Over Christmas, our members got into the Christmas spirit with a fun and creative T-shirt competition! The competition provided our members with the fantastic opportunity to showcase their artistic talents whilst learning something new—how to print their designs onto T-shirts using sublimation printing.
Our members were invited to create unique, Christmas-themed designs. From cheerful snowmen and twinkling Christmas trees to iconic Christmas characters. Our members began by sketching their designs on paper, then scanned them and added the finishing touches using our iPads and Procreate software.
With guidance from our printing team, members learned the sublimation printing process. It was a hands-on experience that combined creativity with a practical skill—and everyone left with a custom T-shirt they could be proud of!
Willowbrook hearts
For the second year running, we had the privilege of contributing to Willowbrook Hospice’s annual “Light Up a Life” service—a heartfelt event that honours and remembers loved ones. Will, along with the help of some of our other members, engraved 150 memory hearts using our Glowforge laser cutter. These beautifully crafted hearts were served as cherished keepsakes for the families who attended the service.
If I can do it, you can do it
One of our members, Scott “Scotty2Hotty” has created a motivational Workout Album titled, “If I Can Do It, You Can Do It”. Featuring his favourite high-energy tracks, this album is designed to keep you moving, motivated, and pushing past your limits—no matter your fitness level.
Scott started the creation of his album by recording an introduction to give the CD a personal touch, which counted down to a track list full of his favourite high-energy songs.
He then designed it’s album cover using procreate and canva on our iPads. Scott created a bold and inspiring cover that reflects the album’s powerful message and incorporated his fantastic artistic abilities. He wanted his wheelchair to be the main focus of the album cover, which is what we made sure to do during the photoshoot.
For this newsletter I’d like to focus on how our enterprise has evolved into two strands with our initial ‘NB Enterprise’ having an additional branch called ‘Destiny’.
Destiny, which relates directly to our ethos around aspirational destinations for all our students, have been working on refining their branding material and website. Below you can see their new brochure and website that clearly outlines their 3 focus products: Videography, Photography and Wall Print Design. These final year students are those that have graduated from the initial ‘NB Enterprise’ and are now on a supported internship working 3 days a week within Destiny – please visit the Destiny website.
As you can see from the brochure design and the samples on the website, the students are demonstrating an array of industry-standard skills when it comes to digital media creation. As well as refining the promotional material they have been hard at work chairing meetings with different clients, filming, editing and publishing films.
The Destiny team created a film about one of their team, ‘Max’: A Destination Champion, enjoy watching it below.
If you are interested in commissioning the Destiny team for any of their videography, photography or vinyl wall prints, please get in touch.
Meanwhile, our NB Enterprise are continuing to work hard on their addition to their products, ‘Hope’. They have been promoting and selling their products across our local markets and continue to bring ‘Hope’ to others. You can find out more about their new product via their website and Instagram pages:
At Jewish Care Explore, we’re working on an exciting project designed to bring meaningful experiences, opportunities for exploration, and cherished memories to those who may otherwise miss out on them.
We are creating personalised experiences through the power of virtual reality. Using a 360-degree camera, we can produce a variety of immersive content, including sightseeing tours that make viewers feel as if they’re strolling through a destination of their choosing such as Camden Lock or even as far as Dubai, self-guided virtual tours enhanced with interactive hotspots, and pre-recorded scenes that immerse viewers in the action, making them feel like active participants in the moment.
So far, we’ve had the opportunity to showcase this project in a variety of ways. As a charity supporting older individuals, we’ve introduced it to care home residents, who have responded with overwhelming enthusiasm. Many have shared how the experience truly makes them feel as though they’re present in the moment, with some even making physical gestures or verbal remarks, as if they’re actively engaging with the scenes unfolding before them. Additionally, in November, we showcased this project at the Techability conference, presenting it to leading pioneers and experts in assistive technology. The event highlighted the incredible enrichment and opportunities virtual reality can offer, sparking significant interest among attendees. We engaged in numerous discussions about how this technology could be tailored to meet their specific needs and make a meaningful impact.
Overall, this project is designed to enrich the lives of individuals who seek to explore, connect, and experience both new and familiar things. It offers a sense of freedom, making the world accessible regardless of the barriers they may face.
🎙️ Welcome to ‘Beyond the Label’, a Homefield College podcast where neurodiversity meets opportunity!
Join us as we delve into the unique journeys of young people aged 16-25 who have learning and/or communication disabilities, with a particular focus on autism. Our podcast offers insightful conversations, inspiring stories and a deeper understanding of the world of neurodiversity.
In our debut episode, recorded during Safeguarding Focus Week, students Daisy, Cam, Sadie, Jack and Aimee engage in a meaningful discussion with our Designated Safeguarding Lead Tracey about the vital topic of online safety.
Tune in as they share valuable insights and expert tips on navigating the digital world securely. Whether you’re a student, educator, or simply interested in safeguarding practices, this episode is filled with practical advice and personal experiences.
🔗 Listen now and discover how to stay safe online.
We are thrilled to embark on this podcasting journey, providing our students with opportunities to develop their confidence and enhance their speaking and listening skills – crucial for employability and becoming active citizens!
