The Karten Network is a charity working with organisations across the education, health, social care and charity sectors, providing support, advice, guidance and funding for technology and assistive technology. The Karten Network is comprised of a network of Karten Centres which have been established thanks to financial support for equipment from the Ian Karten Charitable Trust. Karten Centres engage and network with each other, to further develop capacity, skills and expertise and share good practice.
The Trustees of the Karten Network are often executives of the “host” organisations within which Karten Centres have been established, or of the Karten Centres themselves, together with a representative of the Ian Karten Charitable Trust. This ensures that the vision and strategy of the Karten Network continues to develop aligned to the needs of the organisations we support.
The purpose of Karten Centres is to enhance the quality of life, independence and opportunities for disabled people by providing access to relevant technology and assistive technology. Karten Centres use the latest developments in technology and assistive technology to meet the needs of the people they support.
Karten Centres provide the following for the people they support:
- an assessment of which technology best suits their individual needs;
- training in the use of hardware and specialist software;
- individualised learning or training programmes aligned to the individual’s aspirations, needs and interests. This may be in education, training, employment, residential or social and leisure contexts.
There is no such thing as a “typical” Karten Centre, we are proud that our Karten Centres are diverse and unique both in terms of the people they support and the nature of their provision. The golden thread of commonality, is that all Karten Centres work with disabled people and use technology is some way to improve the experience of the people they support.