Learning Disability Week 2024: Do you include me?

Friday’s theme for Learning Disability week is ‘Do you include me?’. To explore the theme we had fun visiting our Sheffield Day Centre where we spoke with Liam and Callum who we support, and Gary Lancaster, Service Manager about all thing’s inclusion.

Gary says, “People we support have such a variety of skills, and everyone has different levels of mobility. We make sure we have activities at the day centre that are inclusive and suit all levels of mobility.” Whether its swimming, cycling, walking, lunch out, or a trip to the cinema, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. In addition to physical activities, people we support enjoy a range of educational activities including reading, cooking and crafts to name a few. Speaking about the endless list of activities, Liam, who we support in Sheffield says, “We do bowling, biking, swimming and the sensory room in Knottingley. I like to do all of the things”, whilst Callum said he’s a big fan of “Swim and gym.”

Further activities include trips to new locations with a recent trip to the capital! A handful of people we support in Sheffield recently made the journey to London to explore the city and take in the iconic landmarks. Speaking about the trip, Liam says, “We took a train, it was 2 hours long. We saw the Big Ben, my favourite part about the trip was taking a selfie outside of Big Ben.”

At Real Life Options, we believe people should feel empowered to have choice and control in their lives, focusing on providing personalised support that is right for each individual. Speaking about inclusion Gary says, “It’s about understanding the individual, their needs, and making sure they have a choice. Some people we support can’t swim but they still go swimming and they love it. The most important thing is giving them the choice to do it.”