Whilst teaching Braille to students with additional needs at Sense College Loughborough, it became clear to me that we need to be incorporating life skills into Braille sessions. As a College we work hard to develop and promote student independence. All of our current students who learn Braille are looking to live independently in the future and access work or Further Education. In order to live as independent a life as possible we need to equip them for the future and give them the tools they need to function in society such as accessing healthcare providers, banking, employment, shops, transport and Leisure facilities.
In order to help students develop these skills I have devised a project for using Braille and assistive technology for those with a VI in the community. This project forms part of their braille scheme of work and can be adapted to their needs and accessed at a pace that suits them. In this project students access banks, shops, cafes, leisure facilities, places of interest and facilities in the community such as museums and Libraries. They visit with staff and are encouraged to look for and use Braille and large print if available. They are also encouraged to use technology such as seeing AI and the Orcam to make the visit as accessible as possible.
We also support the students to open and use bank accounts, access healthcare facilities and find and access places to support their hobbies and interests. From these visits the students write reports of their findings, how accessible were the places and what could be improved, and then they write letters to the different organisations with their findings and suggestions.
I have only recently developed this project and it is developing and evolving as the students use it as part of their learning. Even though this project is in its infancy it is becoming clear how little Braille, large print and tactile guides are available to those with a visual impairment, leaving many reliant on support from others. Those with VI are often told to go to Customer Services in shops and ask for assistance with their shopping, but how do you know where that is if you have no sight? More and more tills are moving to self service which may be simple to put your goods through but how do you know the total and where to pay unless you have previously visited with support and learned the lay out? What about if you are visiting somewhere new?
We are encouraging use of technology as much as possible but it can be glitchy and occasionally problematic with WI-FI connections, again leading to a reliance on human support. Hopefully this will improve as technology develops.
Recently there has been a surge in awareness around the deaf community and sign language which is fantastic but the same can’t be said for the blind community. My hope is that this project will enable students to develop and consolidate their skills with Braille and VI technology in the community, whilst developing everyday life skills. Equally as important is my hope that we can raise awareness of sight loss in the community and help to educate companies as to what adaptations could be implemented in order to make life easier.
It’s a small start that I’m hoping will lead to bigger things!
The Center for Deaf-Blind Persons is the only framework in Israel that initiates and operates a wide range of services and programs for individuals with the dual disability of deaf-blindness. Over the past nearly two decades, thanks to The Ian Karten Charitable Trust, our Karten CTEC for deaf-blind individuals has successfully served hundreds of deaf-blind individuals. Over the years we have built up a staff of well-trained, dedicated teachers, most of whom are themselves deaf, blind or deaf-blind. One, Rachel, was the recipient of the 2009 Karten award for the ”client who has made the most progress”.
Two years ago, the Center for Deaf-Blind Persons began a pilot program, “Nachala”. “Nachala” is an acronym (in Hebrew) for “Sensory Accessibility for the Elderly” and it was designed for individuals whose hearing and vision have been significantly diminished by causes related to old age. It is the first program in the country to study and focus on the unique needs of this growing population from the perspective of deaf-blindness.
Initially, we worked on researching the situation in other countries, conducting massive outreach to locate, identify and gradually conducting intake interviews with potential participants. In the course of the pilot we located 206 potential participants and began to develop examples of personal intervention plans, to provide services and to evaluate the results.
In most cases we found an urgent need for assistance maintaining (or regaining) independence and for reducing the isolation and loneliness that often accompany old age, and which are greatly exacerbated by impaired vision and hearing. Both are areas in which learning vital computer skills with the aid of accessibility software and hardware can have a tremendous impact. For example, the ability to once again communicate with friends and family can relieve the extreme isolation.
Thanks to The Ian Karten Charitable Trust, we have the necessary experience, the experienced teachers and initial equipment to develop this service. We are proud to report that over the course of the pilot program, thanks to our Karten CTEC for deaf-blind individuals, over a hundred of these clients began to receive computer lessons!
One can be seen here, learning to use an audio book connected directly to her hearing aid. She was ecstatic with the results and the new possibilities that this first lesson, taught by our blind/hearing Computer Skills teacher, opened up for her.
“With technology like this I am happy to live to 120” was how a 97 year old client named Tibor summed up his reaction. Legally blind, hard of hearing but completely lucid, kind, active and curious, Tibor was born in Hungary, survived the Holocaust and lived in South America before immigrating to Israel. He was extremely frustrated by his deteriorating vision, which prevented him from continuing to use his computer even when he enlarged the text as much as he could. Together, our Computer Skills teacher and social worker found solutions, and taught him to use a tablet, with inverted colors and other adjustments. This training gave him back the ability to access the Internet and the information, leisure activities and communication he was so thirsty for. As a result, he was inspired to purchase a tablet and now uses it daily, first for his morning prayers and then to communicate, learn and enjoy throughout the day. He is no longer dependent on his daughter to come from afar to help him with every little thing, but rather independent and happy. He now recommends computer lessons for all elderly people.
Another client requested assistance in learning how to use her phone, together with accessibility hardware/software, to stay in touch with her daughter. During the first lesson she confided that she has difficulty remembering things and is very upset that she can no longer see well enough to use her physical calendar. Our teacher taught her how to use a voice activated calendar and she literally cried for joy at the freedom it offered from forgetting where to go and what to do.
As one teacher put it; “I not only demonstrate how to solve the problem, I also give ‘homework’ and follow up to make sure they are internalizing the new skills. … I see that I am really making a difference, that they are learning important skills that enable communication, access to information and independence. It’s incredibly satisfying!”
