We have now prepared a mapping tool for use by our contacts
and lead organisations in each of the 5 Boroughs in the Tees Valley and
Cleveland region, and will start work with our Network members on assembling information
on current services.
We have also been very fortunate to have a Teesside
University student – Liam Molloy- joining us in April to do some research over the
next two months on the local and national picture.
We are hoping to bring in representatives from hearing loss charities including Hearing
Dogs and to make contact with a local Carers organisation to ensure we cover broader issues in our
research and planning for future service provision.
We will update this website page again in June on our
progress.
Strategic Planning for Sensory
Services- North East
COESI is a member of the Tees Sensory
Support Services Network in the NE Tees Valley region.
Over the last three years a COESI Board
member has attended Network meetings, worked with local organisations and made
contact with other local support groups for people with sensory impairments. This
work is rooted in the COESI Constitution.
A central group from the Network are
now looking at how we might take forward the work required to develop a
strategy for the future commissioning of services for people with sensory
impairments across the Tees Valley Region.
A draft work plan has been developed
and a service mapping tool and in April 2017 we will have a student from
Teesside University with us to do some research on published data and evidence
of need. COESI is leading on the project together with Action for Blind People.
Over the next 9 months our aim is to:
-
Map services across the region
-
Research evidence of need
-
Consult and engage with people with sensory
impairments to agree priorities
-
Develop a strategy for the region
-
Present this to the lead commissioners
Accessing Art and Culture in the Community –
Social Activities
In October 2016 we
were successful in securing Big Lottery Awards for All funding to run new
social activities in the Tees Valley region for people with visual impairments.
Read all about them here.
This project is running till September 2017 and is proving
very popular. We are looking at the possibility of extending it to other places
in the UK.
Art for All the Senses 2015 – 2016
In June 2015 the COESI charity was
successful in securing a small grant from the Big Lottery Awards for All
funding programme for Research and Consultation about the potential
to run an Art for All the Senses Project in the NE region starting in
2016. Read about how the project developed here:
Autumn 2016
New Board Members At our AGM on Friday 1st of
July 2016 we elected two new Board members to our team. Read more about our
team and our Directors.
April 2016
Living Paintings session in Saltburn by
the Sea
On the 13th of April two volunteers from the
Centre of Excellence for Sensory Impairment ran a Touch to See Living Paintings
session for the Saltburn Visually Impaired group.
LivingPaintings is
a national charity which provides tactile, written and audio resources for the
appreciation and understanding of art works.
There were 10 attendees with varying
levels of sight loss and we used the Love Story set of two tactile images and
their audio descriptions: the Meeting of Jacob and Rachel painted by
William Dyce and The Kiss stone sculpture by Constantin Brancusi. The feedback
was very useful and a number of people were interested in attending further
sessions.
We are looking at how to raise some
funding to enable us to run regular group meetings across the Tees Valley
region using galleries or libraries in different areas. From our recent
research we know there are many more people who would like to participate. We
have ordered a new set of pictures and look forward to organising more events
in 2016.
March 2016
Art Project Newsletter - Read about the outcome of our research for the Art for All the Senses Project.
January 2015
New Director joins the Board - Read about our Team and our Directors
June 2015
Art for All the Senses - The COESI charity was successful in securing Awards for All Big Lottery funding in 2015 for Research and Consultation in preparation for running an Art for All the Senses Project in the NE region starting in 2016. Read more about the project...
Autumn 2015
Sensory Awareness training - COESI has developed a new training course for sensory and disability awareness- read more on our Training page
Working with Trading Standards, COESI made a successful application in
2012 to the Big Lottery Awards-for-All fund for a grant to produce a range of
information for people about preventing doorstep crime in accessible formats
and a video.
Read more about it and access the project resources here: