chattervine

Christine's story on BBC1

2009-11-10T09:32:00.003Z

Christine's story went out on BBC 1 last night in the West Midlands. It is a very emotive subject and Christine felt the programme refelcted her story accurately.

Here's the link to watch it on iplayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nw2m4#synopsis

What do you think about the coverage?

Mothers with learning disabilities forced to have their children adopted

2009-11-06T15:39:00.005Z

Hi

Christine Spooner, who works on the media project, is part of the InsideOut TV documentary on Monday, November 9 at 7.30pm, on BBC 1.

The programme looks at women with learning difficulties who are are forcedto give their babies up for adoption.

Christine tells her story.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nw2m4

It would be appreciated if you could forward this information on to people who would be interested in wathcing this.

Thanks

2009-10-19T11:00:00.006+01:00

Street Aware

Is Coventry a safe place to be if you are different?

Come along to BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

Wednesday, October 21, 11 - 2pm

Or join the debate now

http://www.chattervine.blogspot.com/

www.twitter.com/grapevinemedia

Join the chat about being different

2009-10-16T15:10:00.004+01:00

Hi

Grapvine's media team is asking people to take 5 minutes to think about why people with learning disabilities are treated badly by some members of the community.

This is called learning disability hate crime and it is when somebody is horrible and violent to you just beacuse you are different.

We want to hear from you.

Can you answer these questions?

What do you think is the best way to keep safe in Coventry?

Do people listen to you if you say you have experienced people being horrible or violent towards you?

Do you know how and where to report a hate crime?

Have you been to the police station and reported a hate crime?

Are you happy to talk about what you have had done to you?

Do you take someone with you to report hate crime?

Could you talk to a counsellor about it?

Looking forward to using the flip cameras at Street Aware

2009-10-16T06:23:00.003+01:00

Grapvine's meedia media team really want to make Street Aware as accessible and powerful as possible so we are looking forward to using these flip cameras to record people's experiences.

The blog and event we are doing on October 21 will hopefully capture some of the views of people with learning disabilities in Coventry around the issue of hate crime.

Why are people with learning disabilities attacked verbally or physically because they are different?

Why Grapvine is doing Street Aware

2009-10-15T20:46:00.005+01:00

Hi

I am Darren and I work with the media team at Grapevine. Sadly, we have been reminded recently of how learning disability hate crime can destroy lives. The Pilkington family case brings into focus exactly why we are setting up the Street Aware blog and event on Wednesday, October 21 at BBC Coventry & Warwickshire.

Here are a couple of links about the Pilkington case in Leicestershire.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/28/pilkington-inquest-ruling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W0dUucm0Xw

The story of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter Francecca Hardwick is tragic.

What does this say about our society? What can we do to stop this in the future?

We want your views.

street aware

2009-10-14T15:52:00.002+01:00

Who is bothered if people with learning disabilities are victims of crime?
Do you feel coventry is a safe place to be? Are you bothered? Got anything to say? Then grapevine's media team want to hear from you.
We are starting a blog called street aware to find out what people really think.
People will have the chance to put their views and stories on it using words, pictures,video and sound.
People with learning disabilities are invited to come along to the launch street aware on Wednesday, October 21st, at 11-2pm, at the BBC Coventry & Warwickshire's Open Centre, Priory Place.
Zoe

Using computers and their sites

2009-08-25T16:18:00.002+01:00

Hi there, this time i am going to talk about using computers and their sites.

I have a laptop at home and i use it for facebook
bebo
emails
friends reunited
and most recently my space.

I went on friends reunited as i wanted to track down my school friends.

If you need to know more please blog back.

My Holiday in Greece

2009-08-19T13:41:00.003+01:00

My Holiday in Greece

Hi my name is Zoë I have a learning disability and I went on holiday to Greece. My boyfriend came with me he also has a learning disability his name is Dale, We booked the whole of the holiday ourselves which include hotel flight, travel insurance etc. We had a brilliant time with no problems the weather was great and the people were friendly and helpful. It was also my birthday, so it just goes to show people with learning disability can go on holiday on their own

Zoë

My move to Coventry and how my life is now!

2009-08-18T16:20:00.001+01:00

My name is Lynne Cooper and I have Downs Syndrome! I work for Grapevine, it is a charity that works with people with learning disabilities. I am a media project worker and I have been working at Grapevine for two years.

Here is my story!

I wanted to start a new life away from Motherwell in Scotland as my mum’s boyfriend would drink heavily and be aggressive. My sister lived here in Coventry so I decided to move here to begin my fresh start.

I lived with my sister for a year but things didn’t go to plan so I moved out of her house and moved in with a friend.

I was only supposed to stay for a couple of weeks but we got on so well that 10 years later we are still living in her house. We have a great friendship and we go out to the pub for meals and karaoke.

I love living in Coventry and I have been to catering college and done an NVQ to be a chef. I have a passion for singing and found out about Grapevine through meeting a friend called John who also liked doing karaoke.
I became a member of Grapevine for 4 years then I heard there was a job going as a media project worker so I had an interview and got the job. I job share with a girl called Zoë and it is a pleasure to work with her. I am chuffed that I have a paid job to go to as I haven’t had a job before. I have met some great people in Coventry who have helped me start a new life.