Several clients learned to independently access and use the new government website which aims to incorporates all of the necessary information about rights for, and ways to, purchase subsidized accessibility equipment.
One client, Tsila, lives alone and sorely missed contact with her grandchildren. They tried to help by putting pictures of themselves on her tablet, but she could not identify their faces from the small pictures. Our Computer Skills instructor helped her to set up her tablet with enlarged names inverted colors. Between that and the help connecting her hearing aids to the speaker, she can now independently contact each of them at will. As a result, she both feels more independent and is far less isolated.
One unexpected challenge we encountered was the complexity of interactions with the client’s family members. Israeli culture is family-oriented and family members typically have good intentions and mean well. In some cases, they attempt to be over involved, for example to be present at computer lessons, which greatly complicates scheduling. In other cases, they are caught – as if in a sandwich – between caring for their own children, dealing with their own challenges and caring for their elderly parents. In the long run, this can lead them to “burn out” and even damage the relationships between the generations.
Based on the extremely positive results of the pilot, which is now nearing completion, we could have proceeded directly to a full-scale program. However, we preferred to first engage an external professional evaluator to analyze the pilot program, including interviewing clients and studying the overall picture. This week he presented his interim findings, and in the coming month the remaining interviews will be completed. Then he will study the data, complete the evaluation and report back with clear written recommendations as to how best to proceed. We look forward to updating the Network about future progress!
It’s been a really busy year for the Karten Centre based at the Queen Alexandra College in Birmingham. The college is part of the Queen Alexandra Charity who support young adults with learning difficulties and disabilities through education, residential services, community services and enterprise. With the charity going through a re-brand this year the Karten Centre now proudly displays its new signage on the college campus.
The inside of the Karten Centre has also undergone a transformation. Thanks to support from the Karten Network and a grant of just over £20,000 the charity has been able to replace older equipment with brand new computers, laptops, monitors and interactive touch screens. The new equipment is enabling creative media and IT students to experience the most up to date technologies, which will enable them to be able to transfer to the workplace or further education more easily.
The improved speed, functionality and security will also be of benefit. The new interactive touch screens have replaced existing projector smart board sets which have been in situ since 2004. Used daily the touch screens are enabling students to be able to print off work from the screens in real time, greatly aiding their learning. Improved image quality is also hugely benefiting students with visual impairments.
Daniel (pictured) shared how amazing the new computers are. “They’re super-fast, making it so much easier to get work done”. One of the Tutors, Ken, added “the students are loving the new interactive whiteboard too – it really helps them learn in a fun way. Everyone is so happy with the new equipment; it’s truly making their learning experience much more enjoyable, so thank you Karten”.
Bridge College, well known for its work supporting students with special educational needs, is launching its own online enterprise. To cater to the community and businesses the college has opened its own online print shop selling high quality customized T-shirts, mugs and bags.
This venture is not simply a business, but an active training ground for students, engaging them in design, production and customer service. The Print Room seeks to provide students with experience that harnesses creativity, working within the real world to develop experience and skills so that they can step out confidently into employment.
Printing is embedded in the curriculum of the college. From creative design concepts to running high-tech printing machinery, students are engaged in every step of the process. With guidance from veteran staff, they learn how to process orders and keep quality consistent through production. Students also develop ICT skills managing and updating the online store, sending out email receipts and responding to customer queries.
This year, a highlight for Treloar Enterprise Printing Solutions (TEPS), our Karten Centre at Treloar’s, was selling our student’s fantastic products at Dummer Fair. Dummer Fair has been held around Michaelmas for over 25 years and remains one of the most successful fairs in Hampshire, welcoming over 1,000 visitors, with exhibitors from all over the country. Our students held a stall at the fair and quickly sold out of all of their products.
They took many orders for Christmas and into the new year. Here’s what Ben, a TEPS student, had to say:
“On the 10th October I supported the Dummer Fair to represent Treloar’s and the TEPS Karten Centre and all the items we have made. Business was busy throughout the day with the handmade crackers providing the most popular item. I spoke to lots of people explaining what Treloar’s is and what I do. Although I wasn’t in class, I did lots of work on my targets!! I enjoyed using the card reader to take payments and we took over £400. I love going to this event. I am also in charge of our range of personalised Christmas products. I am creating the advertising materials, taking the orders and making the items. This year we are printing Santa Sacks, and Christmas Decorations to order.”
The Skills Centre at The Meath Epilepsy Charity is thrilled to announce the launch of a new animation course, made possible by funding support from the Ian Karten Charitable Trust. This engaging course offers people with complex epilepsy and other disabilities an opportunity to explore the art of animation. Using newly acquired design and editing equipment, participants are enjoying expressing themselves through personalised animation projects. This autumn, the group has been learning the foundations of animation, becoming familiar with Purple Mash – an accessible digital platform for creating and sharing visual projects. They were then keen to bring their ideas to life through stop-motion animation, using topics and themes that resonate with their personal stories and interests.
