About Us
Changing Our Lives supports people with disabilities of all ages to speak up for their rights and take control of their lives.
We work with anyone with a disability. Although most of our work is based in Sandwell, our Quality of Life work and our Training Team operate right across the West Midlands.
Our Values
- People with disabilities are citizens in their own right and have the same legal and civil rights as other members of society.
- All people with disabilities can communicate and have a right to be heard. Some people use words, others use signs, some use pictures and objects and some people move parts of their body or use other ways to communicate. All of these ways of communicating should be valued.
- People with disabilities should be supported to lead 'ordinary lives.' This means people should not be left in segregated services but be supported to 'ordinary' lead lives in the community.
- People with disabilities should be supported to be as independent as they are able. Being independent doesn't mean doing everything for yourself. It means having people support you with things you find difficult.
- All people with difficulties are able to learn. We need to learn how to encourage and support people's learning.
Changing Our Lives has been chosen as their local charity, and the staff team at the branch held a fundraising event alongside Pure Gym. Customers visiting the branch were given the option to purchase freshly made cakes for a £1 or for £2 they could include a live performance of the YMCA by branch staff!!! Leading the fundraising day was Jon Hurry the branch manager.
Pure Gym were also helping out. They were encouraging local people to have a go at rowing and contribute to the challenge of rowing 3,200km! In addition they ran a raffle to win signed Albion goodies and some fitness products such as protein drinks. The generosity of all the customers meant that the day raised £320.
A big thank you to everyone involved!
Every six months the management board of Changing Our Lives, made up of charitable trustees, meets with the chairs of the Patient's Councils, Changing Young Lives and the People's Parliaments from across Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton, to hear about their work championing the rights of their peers.
Chairs of these areas work in partnership with the trustees to shape new areas of work. They also question the trustees to make sure Changing Our Lives is bringing real change in people's lives. At the board meeting on 21st May Maxine Price, chair of Sandwell's People's Parliament spoke about the work of the Parliament and the impact this has had on her own life: "People see the wheel chair and not the person! Everyone has the right to work and the right of freedom of speech."
At the board meeting, Nigel Smith was elected as the new Chair Person of Changing Our Lives. Nigel has had a break from the management board for over a year - he's been setting the world alight in Birmingham where he works at the Midland Arts Centre! But now, with his usual drive and no nonsense approach, he's back with even more enthusiasm to bring about positive change to the lives of disabled people.
Sandwell Office
Changing Our LivesThe Public
New Street
West Bromwich
West Midlands
B70 7PG
Wolverhampton Office
Changing Our LivesNewhampton Arts Centre
Dunkley Street
Wolverhampton
West Midlands
WV1 4AN
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone:0121 533 7174
Changing Our Lives champions the employment of people with disabilities and has for the past ten years employed people with disabilities as part of the staff team. Some of these positions have been part-time fixed term contracts and some people have been paid as self-employed consultants. Jayne Leeson, Chief Executive of Changing Our Lives said, "Employing people with disabilities not only means we are putting into practice what we preach, but in my experience the people with disabilities we employ are hard working, committed, rarely have time off sick, understand the issues experienced by their peers and are the best placed to champion disability issues."
Wolverhampton here we come!
Siraaj joins the staff team
After his interview, Siraaj reflected on the importance of self-advocacy, “Self-advocacy gives people a voice. If there was no self-advocacy how would people’s voice get out there? When I joined the self-advocacy movement I saw the benefits; it makes people aware of their rights, opens their eyes to know what’s out there in the world and tells them they can say what they want. Even now I see people struggling to have their say, people who have low self-esteem and who are stopped doing what they want to do simply because they have a disability'".
When asked why he wants to work in self-advocacy he said, “I want to contribute to society and make a difference to my life and the lives of people with learning disabilities. I want to be out there doing the things I want to do, and work as part of a team on projects which affect people with learning disabilities not only in the Black Country but beyond. Now I know a lot of people nationally and regionally so I can make links and help the organisation to build those links as well.”
Jayne Leeson, Chief Executive of Changing Our Lives said "Nigel has been an inspiration to me personally and a great driving force behind the charity. Within the self-advocacy movement, over the past 8 years he's become known not only locally but also nationally as a powerful role model for people with learning disabilities."
