment is a chance to discuss your needs with your local council. The assessment is free and your local council will use it to decide what support to give you. The Care Act 2014 aims to strengthen the voice of people who use services, and their carers, over the process of assessing, planning and safeguarding. Local authorities need to commission independent advocacy services to support people who may require it.

 3.  Health & Wellbeing – deafPLUS provides health & wellbeing activities at all it’s centres. For example, we organise social gatherings, activities, outings, bingo groups, and many more.

 4.  Getting a break – Being a carer can be hard work and you might need to take a break sometimes. Respite can mean different things to different carers, it can mean: 

• getting more paid help at home – this could be via paid workers helping with care or getting more help with tasks around the home. deafPLUS can do this via our PA Community Support Service. 
• getting someone to keep the person you care for company whilst you go out, 
• doing something you enjoy, 
• you, or the person you care for, taking part in activities outside the home. 

Make sure you ask for a carer’s assessment as it looks at the support you need to carry on caring – this could include regular respite and breaks. 

Health, Wellbeing And Social

deafPLUS provides health & wellbeing activities.

Our work tackles health inequalities and social isolation amongst D/deaf and hard of hearing people.  We provide various activities, workshops, training and courses that is available for clients, families and health professionals to crucially improve access for deaf and hard of hearing community.

We provide various type of activities, such as:

• Health workshops
• Family holiday activities
• Coffee mornings
• Deaf Awareness Training for health professionals
• Lipreading classes
• Arts and crafts events
• Befriender support

Look at our Calendar to see what events are on, near you!

Living with hearing loss

Living with a hearing Loss is designed to support older people to manage the difficulties experienced by losing their hearing through the ageing process. This is achieved by providing access to appropriate information, skills and services in an empathic learning environment.

When a person’s hearing begins to deteriorate, tasks that used to be carried out with ease become difficult. Communication becomes hard work, leading to anxiety and apprehension which may cause problems with family and friends or a loss of independence and social life. With the right advice, equipment, confidence and communication skills older people with hearing loss can continue to lead fulfilled and independent lives.

Offering a combination of a block of 7-week lipreading classes, one-to-one home visits, visits to residential homes, sheltered housing and day centres enables older people to gain support and information in an environment that is comfortable for them, thus providing opportunities for those who may find it difficult to access traditional training venues.

Our 7-week lipreading courses will encourage self management, support independence, alleviate isolation and encourage a positive approach to the ageing process. Participants will gain confidence, essential information and communication skills. Those people residing in isolated areas will gain access to crucial information and have the opportunity to meet with others experiencing the same difficulties, making much needed social contact.

Living with Hearing Loss has been running since 2015. We provide free informal, friendly courses and workshops to the over 50s with hearing loss, in and around London. This is the perfect opportunity to learn about the various causes of hearing loss, hearing loss prevention, maintaining healthy hearing and supporting others with hearing loss. We practice lip reading exercises and talk about other ways of coping, all in a friendly environment. Here we can share experiences and reduce the isolation which occurs only too often with losing one’s hearing.

Contact Zoe Fudge-Ajadi (Admin) For more information or book your space for any of our course or workshop.

 Voice : 020 8315 2550 Text/SMS: 07732449349
 Email : zoe.fudge-ajadi@deafplus.org

What does the course involve?
The course runs for 7 weeks. We cover the basics of lipreading, provide hearing loss tips, and give you coping strategies. We’ll find out what services and resources are available and invite guest speakers every week to demonstrate equipment and talk about what they do. This course aims to give you a comprehensive look at hearing loss and how to live with it.

What does the workshop involve?
Our workshop gives an overview of how to live with hearing loss in a two- hour session. We will cover the same topics without the lecturers, equipping you with the basics of living with hearing loss.
Come join our friendly groups, we’re sure you’ll enjoy it!

Interested in us running a course or workshop for your day centre, church or car home? Please contact us.