Each session introduces a new skill, from capturing images for stop-frame animation to adding audio, music, and special effects that bring projects to life. Alongside technical skills, the group is developing confidence and enjoying the collaborative process of storytelling through visual media. Future sessions will include refining their projects and incorporating playful elements like puzzles and interactive components. By the end of the course, each participant will have a unique animated project to share, celebrating their hard work and newfound abilities in digital creation. This not only provides a creative outlet but also promotes skill-building in a fun and inclusive setting, encouraging everyone to express themselves in imaginative new ways.
Our Performing Arts students recently visited Curve Theatre in Leicester to watch Dear Evan Hanson. They were then tasked with writing a blog post using WordPress about the performance by their PA tutor Kiah (also our Digital Lead). Jacob, a pathway 3 student at Homefield, excelled at this, writing a wonderful blog post. Jacob is particularly interested in trains, so we thought his blog name was genius!
Dear Evan Hansen – The Curve
What can I say about Dear Evan Hansen, my group took the train into Leicester on Thursday and met up with a few more students from our group before we went in to see the show. We got some seats that are near the back but we could still see the performance.
The show was about a young boy named Evan who was struggling with social anxiety and depression, his therapist encouraged him to write letters to himself as a form of confidence boosting but things soon got out of hands when a student named Connor got his hands on one of them, detailing his crush on Connor’s sister Zoe and commits suicide, thinking Evan was planning on making him look like a fool.
Evan later finds out and due to his signed sling, his family thinks him and Connor were best friends and Evan has to make up lies about Him and Connor in order to help his family, he and another student start a project to replant and orchard in Connor’s honor but Evan is later forced to confess about the lie about him and Connor’s friendship and he vows to be brutally honest about things in future when he sees the replanted orchard in the end.
I think Dear Evan Hanson is a fantastic example of an introverted protagonist story, The sets were full of detail and made you almost feel like you were in the story, especially the scene with the windows in the background which was my favourite by far. I also appreciated how emotional some scenes could get such as my favourite song “Words Fail” when Evan has to confess his lies to the Murphy Family, this scene in particular spoke to me as I’ve been in a similar scenario to Evan before.
I also like (and hate) the character of Jared as I could feel Evan’s pain when Jared tormented him, he’s almost like the little voice in your head that tells you you’re a failure, you’re a loser and you’re worthless over and over again with no way to break the cycle. I personally have had experience with people like Jared before and I commend the creators of this musical for creating a character that’s likable because they’re realistically unlikable.
I really recommend this play to people with anxiety or who are coming of age, this play will really speak to them as it did to me as the main protagonist has not just 1 but 2 mental disabilities and is also portrayed very realistically as well. If’s you’re someone who fall into these two categories and there’s a performance of this at your local theatre, I recommend you give this a watch as it’s an experience to remember!
Jewish Care Explore is dedicated to empowering individuals through technology, promoting greater independence in day-to-day life. In line with this mission, on Monday, November 4th, we conducted a training session at Hammerson House for volunteers and employees. This session focused on assistive technology and accessibility settings that can make technology more accessible and user-friendly. We also explored effective ways to help people feel confident and comfortable engaging with new technology. Attendees were introduced to accessibility settings to help people with visual, hearing, physical and cognitive impairments, along with some apps and equipment to help people with lived experience of these difficulties. They came away with an increased knowledge on accessibility based technology, and felt more able to assist people with this.
In today’s technologically driven world, access to technology and digital skills is essential, yet many individuals – in particular the elderly and people with disabilities – remain disconnected for various reasons. Promoting digital inclusion is paramount for enabling everyone to integrate fully in modern life, and collaboration among organisations is key to achieving this goal.
By working collaboratively, organisations can share resources and expertise, amplifying their impact. Collaborative efforts allow organisations like those within the Karten Network to provide training programs, reaching more individuals than any one organisation could achieve in isolation. Community-based organisations, deeply trusted and needed by the people they serve, are integral to fostering confidence and empowerment in those new to or wary of technology and serve to massively improve digital inclusion within our communities. When organisations work together to promote digital inclusion, they build a more connected, equitable society and empower more people to thrive in an ever-evolving digital world.
“80 Candles for 80 Years” is a project in collaboration with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, which we were invited to take part in. This initiative also involves the St. Helens Library Service. The project marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of AuschwitzBirkenau, and we were tasked with designing and creating a Holocaust Memorial Day candleholder.
The first step in creating our candleholder was to choose a life story. Our candleholder was designed to commemorate the life story of an individual or community that was persecuted and/or murdered by the Nazis. We chose to commemorate the life of Helene Melanie Lebel. Our very talented writer, Callum, wrote a poem inspired by her life story, and the members of our art club all drew the national flower of Vienna, Helene’s birthplace.
To create this candleholder, we used our Glowforge laser cutter, which cut the plywood and engraved the drawings and Callum’s poem. Our candleholder will be part of a special digital exhibition for HMD 2025 and will be used annually at the St Helens Library Holocaust Memorial Service.
Jigsaw Exhibition
All of our artists at Buzz Hub are signed up for an online gallery with Outside In. Outside In provides a platform for artists who encounter significant barriers to the art world due to health, disability, social circumstance, or isolation.
Outside In is partnering with Jigsaw, the UK clothing company, which regularly displays rotating art in its shops. They saw Bill’s online gallery (one of our members) and are interested in featuring it at their Leeds location alongside another Outside In artist.
The collaboration will kick off with an in-store event at Jigsaw in Leeds on 14 November. This event will welcome friends, family, and customers, offering a unique opportunity for guests to engage directly with the artists and hear about their creative journeys. A recording of the event will also be available for wider audiences.