The trustees and staff of Changing Our Lives have paid tribute to Nigel's work with the charity. Robert Chance, one of the trustees, says of Nigel, "Working with Nigel over the past few years has been an absolute pleasure. His fantastic blend of humour and professionalism is something to be admired."
Claire Johnson, a Development Officer, said "Working with Nigel has taught me so much about how powerful self advocacy can be. Working with Nigel is always enjoyable and never feels like work because he is such a great person to spend time with. He has inspired me to push the boundaries and to always 'sniff and sniff hard' to ensure people with learning disabilities have the same rights as everyone else.'
Although Nigel is stepping down as chair person, we'll be keeping in touch and he'll be making an appearance as "Guest of Honour" at November's Spotlight.
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Daniel CrootHello, my name is Daniel and my role as Group Spokesman is to speak up for people who have disability. I am spokesman for Autism Black Country. I would personally like to see people such as the Job Centre have a better understanding towardspeople with a disability such as autism. When I went for my induction for work programme, the staff didn't know anything about my disability. |
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Jayne Leeson
Chief Executive
Jayne Leeson is the Chief Executive of Changing Our Lives. In 2002 Jayne supported a group of self advocates with disabilities to establish the charity. Since then, Jayne has worked alongside self advocates to develop Changing Our Lives into an organisation that is recognised locally and nationally for its best practise.
Jayne is committed to the equal citizenship of all people with disabilities and ensures that this is a core value which underpins all of the work Changing Our Lives undertakes.
Claire
Project Development Officer
Claire Mahmood works as a Project Development Officer supporting self-advocates to lead on various work streams.
Claire works on Making Our Voices Heard where she supports Auditors with disabilities and mental health issues to check the quality of in-patient services within the Black Country Partnership Foundation Trust.
Claire also supports a Patient Council in a local low secure unit for men with learning disabilities and mental health issues, as well as supporting Auditors with disabilities to audit residential homes, supported living, day services and health services.
Sarah
Project Development Officer
Sarah Horton is a Project Development Officer who works alongside the young people in Changing Young Lives. She supports the young people to run the Young Voices Network, she also supports young people in the Quality Crew Audit Team and the Rights Squad Training Team.
Sarah has worked for Changing Our Lives for 2 years, prior to this she worked for 5 years in both short break and long term residential services which provided care and support for young people with severe learning disabilities and profound and multiple learning disabilities. As a result, she is an active champion for the rights of people with PMLD and believes everyone has a right to be heard and that with creative thinking people's lives can be socially inclusive.
Lucy
Project Development Officer
Lucy Dunstan works across Sandwell People's Parliament and Changing Young Lives. She supports MPs to run the Parliament, enabling them to have a powerful voice to change policy and help improve services in Sandwell.
She also supports young people to challenge policy and existing services in areas like participation and adolescent health and teenage pregnancy.
Prior to working with Changing Our Lives, Lucy worked for Mencap in community development and consultation. She is driven by an ambition of equality and diversity and actively promotes equal opportunities and fairness.
Subtan
Multi-Media Project Development Officer
Subtan is a Project Development Officer who specialises in multi-media. He also works with with Quality Auditors to inspect Residential / Supported Living Homes, Day Services, mental health in-patient services and health services. Subtan has been working with people onthe autistic spectrum to raise the profile of autism supporting them to make short films about themselves and share their experiences. He has also been involve in developing innovative multimedia and web resources for people with learning disabilities. You will also see Subtan working with people behind the mixing desks at our Open Mic nights.
Ruth
Project Development Officer
Ruth Clinton works with our auditors, supporting them to monitor the quality of residential services and in-patient units across the Black Country. Ruth strongly believes that all people who have a disability have the right to be listened to and is committed to improving the awareness of good communication within people's lives. She will also support self-advocates to research the history of services for people with learning disabilities who also have mental health issues.
Helen
Project Development Officer
Ellie
Project Development Officer (Part Time)
Ellie Horton has recently joined Changing Our Lives as a project development officer and will be working with young people in Wolverhampton to support the Young Voices Network. Ellie has worked in various jobs supporting people with disabilities for over 14 years. She is very passionate about supporting people to have a voice and making sure that their rights are upheld. She is currently studying autism at University and has a special interest in this area.