That’s all for now
Until next time

now we are the news

2009-07-02T22:13:00.003+01:00

our bed push is now on central vision's news channel click here to watch the 2 minute clip http://tinyurl.com/l2vdcv
please tell us what you think.

solving problems

2009-07-01T20:34:00.003+01:00

We wanted to post our radio interview on this website so you could all listen to it, but couldn't find out how to do it easily. We asked Stuart from www.wesharestuff.org if he could help. He gave us some ideas and explained that the reason it was difficult was to stop people adding music tracks they weren't supposed to use. Stuart suggested joining a hosting site and then making a link from this site. Then we had an idea...
We had the radio clip and we had some great photographs from the bed push, so why not put them together in moviemaker and then upload it as we do with other videos.
It worked a dream, please have a look at the posting below. What do you think?
Now Stuart suggested we link it back to our twitter site, ok Stu so how do we do that...
visit www.twitter.com/grapevinemedia

Learning Disability Week Bed Push Went really well

2009-06-30T12:44:00.008+01:00

We met up outside the BBC Radio Station in Coventry to do our bed push in aid of people with learning disabilities having the rights to stay up/out late. We all wore Stay Up Late T-shirts which were sent to us by Heavy Load who started the campaign for Stay Up Late. The media coverage was Central vision, The BBC, Telegraph and Michelle Tennison who is a freelance photographer. We pushed the bed up through the City Centre and along the way we were getting people to sign our petition and giving out leaflets and badges we stopped by Lady Godiva statue and went round speaking to the public to get their support. We then made our way to the Coventry City Council House to meet up with councillors to hand in the report and the petitions we also gave them T-shirts. The report had 10 case studies of people with learning disabilities not being able stay up/out late. Dave Musson has put a story about heavy Load & us on the daily dust. http://bit.ly/WlU1N
Below is a link to our radio interview with Annie Othan BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

Learning Disability Week football match was a great success

2009-06-30T10:35:00.002+01:00

We met up at the Alan Higgs Centre to watch a football match between a team from Grapevine and Some ex Coventry City players. The match came about because the health buddies had started training session with Paul Reynolds, the disability coach Coventry city football club. It was then decided to have the match in Learning Disability Week some of us were cheerleaders. The team wore Big Lottery T-shirts as they are the ones who funded the Media and Health projects. We drew 6-6, every body enjoyed the match it was good fun. Photos by dave. www.davemussonphotography.com Here is a short video clip

learning disability media success stories

2009-06-26T15:05:00.004+01:00

We had a great day yesterday, lots of support from the public; 2 live radio interviews, photographers & reporters following us, and Centralvision camera man following us. Give us the weekend to sort the pictures and they will be posted next week.

Our 3rd rights video is now available click here:http://tinyurl.com/mvhxlb this is our stay up late video please be careful if you have seizures there is a lot of flickering, we have asked for it to be toned down. Still it is a great video. THANKS TO HEAVY LOAD for letting us use their music and good luck at Glastonbury guys.

We have been working with a reporter who has done 4 learning disability stories for learning disability week you can see them at: http://bit.ly/lKmln
http://bit.ly/WlU1N http://bit.ly/gwZZq and http://bit.ly/10gUYu The daily dust website gets 35,000 reader each day and 1.5million a month so lits of people will hear about us- THANKS to DAVE MUSSON.

We played the football match this morning and again we need a few days to sort out photographs and video clips.

Game on

2009-06-23T14:24:00.005+01:00

Football Match

Hi everyone just to let you know Grapevine are having a 6 a side football match against ex Coventry City players and coaching staff on Friday 26th June 10:30am at the Alan Higgs Centre. The Grapevine team will be wearing shirts porvided by The Big Lottery Fund.

daily dust good news stories

2009-06-23T13:36:00.004+01:00

We have a young journalist working with us and Mencap for learning disability week. So far he has got 2 stories on the online newspage please follow the links:
davemusson http://bit.ly/gwZZq

davemusson http://bit.ly/10gUYu

videos about rights

2009-06-23T12:26:00.004+01:00

We have had the first of our rights videos posted on Central vision for learning disability week; hopefully we will have the other 2 by tomorrow. You can watch them by clicking on the following sites.
Christisne's story is at http://tinyurl.com/n2felf

Rishard's story is at http://tinyurl.com/mf72mm
Wewant to say a big thank you to Christine, Rishard, Mel and Nicolad for doing such a grand job.

As soon as we can we will have them on this site. Please have a look and tell us what you think.

WATS!

2009-06-22T10:33:00.015+01:00

Our young person's project WATS (We are all the same) funded by Camelot Foundation had their end of year evaluation event at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry on Friday. There was music from Soulful Choir and lots of short videos showing lots about what the project has done.