Bill creates beautiful watercolour and coffee landscape paintings. Jigsaw has chosen seven of Bill’s paintings to include in the exhibition. His works will be on display from 14th November 2024 – 6th March 2025.
We applied for a Karten Grant many years ago and bought a lot of VI Technology, including the OrCam My Eye which is still in use now. The OrCam My Eye is now on version 3 Pro and there is an OrCam Read 3 also and it is, pretty much, all singing and all dancing. It advertises itself as the “most advanced vision impairment wearable solution”. It reads or magnifies text, recognises faces, identifies products and you can ask it questions and get information.
Our original OrCam My Eye mainly reads text, but at the time it had the real “wow” factor. The OrCam is a device that attaches by magnet to glasses. The wearer can then point at text either nearby (book level) or at a poster / train timetable at a distance. The gadget then takes a photo of the text and reads it to the wearer. It takes a bit of getting used to because you have to have your head in the right position and your pointer finger in the right place, but once you get the hang of it then you can use it in so many different places and to read a range of text, close up and further away.
My student (KM) who used the OrCam a lot took it on his Animal Care course to read his handouts and what was on the board. Most memorably, he took it on a trip to a museum and art gallery to read the small printed information and when he adjusted his headphones he flipped the camera bit onto the floor and didn’t realise. Some time later he went to use it and realised that it wasn’t attached to his glasses. A frantic search occurred and, fortunately, he did eventually find it on the floor.
This is probably the weakest aspect of the OrCam My Eye – the magnet is light, as is the camera part, and it is easy to knock off and not realise, and it’s easy to forget that it is attached to your glasses. I hope that this is something OrCam have been able to improve, so that the magnet is stronger.
KM has now purchased his own My Eye Pro and this is what he has said:
I attended the College in 2018-19. Whilst I was there, I got introduced to the OrCam My Eye. When I first used the OrCam I was amazed at what it can do and how helpful it can be. I was impressed at how easy it is to use and that you don’t notice that it is there. The best thing about the OrCam is that you can take it anywhere and use it in any situation where reading is necessary. I now have an OrCam MyEye Pro. It is very helpful because it does a lot more than reading such as face recognition and scanning barcodes and telling me what the product is. I will always be grateful to the College for introducing me to this amazing piece of technology.
Another student (AB) has also tried out the OrCam and has since purchased his own. He uses this in College a lot and his tutor has said:
AB has been successful at using the OrCam in a variety of ways. This has included using the barcode function to identify which items to give customers when working as a cashier in our café Enterprise. AB has programmed in a range of faces into the OrCam and used the facial recognition function. He has also read a range of documents using its reading function and its speech output. This last way is his preferred way of working out of all the ways that he has tried. It enables him to access the same documents as his sighted peers and at the same pace.
The beauty of the OrCam is that it isn’t just for people with sight loss, but can also help people with Dyslexia, Irlens Syndrome and other reading difficulties. The OrCam Read is different to the My Eye as it is hand held or can be placed on a stand and it will read printed or digital text aloud from screens, books, newspapers, signs etc. The device also has a magnifier that can be used to upload and capture books, handwritten documents and images. Apart from that, the OrCam Read has an AI Assistant that you can ask questions about the text and other topics and it is interactive.
There is also the handheld OrCam Learn which reads text, and when in Reading Pal mode gives live feedback to students practicing reading aloud and can assess understanding by asking relevant questions. It will also read signs and text when the person is out and about. The OrCam Learn can be used in exams when in exam mode and with Wi-Fi disabled. This option is a lot more affordable than the other options.
So, although we were given the OrCam My Eye many years ago through the Karten Grant the impact continues to this day, with students and former students continuing to use this technology because they learned about it at College. Definitely a gift that keeps on giving.
Sadly, OrCam have announced that they will no longer be focusing on developing products for people with sight loss but will be concentrating on their OrCam Hear products for people with hearing loss. I am sure that this product will be as good as their other products for people with sight loss or reading difficulties. However, even though there will be a change of direction for OrCam, I hope that we will still be able to buy Read 3 or Learn, because we have a number of students who would, definitely, benefit from one or both of these gadgets.
We have recently adopted our local railway station. We work in partnership with St Helens Rotary club.
We have built seven planters that now sit on both platforms. We will over the coming months produce artwork that will complement the planters representing St Helens through the ages.
Our Towns Sound
This is a project that we are involved in. This is facilitated through Shakespeare North. The project is looking to record dialects and sayings throughout the Liverpool City region.
As part of this project, we are developing a performance to be held at The Shakespeare North Theatre.
As part of the project Matt the lead on the project wanted something that would be able to capture and record the sayings and dialects. Matt had the idea of a telephone box. He approached our members and creatives to see if this would be possible. Indeed, it was.
We used the wide format printer to print images from St Helens and neighbouring Prescot. Our Glow Forge printer cut the crowns for the telephone box.
The telephone box is currently touring the region capturing the sounds of our region.
Café Laziz
We have recently developed a partnership with café Laziz.
The café is set up for recently settled refugees and asylum seekers to work and train in and integrate with the local community.
The café is open to the public to try new cuisines from around the world.
Our members share volunteer opportunities, and we are engaged to provide all their printing needs.
