Skip to content
menu
Show search
  • Home
  • Brookfield – Great Glen
A banner made up of five images. A woman with down's syndrome holding up a drawing of a building next to two others displayed on the wall. Two women stood looking out over a garden. Brookfield Great Glen residents smiling and raising their arms. A man holding up a decorated fan. A man holding up a sunset painting.

Brookfield – Great Glen

It’s so nice to see so many residents and staff on board with the project. It’s got off to a great start, and how brilliant to have many different Leicestershire County Council departments and other organisations collaborating to set up something new for people with learning disabilities in these crazy times.

‐ Jackie Goodrick, Leicestershire County Council, Community Enablement Worker

Thank you for this project– it offers something meaningful and different for people to engage with at this quite restrictive COVID time.

‐ Alison Barwick, Independent Living Accommodation Manager

I have really enjoyed delivering weekly wellbeing/connections sessions with the tenants and have loved getting to know them over the weeks. In the current climate they have overcome many challenges and is great to see them interacting and having fun each week. Portia has organised the event really well and has worked hard to ensure everyone is involved. Each week Portia and I reflect on the session and plan for the session the following week, I have greatly enjoyed working with Portia and being part of the creativity behind the project.

‐ Emma Brown, Rural Community Council, Partner

I enjoyed exploring the heritage of Great Glen, researching the Battle of Naseby and visiting Great Glen Library.

‐ Marcus, Brookfield Resident

I had a great time at the 1620s House and Gardens and enjoyed doing the artwork.

‐ Tara, Brookfield Resident

The trips helped me to make new friends.

‐ Richard, Brookfield Resident

It has helped me to learn more about the village.

‐ Karl, Brookfield Resident

A unique wellbeing project for adults with disabilities and/or autism who live at LCC’s Great Glen Independent Living accommodation. Our plan was to increase participants’ sense of belonging and connection with their local community and its heritage through a diverse range of cultural activities.

Engagement began at the end of 2020 with outdoor sessions over socially distanced hot drinks which our partners Rural Community Council (RCC) provided from their coffee van. As we moved into lockdown, RCC supported the delivery of online sessions, with residents participating in a range of activities, from 5 ways to wellbeing and weekly quizzes.

In April 2021, in partnership with Leicestershire Adult Learning Service, the residents participated in a cultural art project which started virtually and moved to the heart of the village as lockdown restrictions eased. The residents enjoyed exploring the village and produced some wonderful water paintings of local buildings. They were enthusiastic to engage further and learn more about the local history of Great Glen and the surrounding area.

This holistic project has had many far-reaching outcomes which include:

A wellbeing leaflet co-produced by the residents which was launched at a library community event.

A leaflet page detailing five interesting facts by the residents of Brookfield and how we stay well, happy and connected in great glen. Page is adorned with images and drawings.

A leaflet page featuring speech bubbles about why great glen is a great place to live. There is also an illustrated map which points out areas of interest in great glen.

Volunteering opportunities at Great Glen Library and peer mentoring opportunities to support new residents.

A volunteer reading a picture book to a child in a library
Two residents holding up pieces of paper with speech bubbles that they've filled in
Two residents chatting on a sofa. One of them is taking notes.

Brookfield residents are now supporting the development of an autism ‘toolkit’ for Leicestershire Libraries so that more libraries are better placed to support visitors with learning disabilities and/or autism.

It is an absolute pleasure working with these amazing individuals, they are very proud of their achievements so far and we’re extremely proud of them too!

We would like to thank all our partners for assisting with this co-produced project; Leicestershire Adult Social Care, Brookfield Creative Support Team, Rural Community Council, Leicestershire Adult Learning Service and Great Glen Community Managed Library.