For more photos visit this website: :__ http://tiny.cc/fq7Yf

Disability week and welsh visitors

2009-06-16T10:42:00.006+01:00

Just an update on what the media team is doing on Thursday and on learning disability week, we are having some visitors from Wales on the 18th of June. During learning disabilty week which is next Monday the 22nd of June, we are doing a bed push on the 25th of June which we are pushing a bed from the BBC then walking to the council house and then back to Grapevine. Along the way giving leaflets out and talking to people about it too. The reason why we are doing this campaign is because people with learning disabilities have to go back home because of staff change over and the campaign is called staying up late which is run by a punk band called Heavy Load who are a band with people with learning disabilities and 2 volunteers. On the 26th of June we 're having a six aside football match against ex Coventry City players at a place called the Alan Higgs Centre and there are cheerleaders too. Please make sure you show your support and vote on this site.

training journalists

2009-06-15T11:49:00.007+01:00

We went to Manchester to talk to a group of 16 journalist students, about the media and learning disability. We asked the students what they thought a learning disability might mean to them. We split into 2 groups then me and Lynne were interviewed by the students, it was really good to have the chance to get my point across and be listened too. I would go and do it again,

That is all for now
Zoë

Michael and Alan are snap happy

2009-05-12T10:05:00.006+01:00

Michael Smith, and Alan Hobden, both won certificates in the photography section of the annual Nuneaton Festival of Arts, and collected them at a ceremony last Friday. Michael got a certificate for third place in the still life category, and Alan won third place in portrait as well as a merit in action.
Michael said, “I’m very excited at winning a certificate and hope I win one of the trophies next year”, while Alan added, “I can't believe it I didn’t expect to win”.
Their certificates were presented by Nuneaton’s Mayor, Councillor Gerald Smith, who also posed for photographs with Alan and Michael after the ceremony, and even gave them both a short ride around the block in his chauffeur-driven car – something Alan and Michael enjoyed almost as much as collecting their awards.

blogging with Birmingham People 1st

2009-04-28T11:31:00.008+01:00

Today we visited Birmingham People 1st to help them set up a blog. We worked with Martyn, Christine Sue and Jonathan. We showed them this blog and then set one up for them. Alan took some photos. We liked the people and got on well. We had a bit of a laugh.Christine walked back to the station with us and this is a picture of Alan and Christine.

working with a press officer

2009-04-27T10:29:00.007+01:00

Me, Denise, Alan and Christine had a meeting with Suman, she had come to talk to us about the press release that had been done for the none smoking day. Suman who is a worker as a Coventry NHS press officer. She looked at our press release and told us how she would change it slightly, so that the newspapers would be interested. Suman had come with some of the photos that MichelleTennison had taken and we were talking about how some were good and some not so good. Here are some of the photos that we all liked. Suman was also saying that she can offer one of the media group a placement with her team to see how a press office is run. Suman will be putting some of the photos into Health Matters, a magazine that Suman’s team do and send out to houses in Coventry.

Michelle's website is: http://www.tennisons.co.uk/

The photos show Maureen looking at the tar you get from smoking; the health buddies and Danny with Mohammed from the stop smoking team.

More from Alan the photographer

2009-04-23T15:28:00.002+01:00

I helped Manjeet and Danny with a links event. I took some photos for them on the day and I also enjoyed myself. I helped Manjeet set out the food out on the tables.
I helped Michelle the professional photographer. I organised the group photo, so Michelle could take the picture. I had to move chairs around and Michelle gave me some tips on how to take the photos. Manjeet said she wanted the group photos so we had to get people sitting on chairs and people standing at the back. I told them to shout Grapevine to get them smiling.
I also helped to tidy up at the end of the day
By Alan.

Staying up late campaign

2009-04-21T15:13:00.004+01:00

Heavy Load a punk rock band with have a single out called Stay up Late. They had noted that people were going home early from their concerts and this made them angry. We thought that it was happing in Coventry so Peter took photos of a D:vine night. The photos showed that early on the place was full, but after 9.00 it would empty. Some of the team have written a survey asking people if they stay up late. Some of the team are going out to day centres to get people to do the survey.
Please leave me a message with your E-mail if you want to do the survey, so that I can send to you.

you can find out more about Heavy Load on their website: http://www.myspace.com/heavyloaduk

Health buddy training

2009-04-20T12:23:00.003+01:00

I helped Manjeet, Danny and Rob to run the health buddy training on how to help people to stop smoking, I helped to set up the activities’ I was Danny’s health buddy and I was supporting him to give up smoking, I needed to try and convince him to come to the NHS and see the stop smoking team. It was only a role play as Danny does not smoke. The day was really good and I found that the presentation was interesting, at the end we all got a Goody bag, with lots of information.
I enjoyed the day.

Zoë

Alan's photography blog

2009-04-09T12:47:00.003+01:00

I first started taking photographs with Rob Adams, around Coventry. I took Lady Godiva, the cathedral, canal basin and all sorts. I decided to make a book from my photographs. If you look on this page you can see a video with me and Christine about my book.

I entered a photo competition and won a certificate from the Lord Mayor and we all had a cup of tea at the council house.

I joined the media team and took some more photos for a show at the Herbert Art Gallery. I was in the newspaper for that. We went to the opening party and had wine.

I am still taking photographs, I sometimes take pictures for the media team. I am entering another competition and I will tell you how I get on.

Edward's blog

2009-04-09T10:28:00.003+01:00

I joined the media team in August 2008. I like going to the meetings and have made new friends. I like having the TV on and going through the freeview channels to find something that interests me. I like watching films.

I like to go out in the evening but it depends if there are enough staff to support this. I like to go to the pub for a pint or two. I go to Devine nightclub once a month. I prefer to chat to people in the bar, it's hard to talk to people on the dancefloor.

