About the Charity

The Vale Club was formed in 2005, by a group of adults with acquired physical disabilities. This grew out of awareness amoung the group of the impact physical disability had on their everyday lives and a wish to do something about it.
Our Group meets weekly in a Community Centre in the Saughton area of Edinburgh. This Centre is one of the few fully accessible buildings in the area; all our members live within one and a half miles of this base.
Our main aim over the past year has been to develop a constitution to enable us to achieve charitable status; we have now achieved this goal. In the coming year we wish to further develop our group and grow our membership.

Life on the Outside Looking in

People who are affected by physical disability can have common issues around loss - loss of employment, loss of role within the home; many experience depression and anxiety because of this. Poverty, deprivation and difficulties accessing services due to the physical barriers in society leave people feeling isolated and lonely in their home and within their community; these are the people we aim to help.
There are only two statutory Day Centres for people with physical disabilities within Edinburgh. People often leave hospital after a short period of rehabilitation and are returned home with minimal or no support. If they are no longer able to work they spend their days at home. Eventually this can lead to loneliness and negative feelings, this can put a strain on the people caring for them: we believe any alternative to this situation is worthy of support.
As a result of the discrimination people experience this prevents them from opportunities that you & I take for granted. We aim to provide for these people a supportive accessible environment where they can meet, give each other peer support and join in with a variety of group activities which they plan for. It also provides the carers with a needed break.
The Club is open to adults (18-75) who have a significant acquired physical disability. What do we mean by a significant level of disability?

• People who require long term support with day to day living.
• People who need their living situation monitored because of risk to themselves and others, ie - carers

How do we support the Group?

Our work is about getting people out of the house for some socialisation and opportunities to engage in activities that will distract their thoughts, support them with disability issues and learn new interests or develop current hobbies. In doing this we aim to maintain or improve their quality of life.
We encourage individuals to get involved in every aspect of the club setting. All members of the club are on the committee and are encouraged to participate in decision making in all aspects. Our client led philosphy empowers individuals and the group.
"I have worked with people with physical disabilities for ten years and from my experience I believe their disadvantaged position in society can lead to feelings of low self worth and that they are no longer of benefit to society. My role involves assisting the group to develop and channel their negative experiences of disabilty into a positive one by encouraging them to become a voice for the disabled within the community centre where we meet with the wider community" (Support worker)
The activities the group has chosen to participate in will have a range of benefits. Some will inform and educate, some will help to alleviate the symptoms of their disability and assoiated health problems. Others will encourage communication of feelings and emotions which can be stressful and challenging for individuals but which promote personal development.

What makes us different from other Services?

There are other support groups out there, but accessible services for physically disabled adults in Edinburgh are limited. We believe ours stands out because -

1. We get local disabled people involved and give them the chance to take responsiblity for their own service; this is empowerment.
2. We recognise skills, abilities and expertise of members.
3. We also believe that it is people's own individual experience of disability that allows them to empathise with others in a similar situation and offer peer support.

Some of the conditions people experience within the group are Stroke and Multiple Sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic deteriorating condition. People generally experience symptoms in early adulthood. Symptoms include loss of sensation and function of limbs; often people become reliant on a wheelchair for mobility.
M.S. can affect people cognatively, concentration levels can reduce, memory impairment and reasoning becomes difficult. Fatigue causes individuals to get extreme tiredness and loss of energy rapidly. (MS society info booklet)
A stroke can be described as a brain attack; the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. Blood caries nutrients and oxygen to the brain, without blood supply, brain cells are damaged or destroyed and won't be able to do their job. Damage to the brain will affect our bodily functions. The brain controls how we think, feel, learn and communicate. A stroke can affect all these mental processes. Stroke is the single most common cause of severe adult disability. (The Stroke association website)

The Challenge we face in Edinburgh

• There are approximately 1800 people in Lothian who have had a stroke in the past year, of which 1200 will need support services. (Lothian Stroke Managed Clinical Network Draft Consultation November 2006)
• Scotland has the highest incidence of stroke in the world after the USA (Chest, Heart and Stroke website)
• Scotland has the highest incidence of people who have multiple sclerosis in the world. (MS Society)
• MS affects around 10,000 people in Scotland currently. (MS Society)

Our hopes/plans for the future

We are very much in the early stages of development. We have been building relationships through participation within the group activities. We hope that through education and information on health, diet and lifestyle we are working towards reducing the chances of further health complications. Also, understanding symptoms and how to manage them makes day to day life easier. We plan to invite health and alternative health professionals to our sessions. We would like to get involved in creative arts and crafts, the therapy of music; we are also interested in exploring personal safety and basic first aid. We would like to visit places of interest around Edinburgh: museums, The Scottish Parliament and cultural events. Computer skills are keen to be learnt within the group for the purpose of assisting the group. We will be inviting representatives from various organisations around Edinburgh who provide services and training to come and provide a training session for the group.
The commitment from the group members shows that they are getting something out of attending and participating. Their enthusiasm to get involved at every aspect of running the club is very positive. They value themselves more and they offer each other peer support. Also, as a group of disabled people meeting in a local Community Centre we are showing members of the public that we can use services just like them, we are educating them by breaking down assumptions held by society, ie just because we use wheelchairs doesn't mean we cannot think and speak for ourselves.

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