What the media group has done so far.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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