I am moving house soon. I will be living nearer to my sister. I went to have a look at a house this week and I like it. I am looking forward to moving, it will be in a better area.

I enjoy going to Grapevine Drop In Centre, there are some nice people there. I like coming to the press office to blog. I would like to work in the office all the time , I enjoy working with the staff.

I can be a loving mum if you give me a chance

2009-04-01T15:35:00.008+01:00

Christine from the media team became a star in the local paper yesterday. She was in a story that told how her 2 babies had been taken away from her and her husband when they were only a few weeks old. The babies weren't stolen or kidnapped, they were taken by social services, because Christine and her husband were thought to be unable to look after the babies. The reason people thought this was becasue Christine and her husband both have learning disabilities.

Christine's story is very sad, but not that unusual. She decided that she wanted people to know and our media team have supported her to get the story told. If you want to read the full story click on the link.

http://snipurl.com/f2eg6

Values Into Action Conference- Friday 13th march 2009

2009-03-18T15:12:00.002Z

Me, Ellen, Lynne and Faye went to London for a conference. It was run by VIA about how we can get good support from different people and how we need to ditch the jargon. It would be good if all information was made easier to read, no big words- so let's ditch the jargon!

We had some group discussions, one was about our thoughts and worries and the future of social care. The other one was about problems, possibilities and will it work. The group discussions worked really well as everyone had their say
Some one had done DVD about her life. Her name was Ellen Goody, it was about independent living scheme and how she liked living on her own, and who she employed as a support worker. The scheme had worked for her, but this might not be the same for everyone.

We all had a really good day out.
Zoe

Promoting the National Lottery

2009-03-17T17:15:00.006Z

Our exhibition photographers were asked to help promote the National Lottery by being on the other side of the camera for once. Alan, Michael, Peter and Paul posed with a giant lottery ball in the new gallery at the Herbert in Coventry.So far the Coventry Telegraph has used the story. This photograph was taken by Michelle Tennison. (www.tennisons.co.uk)

Learning disability partnership board

2009-03-05T09:30:00.005Z

I am a representative on a group called the Learning Disability Partnership Board. Other reps are the NHS, councillors, carers, parents etc, they talk about the help people with learning disabilities need and we have presentations from the visitors. I sometimes have to give feedback on how the media team are doing and what is coming up next for them. I do enjoy going to the meetings. This photo shows myself and another Grapevine worker named Dave McCann acting on stage. We did a comedy to show what a good partnership board looks like. This was something we did for the review of the partnership board. The review was to make things better for the partnership board.

blogging at curriers

2009-03-04T15:40:00.005Z

Me, Denise and Rob went to Curriers Enterprise to talk to a group about how to blog. first of all we told them what blogging was and it can be fun, some of them did managed to leave a massage on the our blog. It was good as some of them had not done blogging before they all had a really good time doing it, and we are going again next week, so i will let you know how we get on, that is all for now. here are some of the curriers group doing some blogging.

from Zoe

Getting a job

2009-03-04T14:14:00.003Z

Can you please help us? The government want to know what people with learning disabilities think about getting a job. We have have put some questions on our blog and would like you to answer them. If you have more to say about work then leave us a comment here. Thank you. Naomi will be taking your comments to BILD next week, who will send them to the government.

experiment posting a video clip

2009-03-03T17:37:00.007Z

We thought it was about time we tried to post a short video clip of the media team. This was recorded in December when the team made their own TV show called Grapevine Today. This short clip shows Christine interviewing Alan about his photography book on Coventry.

Being an advocate

2009-03-03T15:43:00.002Z

Grapevine runs an advocacy group called Citywide, a group for people with learning disabilities. I had been a member of citywide before I started working for Grapevine. Since I started work I sometimes help out. There was a 2 day training event at citywide and I went to do the training. It was great, I really got into that meeting, the meeting was about choice and control. This means that people with learning disabilities have the right to choose where to live or even have their own money. Control is where people with learning disabilities have their own money taken off them by their carers or parents. Or when the carers and parents are concerned that people with learning disabilities can’t live or even run a house and that is where they are wrong.

thanks to the team

2009-02-18T17:22:00.010Z

I want to thank Zoe, Rob & Lynne for keeping the office running while I have been away. From what I hear they have all done a very good job. I hear that the training days have been fun and that Zoe has kept everyone in order.
I want to thank all the media team for coming each week all through the horrible weather. I thought of you all while I was in the warm resting my poor foot, drinking tea and listening to the radio. I even tried out daytime TV but it wasn't for me. I think I will leave the TV watching to the media team, you are all much better at it than me.
I will not be back at work full time for a few more weeks so Lynne, Zoe & Rob will just have to keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to watching the TV programme you made and hearing all your news.
Denise

Media team

2009-02-10T15:53:00.013Z

Hey there Lynne here! Sorry I haven’t been blogging for a while but here I am now, here is my update on the media team and it’s going to be a short one this week. I have led 2 meetings by myself and with support, I led 1 that was called introducing the media that was week4 and in week8 I led the

meeting which was called Making a Newspaper and that was my observation and it was quite good.

