1. Mick O’ Gorman Chair of the SPARC charity SPARC is a small charity based in Halton and Liverpool. Supports young people with Learning Disabilities. Founded in July 1995. Provides training in the skills of social resilience or “mental toughness” training. = The Prevention and Early Intervention Model.

2. Achieving FAIR access to Health and CJS for people with Learning Disabilities. The starting point for SPARC: “The most valuable but under-used resource in health and social care today.....are the people who use our services”. [Dr. Lucien Engelen: Radboud, Netherlands]. Q : Yes….But how to pull this off ?

3. = Prevention and Early Intervention. The ONLY GAME IN TOWN. People with LD as Designers and Producers & not simply as passive Consumers of Services. Moving away from the old Factory Model of top-down Health and Social Care to heal the sick and disabled. How to reach out to this vulnerable group within a context of dwindling resources for the Welfare State ? = Prevention and Early Intervention really is…… The ONLY GAME LEFT IN TOWN.

4. The SPARC position. Most of the 270 members of SPARC are out of service and off radar of the main statutory services. They have Moderate Learning Disabilities [MLD].....and not on official council/NHS registers. And yet, it is this “silent majority” who are going to prison, unemployed for life, and turning up at A& E and taking up NHS beds with Diabetes and Obesity and Alcohol problems.

5. In reality though, our young people are NOT really “out of service” at all. They are consuming vast resources...but at the wrong end of the welfare continuum. Diabetes costs the NHS £600 million per year + Obesity £4 billion, and Alcohol causes 1 million hospital admissions p.a Prison population has doubled from 41, 000 in 1993 to 85,000 in 2014. And 30% of young offenders in custody have identified special needs. And yet….. the last SPARC members survey[2013-2014] shows that : only 14% of our members had a health check: 86% expected never to work in their lives: 63% used drugs: and 70% had contact with the police.

6. How to reach out to and improve functional literacy and prevention amongst non-readers ? Lets talk about Communication for people with LD. The role of ”Easy Read” and “Signs/Symbols”..... in a “Digital World” !! What does the research say about Easy Read/Signs and its impact on people with LD ? We have had over 50 yrs of signs/symbols and maybe 20 yrs of Easy Read in the UK. What is the evidence of improved health outcomes? The average reading age of the members of SPARC is 7-9 years. There are also 8 million people in the UK who are functionally illiterate. For example: they cannot read a prescription bottle or fill in a form. But most public information still comes in the written word.

7. The communication DISCONNECT. There is there a fundamental DISCONNECT in the way we share information with people with LD. The things people say: “What does Custodial mean?” “ I didn’t understand the judge,,,,, so I just said Guilty.” “ I've never had a GP……I just go down to the A & E when I get really bad” “ Look,,,, I know I cant read,,,but what's with all these weird signs and all that mumbo jumbo …I'm not stupid, ok?”

8. What's “Easy” about “Signs/Symbols.....? Take a guess please.

9. A way forward by embracing the “Digital World”. We all have something in common in this room. But what can it be? Is it.....our Jobs and Roles? Are we all just very nice folk ? Clue: Its in your bag ! The Magic Brick !! The world has really changed from Gutenberg to Zuckerberg…….. And the members of SPARC just love it !!!!

10. The SPARC Real Comics Project SPARC approached NHS Halton CCG in Nov/2013 with an idea to improve digital health literacy for young people with LD. The SPARC and Halton CCG Real Comics project was established to design and publish x 6 animated comics/films. Please meet Joe Tottey : our comic illustrator/film animator and scouse Michelangelo. Please meet Ken Dobson: the good looking scouser with the Guy Fawkes tash and a Lead Practice Manager in Liverpool. The project has also been interesting in terms of the professional roles of all the NHS staff involved.

11. Comic on Cancer

12. Comic on Child Sexual Exploitation[CSE]

13. Comic on Mate Crime

14. Inter-Active Posters: Sample Have a look at the fold out flyer.

15. The Phone App: Joe Tottey

16. Ken Dobson: Practice Manager. Case Study of an inner-city GP surgery in Liverpool. Sefton Park Medical Centre, Liverpool. Large inner-city GP surgery: 8,000 patients. Large BME[30%] +Transient population. High social deprivation and poor health. Literacy and communication problems. Partnership with SPARC: Case Study: a Centre of Excellence in Digital Literacy The “Yemeni Comic Project”.

17. Current SPARC comic projects NHS Halton CCG: Real Comics project. Liverpool CCG: the Yemeni/ BME project. Merseytravel and travel safe. Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner on the problem of Child Sexual Exploitation. Comic Oscars events in Halton on June 15 2015: it’s a bit of fun….

18. Further Information Please ask the SPARC team. Fold out flyer available on your seats for prices,etc. Contact details: Mobile: 07792-110-390 Email: mickogorman@blueyonder.co.ukmickogorman@blueyonder.co.uk www.sparcproject.tumblr.com

19. Thank you for listening. Mick O’ Gorman: Chair of SPARC And enjoy the rest of the day.