The printing is allowed due to funding from the Ian Karten Charitable Trust.
Inklusion St John’s opened the doors in 2012 having secured funding for our project from the Ian Karten Charitable Trust. Starting as a printshop in Seaford we have now relocated to our Brighton college campus to be more inclusive of our students’ skills and to be part of the thriving community the city offers.
Through a student led approach, we want to show the equal value in the contributions of the business to create better acceptance and inclusiveness for those living with disabilities.
As we grow, we aim to offer a wider variety of products in turn opening more opportunities of work for our students. All profits made will sustain the enterprise and the wider charity.
In this article you can see the instructions students follow to print their designs onto Tote bags.
Using the Ricoh Ri100 DTG A4 Printer to print full colour onto T-shirts and Tote Bags.
1. E-mail your design to the print shop e-mail address. Download to your learner folder and right clicking choose to open the image with Photoshop.
2.Centre and clean any ink smudges where needed.
3. Find the middle of the bag and place on the tray. Put on the tray lining up on the centre line and make sure the opening of the Bag or Neck of the T-Shirt are on the relevant “R” Indicators depending on Portrait or Landscape design.
4.Tuck in the excess to make sure that it doesn’t get caught in the machine whist printing.
5. Close the top half of the tray.
6. Preheat the oven beneath the printer to 170 degrees by holding in the power button and then pressing the Preheat button.
7. Open the oven door and gently push the loaded tray into the oven. Push the bottom lever to the left to press the Bag/T-Shirt to give us a smooth surface to print on.
8.Take the pressed Bag/T-Shirt out of the oven and push it gently into the printer until it clicks into place. Handle the now hot tray by the green heat resistant tabs.
9. Send the artwork from Photoshop on the computer to the printer using the setting Ricoh Ri100 and A4.
10. When the printer is ready the Start Button will flash while processing and show steady when ready to begin printing. The LED will change to say “Press key to start.”
11. The printer will maneuver the tray and start printing. Sometimes it will ask for a height adjustment before proceeding. Press the down arrow on the Height Button 6 or 7 times and repeat by pressing the Start Button until the printer accepts the tray and pulls it into the printer to line up with the printheads.
12. After printing, the tray will offer itself to be removed and placed back in the oven for fixing. Do this by sliding the bottom handle to the right wait for the countdown to finish, bring the lever to the middle and then to the right again to start another 1 minute 30 seconds countdown which will “fix” the ink and enable washing without losing the design.
13. Remove the tray from the oven safely, handling the tray by the green tabs. Place the tray gently onto the table and pinch together the two grey buttons on the front. This will release the tray and allow the Bag/T-Shirt to be removed.
14. Show off your fabulous product and Pose for a photograph. :)
Our New Bridge Enterprise have had another amazing year, developing a new product to add to their long list of products. This year has seen the birth of the Snugglioz! Snugglioz aim to be a calming and stress relieving teddy by scanning a QR code and revealing a heartfelt message. As ever, the students have been using the local markets to sell their products and presented at the annual Young Enterprise Dragon’s Den event.
The students have used the Karten funded printing equipment and camera equipment to produce high quality promotional flyers, banners and branding for their huge catalogue of products.
In addition to the banners, flyers, business cards printing, we have started to produce vinyl wall prints for schools across our Trust and we aim to start promoting this to schools across the region. These wall prints are so powerful and really enhance the environment of any room. Take a look at some of the students at work and some of the designs going up.
The video production enterprise is going from strength to strength, providing a huge catalogue of promotional films for our Mult Academy Trust, with a new library of Destination Champion films but also gaining commissions across the country.
The students recently received a paid commission to film the Evidence for Learning Conference in Leicester. This involved an overnight stay the night before and a full day of filming workshops, presentations and Interviews and editing them for EfL to promote across their social media platforms. Exmples of the videos created can be viewed on the New Bridge Group & MAT Promotional Channel YouTube.
Another Karten funded project that we have seen impact with is the use of the virtual forklift truck simulator. This exciting machine has really engaged some of our post-16 students to want to venture into work within warehouse logistics and potentially go on to become a forklift truck driver. Ok, so we haven’t any qualified fork lift truck drivers yet, but just to be able to get them interested in warehouse logistics and succeed in a work placement as a warehouse operative is a starting point. Here we can see how well Imran did and how this inspired him to gain confidence within a work placement at The Range.
You can find more information about the products on the NBEnterprise website and their social media channels too.
We can’t thank the Ian Karten Charitable Trust enough for all their support. We see the impact of each of the funded projects every day. The opportunities our young people have had because of the equipment they have available to them would not be possible without the ongoing support over the years. Thank you.
Daniel, one of our Creative Media students who studies in our Karten Centre, came first in the Giant Slalom event and fourth overall in alpine skiing at the recent Special Olympics GB National Winter Games held in Italy.
Located in Folgaria, in the northern Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige, the week-long competition offered 73 athletes the opportunity to compete in alpine skiing and ice skating.
Daniel, currently in his second year at QAC, has been skiing for over ten years through Special Olympics Great Britain, the largest provider of sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. He has enjoyed competing in winter sports overseas on several occasions and in over fifty regional ski competitions in the UK. Following his success in Italy, Daniel also competed in a regional Special Olympics Ski competition held in Brentwood, Essex, on 28 April, winning a gold and silver medal.