Catch up

2009-02-10T12:57:00.008Z

Hi Zoë here.!
I have been running the Media Team and it has been fun. I have really enjoyed it. But Denise has not been there because she is off with a broken foot hopefully she will be back soon. The grapevine Christmas party was really good and it was nice to see everyone. We had a great time. We are on week 13 already it has been good as Rob has been supporting me to do them, we have made a TV lifestyle program with the media team, interviews also Made our own news paper with them. We have quizzes everyone has a good time. It will be good when Denise get’s back as we have all miss her, it has been good experience for me I am very pleased with myself and rob should be really pleased with himself to.
That’s all for now
Zoë

What the media group has done so far.

2008-12-18T14:59:00.005Z

First week we spoke about being in a group, second week was what we can already do, third week we spoke about being organised and having rights, we introduced the media in week4 we spoke about soaps and quizzes in week5, we spoke about the news in week 6, we used the internet in week 7, we made our own newspaper in week8, we done interviews and filming in week 9 and week10 was part 2 of the interviews and filming.

The new team

2008-11-05T19:39:00.006Z

The new team have been together for 7 weeks now and are really getting on well with each other. Last week Zoe ran the group training with Rob's help, she did really well. Next week Lynne will have her turn. We might even get Rob doing it!
Tomorrow we have some visitors from "We share stuff" they are going to show us how to get the best from the internet.

Recruitment Day

2008-09-16T12:48:00.003+01:00

We had a recruitment day on the 19th of August it went really i thought, we recruited some people with learning disabilities to be in our media team. Some of the games went really well, i was on the registration desk with Nick one of our old media team and Rachel who is a nurse for people with learning disabilities. I will tell you more when you all reply.

Recruitment day

2008-09-10T15:12:00.004+01:00

We had our Recruitment day for a new Media team it was good as we recruited 6 new team members and possibly another two. We had a very good day everyone enjoyed themselves and they went away happy. I would like to thank all the staff who helped out on the day.

Leading my first Media group

2008-09-10T15:09:00.001+01:00

Zoe said...
I led my first Media team meeting i was very excited about taking control of the team meeting and running it. I have also done cover at the drop in for a day its not normally my job but i enjoyed doing it.We are doing a recruitment day at the drop in for the new media team on the 19th August 2008 if you need more information you can ring us on 02476559995. Zoe
August 11, 2008 11:30 AM

Louise's story

2008-07-22T13:12:00.002+01:00

Having Down's syndrome is a hateful condition because I do not like my size, my weight or my looks.

Some people stare at me when I go out on my own. Sometime I get people asking me how old I am and when I tell them they don't believe me. I also find it hard to express my feelings and thoughts to other people when in turn they aren't prepared to listen to me. They nearly always speak over me which leaves me frustrated and angry that I can't get my views across.

I feel that I have a full life and have achieved a lot. My best achievement was getting a distinction in my history OCT Certificate Achievement Award. The certificate and prize were presented by HRH Duke of Edinburgh at a ceremony in London.

I enjoy reading Harry Potter books and could tell you the story by heart. I go to the cinema sometimes; some of the films like Harry Potter are good, although there are some I'm not so fond of. I also like going out with friends around Coventry and going for pub, Indian and Chinese meals.

I attend the Grapevine drop in centre where I have joined the Healthy Living Team. They go to hospitals and do presentations on how to have a healthy lifestyle.

I also do DJing. I have done scratching, beating and cross fading and made a CD of different songs. I am part of D:Vine a group that runs monthly club nights at Taylor John's in the canal basin. I play pop music which makes people want to dance. My DJ name is DJ Wizard, because I put on wizard music.

I have been a dancer since I was eight years old. I have danced for my grade work and really enjoy it. Every year we put on a show and I like practising for the shows. This year I did a tap number to 'Puttin on the Ritz'. A ballet number for 'Nobody does it better' Goldfinger from James Bond and 'One' from a Chorus Line. It was a difficult dance to learn and at the end of the final performance my dance teacher congratulated me on how well I did. My sister Alice cried when she saw me doing the dress rehearsal because she had never seen me dance before. She was always in the performance dancing on the opposite side to me. She said I did it perfectly and kept in time with everyone.

I have lots of good friends and family who like to look after me and help me do things that I'm not so good at. I make everyone laugh when I say funny things. My laugh is always a happy laugh, which makes people want to smile.

Positive images campaign

2008-07-22T11:08:00.007+01:00

I'm starting this blog with an apology, sorry we haven't updated for a while. We were very busy with learning disability week, then I was on annual leave and now I have my arm in a sling as I have cracked my elbow. There enough excuses let's tell you how learning disability week went:
Paul got his dream of hosting his own radio show on Hillz FM. During June and early July HillzFM had an FM licence to broadcast live alongside their Internet broadcasts, Paul was given a weekly one hour show, so well done DJ HObbow. Lisa and Rosie were invited onto Hillz FM as guests (June 16th) to talk about learning disability week. They took along Denise for support and Adam a young man on work experience came along too.
As we said in an early posting we had expression walls around the city & in Nuneaton. On Tuesday 17th June the team were invited to launch the wall live on the Annie Otham show (BBC Coventry & Warwickshire.) Annie also interviewed 2 parents about their experiences. Mel & Donald gave fantastic interviews, talking about how it felt to find out your much wanted baby has Down Syndrome. They spoke about the highs and lows that their families have experienced since, and they spoke of their dreams for the future.(We are hoping to get a snap of this posted on this site and Grapevine's website).
Later the same day Paul, Alex, Denise & Adam went back to the BBC to do a live interview about the photography competition. " days after that we had some of the young people from the WATS project live on the breakfast show talking about their lives. We were very pleased to get so many radio interviews in one week.
During learning Disability week we were also featured twice in the Coventry telegraph and on the city council's news page. Couple of the stories were about the photography competition but the most exciting story was written by Louise O'Farrell about her life as a young person with Down's Syndrome (see the separate blog to read her story).

