Leeds City Council recognised the need to offer more opportunities for people to take part in activities they enjoyed, and in particular, to make sport and leisure activities more accessible for people with a learning disability.
In 2010, Leeds City Council embarked on an ambitious transformation programme for its adult day services for people with a learning disability. The council recognised that there needed to be a shift towards greater service provision in a community setting, which would offer more opportunities for people to take part in activities they enjoyed, and in particular, to make access to sport and leisure activities more accessible for people with a learning disability. This in turn would help to improve health and well-being and quality of life for this population.
The work was taken forward as a joint initiative between adult social care and the sport and leisure team at the council, and the teams focused on co-locating day activities with existing sport and leisure facilities, youth centres, and community centres. This means that the council makes better use of its asset base, while also being able to offer a more diverse range of opportunities for service users to be active, to get involved in their communities, and to lead healthier lives. An additional benefit is that the sport and leisure team has been able to be clearer about its offer to the wider community, and also to remove some of the barriers that disabled people more generally have in accessing and participating in sporting activities.
The success of the work with learning disability services provided the impetus for a new community interest enterprise to be established, Aspire Community Benefit Society. Aspire is a not-for-profit social enterprise, providing care and support services to adults with learning disabilities. Aspire has control of many of the learning disability services previously provided by the council (including supported living, respite care, and community and day services through the newly established colocated centres) with greater flexibility to improve the range of services that are offered to service users and partner organisations.
The business case for the project evolved as the work has progressed and become more embedded in the way services are provided. There are two key areas for the council:
1. In the short and medium term, reduced demand for more specialist care and support services (such as home care).
2. Over the longer term, the generation of sustainable community groups and enterprises that open up new opportunities for people to get, and stay, involved.
The new service model has opened up opportunities for the council to align its work for people with a learning disability into the wider work around tackling social isolation, supporting older people to access the support they need, and building cross-sector partnerships.
- Linking in with the work of the Neighbourhood Network Schemes in the city (community based, locally led organisations that enable older people to live independently and pro-actively participate within their own communities).
- Engage the wider council workforce to deliver advice and support for people to become more active – this has involved redesigning job roles in some cases.
- Joint working with housing support services to enable residents to exercise and benefit from social interaction more often.
In addition to this, a range of voluntary and community sector projects have been able to flourish, such as advice and information centres, health living centres, gardening and environment projects, walking and fitness groups, and community arts projects. This has also helped to create a number of volunteering and employment opportunities for people with a learning disability. The learning from this work is now being applied across the council to generate similar benefits for other parts of the population.
In order to support the longer term success and sustainability of the council’s approach, the team have also taken forward a number of community asset transfers to stimulate local ownership of exercise and sport, and to facilitate wider community engagement and involvement in planning and delivering services. This has included a local pool, gymnastics facilities, badminton courts, and the city’s annual half marathon event.
Work is currently underway in conjunction with Sport England to measure the benefits and cost effectiveness of more active communities in the city.