At Homefield College, we take immense pride in nurturing talent and providing real-world experiences that shape our students’ futures. One shining example of this is Luke, a Pathway 2 student who has been excelling in his internal work experience with our IT support team.
Luke’s dedication and skills have been nothing short of remarkable. Here’s a glimpse into his impressive contributions:
Upgrading Technology: Luke has been instrumental in downloading and installing Windows 11 on laptops, ensuring our systems are up-to-date with the latest software.
Preparing Devices for Sale: He has efficiently wiped laptops clean, preparing them for resale and contributing to our sustainability efforts.
Maintaining Smooth Operations: Luke has played a key role in making sure all site computers are running smoothly, providing essential support to our daily operations.
In addition to these tasks, Luke showcased his initiative by independently helping a staff member transfer important photos of student progress from their mobile device to a secure SharePoint area. This not only highlights his technical skills but also his willingness to go above and beyond to assist others.
Luke’s achievements don’t stop there. He has mastered the IT Zendesk ticket and asset management systems, demonstrating his capability in handling complex tools and processes. Moreover, Luke has taken charge of the HP £200 laptop cashback project. His responsibilities include ensuring that five older laptops are fully operational and ready to be shipped to HP with the necessary documentation. This initiative alone is set to save the college an impressive £1000 off the purchase price of five new laptops.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Luke for his exceptional performance and look forward to seeing his continued success in the field of IT. Keep up the fantastic work, Luke!
Bry is non-verbal, with very limited movement and she tends to withdraw from people if her mood is low. In order to support Bry we have provided one-to-one sessions in the sensory room, which have helped her because the sensory experiences are distracting and helps her to re-engage with her surroundings and has allowed more social interaction with her carers.
The use of the new sensory equipment has enabled Bry to communicate her choices more clearly through eye pointing. She indicates clearly what holds her interest through her gaze and facial expression if she is not interested, Bry will look away or not respond. Her preferences tend to be visual, which has made the projected interactive images provided by the Omi Reflex projector particularly beneficial, as Bry can look at them directly and track their movements across the screen.
Because of Bry’s very limited movement, the use of the mobile magic carpet has been adapted for her by projecting images on a tabletop which is extended by using a white sheet over her lap so she can look down on the pictures and touch the image movements to cause an effect. When Bry is completely engaged, her arms and hands relax, enabling her to press a switch to operate an interactive toy or bubble machine. She demonstrates a clear understanding of cause and effect by repeating the action without prompting if she enjoys the result, giving a tiny smile at the end.
The refreshed sensory provision has had a very positive impact for Bry it has helped her reestablish some old skills and enhanced her levels of engagement and well-being. What the staff have noticed is that the more Bry engages with the sensory provision in the home, the more Bry is able to transfer the communication skills learnt to other areas and activities using her eye movements.
Case Study Laura – Ravenswood Support Worker
Laura, one of the support workers at Pamela Barnet, has been working closely with the new sensory equipment. Through direct practical application, she has increased her understanding of the methods of communication best suited to the individuals she supports. This understanding has transferred into her daily tasks, making life easier in the home.
For many years, Ravenswood has benefited from the Karten Network funded sensory room in the precinct. Norwood is keen that knowledge is more widely applied by staff to enable the people we support. The renewed interest in the sensory area has provided Laura with development opportunities to create new sensory activities. This new responsibility has enhanced her role as she can use new equipment to add to the care provided, increasing engagement, regulation and communication in imaginative ways to benefit the people she supports.
Laura has reported that she’s noticed a renewed uptake in staff members taking individuals to the sensory room since the new equipment has arrived. The people we support have been using the facilities more regularly which has increased their alertness and engagement.
Laura explained that having more flexibility with the range of equipment allowed staff to respond more spontaneously to the needs of the people in their care, providing calming activities should someone be distressed. It also enabled staff to offer alternative sensory activities during bad weather or when other activities are cancelled. Also, being able to move the mobile projectors along with smaller items means the equipment is more fully used.
Laura has been planning with Wendy, future sensory themes and is keen to link other activities in and outside the home. For example, using a jungle theme with sensory stories link them with jungle art projects to decorate the home, taste sessions if appropriate, and an off-site visit to the Living Rainforest Experience.
Laura said, “I am keen to get a more structured timetable for the sensory room in place so all the residents can benefit more regularly from the enhanced facility. I have seen the benefits of the sensory provision for different individuals, and their sensory preferences should form part of their person-centred activity planning.”
Impact
The purchase of the additional mobile sensory equipment has enabled more variety and flexibility, as certain activities can be taken to individual flats or bedrooms as needed. For example, Jay* had become quite distressed and the Mobile Magic Carpet and fibre optics were taken to his room. This created a calming sensory activity which helped him to refocus, improving his mood and regulation. An additional positive outcome was the increased confidence of the staff to respond in a proactive way. The flexibility, simplicity and ease of use of items such as the Magic-Carpet and Omi-Reflex projector have encouraged more use of the equipment, therefore benefiting the people we support.
Staff have been able to refresh their approaches to working with the people we support in the sensory room. Closer observation of the responses from the people we support has increased staff understanding of individuals sensory preferences, communication methods and social interaction.
Staff have been enabled to develop more detailed ‘sensory profiles and how to work with me’ documents so new or agency staff have a reference point when engaging with an individual in the sensory room. This continues as a developmental piece of work.