My Day At The BBC- Alex

2008-06-05T13:32:00.002+01:00

I Had A Wonderful Day At The BBC I Met Rosie From BBC She Told Us About What Goes On At The BBC Which Was Fantastic To know. What I Enjoyed The Most About Going On The Computers Learning About The Coventry And Warwickshire Website And Doing The Radio Show With Andrew And Rosie.

Our day at the BBC

2008-06-05T12:52:00.002+01:00

We had a talk on what they do at the bbc . Rosie said anyone can come in off the street to have a look round and use the computers
Then we went on the computers with Hannah.
Then we had a talk from the editor, Tim, Who told us that he gets about 500 e-mails a day. He said he went through all the e- mails and picked out the ones that caught his attention.
Then we went into the studio to do a mock internview with Andrew.
Paul and Alex asked the questions and Rose and Lisa answered them.

Rosie & Lisa

I have my own radio show now!

2008-06-05T12:30:00.003+01:00

Do you remember when told a few months ago “My dream is to have my own radio show one day” Well, my dream came true. This week I had my 1st show on Hillz FM, a community radio in Coventry. My show was an hour and I played songs and did a bit of chat. I was very nervous when I started, proper shaking, by the end of the show I was fine. It was a good laugh and great fun.
My show will be on every Wednesday from 11am until 12pm. You can listen on the internet www.thehillz.net or 102.6FM. You should be able to pick it up anywhere in Coventry or the local area. I will let you know how it goes because I have some plans for future shows
D.J. Hobbow

Judging the photo competition

2008-06-05T11:39:00.008+01:00

The photo competition for this year has finished. I was proud to be one of the Judges. Judging the photos was a difficult task, because there were a lot of good photos to judge. I enjoyed the judging because it was new for me. The Major of Coventry is going to give the awards for competition in the Council House on Tuesday 17th June at 12pm. I will be happy if I can judge for the next photo competition because a really have enjoyed it.
You can see the photos from the competition on this link...
Or you can see my photos here...

Peter

photography competition

2008-06-04T21:01:00.004+01:00

Sorry we haven't put anything here for a while but things are very busy in the media office. We are preparing for our 1st big campaign to run during learning disability week starting on 16th June.
Denise, Lynne, Zoe & Peter have held a photography competition for people with learning disabilities living in Coventry or Warwickshire. The competition closed last Friday and we had 91 entries!!!
Peter was joined by James, Rob and Ellen to judge the entries on Monday and after a couple of hours they managed to pick the winners, but it was very hard - the photos were very very good.
We have put all the pictures on a website so please do have a look, and tells us what you think: www.flickr.com/photos/grapevinecomp2008 and see the winners.
We are going to have a show of the pictures at the Council House in Coventry from 16th -30th June and the Lord Mayor is presenting the trophies on the 17thJune.
But that's not all we have got happening over the next few weeks, so why not visit us again to find out more...

Lynne at the BEEB

2008-04-29T14:29:00.005+01:00

I was working at the BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio Station for 10 days which was my work placement, I really enjoyed it. On the first week I was working on the CSV action desk which was a busy week, I did things like answering answering and making telephone calls photocopying and stapling important papers together also I went to visit a project. The second week I was working with the local radio presenter who is called Bob Brolly and his producer Sarah that was entertaining and he came up with a nickname for me, through the week I got to meet a few celebrities including Blake who are a operatic group. I will tell you a bit more later on.

zoes blog

2008-04-16T15:47:00.004+01:00

hi I'm Zoe, i am one of media project workers. i like learning about the media and i hope that can change people minds about learning disability, i will tell you more about my job soon.

Volunteer's blog space

2008-04-10T12:40:00.001+01:00

hi i have been lazy too. Same as Oggy

rob

Photographer Peter

2008-04-10T12:29:00.004+01:00

I have a placement at Coventry University, I work with the Photographer Graham some Fridays, when he has got work for me. I have taken photographs of buildings in Gosford St. the flight simulator, people in the gym and food. I got to eat the food after we had finished. I went to the Focus on Imaging exhibition in Birmingham, it was good and I learnt about different things, what to buy and how people use pictures in different ways, framing and taking photos of models.
I am going to judge our photography competition with Graham and some of my work will be shown as well. I will tell you more later!!

Rosie say's Hi!