Siraaj
Self Advocacy Officer
Siraaj Nadat has joined the steam as a self advocacy officer and will be working on the Health self assessments. He ia also part of the Quality of life Auditing Team and is leading on the development of People's Parliaments in Walsall and Dudley. This year Siraaj will also lead a project to develop 'Rights for All', a leadership programme for people with learning disabilities from BME backgrounds. This will not only focus on developing their leadership skills, but will support black leaders to develop an understanding and awareness around issues like race and culture.
Dan
Self Advocacy Officer
Daniel McNamee has joined the team as a Mental Health Self Advocacy Officer. He will be carrying out quality of health audits of mental health services around the Black Country and general health services such as general hospitals, GP's and Pharmacists. Dan will be leading on the development of a Black Country Mental Health People's Parliament.
Carol
Office Manager
As well as managing day-to-day in the office, Carol also looks after the website to make sure that all the information is up to date and accessible. She makes sure that people know about Changing Our Lives by looking after publicity and marketing and taking lots of photographs at our events! Carol is the first person you will speak to if you call Changing Our Lives.
Andy HowellsAndy is a powerful self-advocate. He leads on employment for the People's Parliament in Wolverhampton and is the co-chair of Wolverhampton's Learning Disability Partnership Board. He has lead many meetings for the Parliament and is a very accomplished public speaker. Since becoming an MP, Andy has commented on what a positive impact this has had on his life and how much confidence he has now. Andy also comperes Open Mic nights supporting the development of local artists with learning disabilities. |
Jessica BromleyJessica Bromley is a confident and accomplished leader. She is an MP in the People's Parliament in Wolverhampton. As health lead for the Parliament, she takes great interest in the physical and mental health needs of people with a learning disability. Jess was also runner up in Spotlight 2011, showcasing the artistic talents of people with learning disabilities across the Black Country. |
James MillardAs part of the team who leads on Hate Crime, James Millard is a very highly motivated MP in Wolverhampton's People's Parliament. James' confidence has grown over the last 6 months. He has become an accomplished and confident speaker, recently presenting the Safe Places scheme to 50 GPs and appearing on Central News talking about Safe Places. James has a keen interest in highlighting the needs of people with a profound and multiple learning disability and is keen to lead on projects that supports people from the PMLD community. In his spare time James is a Division 1 down hill slalom champion, currently competing in the Special Olympics. He has 11 gold medals for down hill slalom. When he's not winning gold medals, James is an active member of the local community, recently staring in the City Council's promotional film charting the Olympic Torch's journey through Wolverhampton and taking part in historical re-enactments wearing full armour, carrying a pike! |
Matthew RogersMatthew Rogers, Secretary of the People's Parliament in Wolverhampton, has a great skill for listening closely to debates and asking searching questions. He is held in high regard by the rest of the team and is a much valued team player who brings a lot of clear thinking to meetings. Mathew is also a member of the Quality of Life audit team. Matthew is very involved in local meetings across Wolverhampton and ensures that the People’s Parliament is aware of any new developments. Matthew is a competitive member of a local disabled person’s archery club which he has been attending for over 22 years. |
Kristian HamiltonKristian Hamilton, one of the youngest MP's, joined the MP team Wolverhampton in August 2011. He has a part time job, so our employment work is very important to him. Between work commitments, Kristian is developing his role within the Parliament and has already taken part in a mental health consultation with Changing Our Lives, Wolverhampton City Council and the Black Country Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. |
Winsome ClarkeWinsome is one of the founder members of the Wolverhampton People's Parliament. She has great enthusiasm in her role and is always eager to support the team in any way she can. In her spare time Winsome loves to shop and can be often seen in Wolverhampton City Centre. Fellow MPs describe Winsome as “a loyal friend, would do anything for anyone, a loyal colleague and a hard worker who always makes us laugh.” |
Michael HopkinsHaving a great interest and knowledge of local transport systems and routes, Michael Hopkins was the perfect MP to lead on local Transport Issues in the Wolverhampton Parliament. He was an invited guest to see the brand new bus station in Wolverhampton before it was officially opened and continues to monitor and feed back on issue matters in Wolverhampton. |
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Arandeep PawarArandeep has been working with the MPs prior to becoming an MP in January 2012. He enjoys taking part in meetings and always has a lot to share with the knack of making people think. Arandeep is keen for people not to be judged on first appearance and likes to make sure people with learning and physical disabilities are fully included in society. |
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Kamal Jassal |
Breeda McNamee
Sam Hanchard