With the investment in new equipment, a further outcome has been that the Pamela Barnet home has appointed a member of staff to focus on and co-ordinate the sensory activities provided. This has helped to embed and drive the thematic sensory approach so that good practice is developed with the staff, while ensuring full use of the equipment.
The impact of the new mobile sensory equipment has resulted in an increase in equipment being used.
Development includes further thematic approaches not only in the sensory space but linked with other activities around the home. The aim is to create immersive experiences in the form of events, including a themed sensory story space in decorated areas around the home created by in house art activities, themed food and music.
Encouraging staff to take imaginative, creative ideas that incorporate sensory diets will- further benefit the people we support.
Next Steps for sensory provision at Ravenwood
To embed the use of the sensory provision within individual’s person-centred plan. Completing sensory profiles.
Continue to widen staff awareness and skills within the sensory provision through ongoing training.
Plan new sensory activities for the coming year and keep the momentum going!
Norwood’s use of Assistive Technology (AT) is at a critical point. Transitioning from older analogue to digital technology. Aiming to consolidate and embed its extensive organisational knowledge and expertise gained over the past decade. By prioritising user engagement, empowering individuals, and fostering a culture of knowledge sharing, Norwood can create a future where digital technology serves as a powerful tool for enhancing the lives of the individuals we support.
We are tremendously grateful to The Karten Network for your continued support. We appreciate your ongoing partnership as we work to enhance the lives of those in our in our community.
BID Services is a charity which works to remove barriers and empower those who are D/deaf, hard of hearing, sight impaired, deafblind or have other disabilities to live full lives. Our team in Leeds has setup a mobile Karten Centre which can not only offer access to technology and support at our city centre office in Leeds but can also be taken to our community hubs across the Leeds area where we deliver services closer to our clients. The mobile Karten Centre is already helping us support people to overcome the digital divide on both mainstream technology and bespoke solutions for our clients.
We spend a lot of time introducing people to the multiplicity of technologies that can play a part in supporting the independence of our service users, but there is the constant threat of a small change breaking the solution that has been relied on for years. A Screenreader is an incredibly powerful tool, it can make the difference between independently accessing the digital world or missing out on that world as it becomes ever more prevalent. Screenreaders are constantly updated, whether built into the operating system such as Apple’s VoiceOver or Microsoft’s Narrator or created by a third party like Freedom Scientific’s JAWS for Windows, but sometimes a fundamental change happens to the software we all use. Although it can be irritating in the extreme to non-disabled people it can completely break a tried and trusted method used by the disabled user.
Recently, Google Mail withdrew their basic HTML view from their Gmail website, and this has caused no end of problems for some Screenreader users, although quite correctly Google insisted that the standard webpage was accessible it required at least one Screenreader to be used very differently than most users would be used to. For those who haven’t come across one, a Screenreader provides synthesised speech output as a user interacts with the webpage. As it can be used by people without any useful sight it can be controlled completely by the keyboard when using a laptop, or by a different set of gestures when using a mobile device. Its effectiveness when navigating a webpage is limited however by how accessible the page is, how well web standards have been applied by the designers and of course the amount of content filling the page. A Screenreader is also such a powerful tool that the learning curve to become proficient in all situations is steep and of course a client will usually learn how to drive the software to the extent they need to complete their everyday tasks. Although skills gained in one area should translate to a different application, we become comfortable in the everyday. This is true of reading a webpage. There are a multitude of keyboard shortcuts so that a user can jump between elements and not find themselves limited to reading the page from top to bottom.
So, when the change was made to Gmail, one of our clients who uses JAWS suddenly found themselves outside their comfort zone and unable to deal with their email when accessing the webpage. They found themselves lost on the page as previous shortcuts took their focus to strange new places. In the past they had relied on a muscle memory that involved pressing keys in a remembered order to get to the email list or the reply button and even though the elements were still available they were lost to the mental picture that had previously provided a framework to the page. Our client grew more frustrated with the inability to progress and was unable to let go of the previous way of working to clear the way to engage with the new. After many weekly sessions with no success, it was time to start looking at alternatives. JAWS is considered by many to be the most well-developed and widely used Screenreader for the Windows platform and it follows a principle of supporting access to the applications and webpages in the most comprehensive way. But as the Gmail page shows sometimes that comprehensive access comes with an almost overwhelming amount of information. Within the Visually Impaired technology world applications on mobile devices tend to be streamlined by design, more suited to smaller screens and this can simplify the user experience. After looking at a number of mobile solutions the client tried out a Synapptic device which is a bespoke mobile phone sitting on the Android platform but using software to give a straightforward user experience suitable for those who are struggling with mainstream accessible technologies. Even though the client was learning a new system, this was more intuitive than amending their previous understanding and they soon were managing their email independently.
Being able to work through a change in circumstances, especially when it is forced on a client through the constant updating inherent in the world of technology is such a vital part of what we can provide through our Karten Centre rather than sending people away with solutions that cannot grow with the client experience.
We would like to say a huge thank you to The Ian Karten Charitable Trust for your ongoing support and helping us develop our mobile Karten Centre in Leeds so that we can provide the best possible support to our clients.
To find out more about our services in Leeds and our Karten Centre, find us at: Leeds – BID Services
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