2008-04-10T12:09:00.003+01:00

on Wednesday i went to friend in Exhall
to see friend and family we had good time.
and watch the tv and clubland and watch big brother
as well
.
what have you being doing

rosemary

Suryabala Speaks

2008-04-10T12:04:00.003+01:00

I am on the Learning Disability Partnership Board in Coventry. I get chance to tell people what I think and they listen to me. We talk about transport, jobs, houses for people and I have given a talk about Valuing People. We listen to visitors. It is important to me to have people listen to what I say.

Happy Birthday to us!

2008-04-02T16:48:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was the 1st birthday of the Uncover media project- no that's not an April Fool Joke. There are now 2 media teams one in Coventry and one in Nuneaton. During the summer we will be looking for some new recruits for another team to be based in Coventry. Let us know if you are intereseted in joining the team.

photography competition

2008-03-31T22:26:00.003+01:00

If you live in Coventry or Warwickshire and have a learning disability why not enter our photography competition? You can enter up to 3 pictures, they need to be at least 20cm x 25cm and can be in any of the following groups:
My home town, my friends or family, my job, my life or wildlife.
The closing date is 30th May and we will be having a public exhibition of all the pictures sent to us. If you are interested let us know and we can send you the enter form. Go on give it a go!

Adrian the Jokes

2008-03-19T17:11:00.002Z

My name is Adrian. I like reading the Sun newspaper because I like the page 3 girls. I watch Japanese cartoons like Manga and Bleach. Here’s some jokes for you:
Why did the Eskimo eat a candle? He wanted a light lunch!
What football team eat ice-cream? Aston Vanilla!
What do you call a woman balancing a pint on her head and playing pool? Beatrix potter! Boom Boom.

Jo's blog

2008-03-19T17:08:00.003Z

My name is Jo. I collect pandas. I have cuddly ones, cups, books, a calendar and a video. I would like to go to China to see them in the wild. I would like to work as a keeper in a zoo, looking after the pandas. I also like going horse riding. I do this on Saturdays.

David H's Joke blog

2008-03-19T17:02:00.002Z

My name is David I like telling jokes. Here is one for you:
A man went into a pet shop and asked if they had any unusual birds. The pet shop owner said “we have got a parrot or a macaw”. No thanks said the man and went to leave. “Wait" said the owner; "I have got a Hoochi Coochi bird”. “What do they do” asked the man. The man got the bird out and a piece of metal. He said “Hoochi Coochi bird my metal” the bird drilled through the metal. He got a piece of bamboo out and said” Hoochi Coochi bird my bamboo” the bird drilled through the bamboo. “Brilliant” said the man "I will take it". “Just one thing “said the owner “You must say my”. The man took the bird home and got his mates round to show off. He got the bird out and a piece of metal he said “Hoochi Coochi bird metal". The bird did nothing. He said again “Hoochi Coochi Bird metal” the bird did nothing. His mates laughed and one said “Hoochi Coochi Bird my foot” The bird drilled straight through his foot.” Here’s another one

What football team wears no pants? Arsenal!
More jokes from me later.

Leslie's blog

2008-03-19T16:59:00.003Z

My name is Leslie. I like animals and people who speak in different languages. I would like to learn Gallic or French. I could then go to France for a holiday. Here is a joke for you:
A man went into a pub and said do you sell helicopter crisps? The landlord said sorry we only sell planes.
And another:
Did you hear about the fight between the battery and the firework? The battery got charged and the firework got let off.

Sarah and her swimming

2008-03-19T16:54:00.003Z

My name is Sarah; I am a swimmer in a Special Olympics team. My favourite strokes are backstroke and butterfly. I won a gold medal for butterfly. I support Liverpool and think they will win the Champion's League cup this year. I am also into Beatrix Potter I have all the books, a DVD and some videos.

David's Blog

2008-03-19T16:49:00.002Z

On Fridays I go to the pub and sometime I play darts. I would like to be in a team. I like watching Rugby and was glad that Wales won the 6 nations.

how to blog

2008-03-17T15:18:00.002Z

if you want to send us a message just click on the comment button and a box will open for you to type your message. Easy as that.

We have some new team members

2008-03-17T14:00:00.002Z

We have recruited some new people to our team. They are from Warwickshire and soon be adding their blogs here. Watch this space.

Want to keep up to date with our news?

2008-03-13T10:05:00.006Z

Why not register with us so that you get a message when we put news on our site. It's easy to do- just go to bottom of the page and click on Click on Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) it looks like this
Click on subscribe to this feed
Click on subscribe button
Next time when you are online click on the star (favourites) on left side of page
You should see our site feed just click on it
Why not try it now- see for yourself how easy it is!

Another way is to click on the orange button at the top right of your internet page it looks like this.

Then Next time when you are online click on the star (favourites) on left side of page You should see our site feed just click on it.

are there enough people with learning disabilities on TV?

2008-03-12T22:38:00.003Z

Do you think there are enough people with learning disabilities on the TV in films, soaps, comedies or dramas? Tell us what you think by doing our quick survey.

nicks blog

2008-03-06T10:28:00.004Z

i like to use the Internet and to look at the guitars. the guitars make a good sound. i am playing a guitar at home. guns and roses are my favourite. TV programs that i like most are man united football matches.

how to blog

2008-01-28T20:09:00.000Z

If you want to talk to us just click where it says comment and a box will open you you to leave your message. It's as easy as that!

