Speaking Up at Learning Disability Today exhibition in Manchester

Personal Budgets are a method of self-directed support. Rather than a care plan and support being decided upon and paid for by the council, people with learning disabilities will be given a sum of money - a Personal Budget - and will have control over the activities and support they choose to spend it on.

Personal Budgets are a massive topic at the moment, and their introduction will affect the way that Speaking Up works hugely. We don't simply want to be affected by Personal Budgets though - we want to support our service users and other people with learning disabilities to understand the complex concepts and processes that they will have to deal with when they're given one.

To help increase people's understanding of Personal Budgets, our Consultancy and Training Co-ordinator Melanie Findlater has been working with Rod, Kerry and Sarah (who all have learning difficulties) to creat a fun and accessible board game on Personal Budgets. 'My Life, My Budget' is still in development, and will feature a range of steps which introduce people with learning disabilities to Personal Budgets This includes the sorts of activities they might wish to take part in, the support they will need to do so, the relative costs of each activity & associated transport costs, and also covers the concept of making choices - something many people with learning difficulties may not yet have experienced much.

Pictured: Rod and Ames playing 'My Life, My Budget'

We went to the LD Today exhibition in Manchester to show the game to people with learning disabilities and a range of professionals in the field, and to ask them what they thought about it. With around 2,000 guests, it was a great place to be for feedback! We had a fantastic day, got some great ideas to make the game even better, and are now really looking forward to launching the game!

Pictured: Mel discussing the game with guests at LD Today

There are lots more photos of us at the event on Flickr! For more information about 'My Life, My Budget', contact Mel on melanie.findlater@speakingup.org