Alex' football blog

2008-01-17T16:48:00.002Z

Hi I'm Alex

I like Leicester city football club. I try to go to every Home match with my mum. We have got season tickets. Most of the time it's funny to go, but sometimes it's not because we lose. Sometimes my mum takes me to Lynn's café before the match to have burger and chips and sometimes my Dad comes too, so he can go running or go into Town.

Lynne's blog

2008-01-17T16:15:00.001Z

I lived in Coventry for 8 years and I lived with my sister for a year, things didn’t work out with my sister and I am living with a very good friend of mine. I went to college and became a chef.
I started to go to karaoke with friends and I became friends with a really nice man. In 2003 I became a member of Grapevine and my friend goes there too. Grapevine is a drop in centre for people with learning disabilities. Being a part of Grapevine has built my social life tremendously. There is a social club called Inside Out and we go to pubs and clubs etc. I was a member at Grapevine for 4 years and made a lot of friends there. I found out that there was a job going -which I got!
I will tell you all about my job next time.

DJ Hobbow

2008-01-17T14:40:00.002Z

Hi!
My name is DJ Hobbow. I am part media team and D:vine project. I like computer games and specially Xbox 360. I have been on the radio in Coventry I had my own radio show. My friend Darren from D:vine help me to set up the show. My dream is to have my own radio show one day.

rosie

2008-01-17T12:49:00.002Z

My name is Rosemary!
All my friends call me Rosie and I don’t mind.
I am member of the media team and I like the people there.
They all are my friends and we doing different and fun things every time.
I know more about the media now than before. I also like animals. I am animal lover. I love my dog Georgia. Sometimes she can be bit naughty. My friend James left the door open the dog chased a squirrel into the house. The squirrel hide behind the radiator. Georgia was barking like mad. My step dad put pair of gloves and rescued the squirrel. I can tell you a lot of stories about Georgia, but next time.

deeann media coverage

2008-01-17T10:58:00.001Z

Hi!
My name is Dee-Ann I am taking part in a media project at Grapevine. There is not only me in the group there are other 15 members willing to learn what the media is. We have already learnt quite a lot about different media and how to use media to present ourselves and our lives in the public. Some of the ways to contact each other are emails or blogs. They help you contact each other and say what days our meetings are and where they are held at. The best bit is sharing your stories and your thoughts with your friends. I could use photos to show what I have been doing and then put them under my stories. That’s all by now. Next time im going to tell you about my friends. Who are they? What are we doing in the Media project?

Chattervine

2008-01-04T10:54:00.000Z

This is a blog for people with learning disabilities to talk about their lives. You can talk about jobs, things that interest or make you cross. We want to hear if you think other people treat you with respect and what your life is really like.
If you want to have a rant about anything, that is OK. Please keep it polite and don't get personal about anyone. We want this blog to be somewhere that people can talk to each other respectfully. Sometimes people will have different ideas to you, that doesn't mean that they are wrong and you right. It just means we think about things in different ways, we think that is good.
We think it is OK to get someone to help you send us messages, and it doesn't matter if you only send a short message. We just want to hear from you.
This blog is run by 6 members of the Uncover Media Team. We are based at Grapevine, in Coventry. The project gets money from The Big Lottery Fund. We are trying to change the way the media- TV, radio, newspapers and the Internet shows people with learning disabilities. We want to get people to treat us with more respect.
Over the next few weeks we will tell you a bit about ourselves and what the project does. We don't see each other everyday so it might take a few days to get back to you. Please don't let that put you off.

chattervine

Christine's story on BBC1

Mothers with learning disabilities forced to have their children adopted

Join the chat about being different

Looking forward to using the flip cameras at Street Aware

Why Grapvine is doing Street Aware

street aware

Using computers and their sites

My Holiday in Greece

My move to Coventry and how my life is now!

now we are the news

solving problems

Learning Disability Week Bed Push Went really well

Learning Disability Week football match was a great success

more daily dust stories

learning disability media success stories

Game on

daily dust good news stories

videos about rights

WATS!

Disability week and welsh visitors

training journalists

Michael and Alan are snap happy

blogging with Birmingham People 1st

working with a press officer

More from Alan the photographer

Staying up late campaign

Health buddy training

Alan's photography blog

Edward's blog

I can be a loving mum if you give me a chance

Values Into Action Conference- Friday 13th march 2009

Promoting the National Lottery

Learning disability partnership board

blogging at curriers

Getting a job

experiment posting a video clip

Being an advocate

thanks to the team

Media team

Catch up

What the media group has done so far.

The new team

Recruitment Day

Recruitment day

Leading my first Media group

Louise's story

Positive images campaign

My Day At The BBC- Alex

Our day at the BBC

I have my own radio show now!

Judging the photo competition

photography competition

Lynne at the BEEB

zoes blog

Volunteer's blog space

Photographer Peter

Rosie say's Hi!

Suryabala Speaks

Happy Birthday to us!

photography competition

Adrian the Jokes

Jo's blog

David H's Joke blog

Leslie's blog

Sarah and her swimming

David's Blog

how to blog

We have some new team members

Want to keep up to date with our news?

are there enough people with learning disabilities on TV?

nicks blog

how to blog

Alex' football blog

Lynne's blog

DJ Hobbow

rosie

deeann media coverage

Chattervine