NEWS


Support for autistic children


Year-on-year the number of children with autistic spectrum disorder continues to rise. One independent local service, Halton Autistic Family Support Group (HAFS), in Runcorn, is meeting the challenge to address the resulting increasing need for support. At its recent AGM, write Ciaran Shanahan, development manager, and Mike Fry, HAFS chairman, members and supporters heard how over 100 families regularly use its services. Alongside daycare, activities, and group support, HAFS provides free advocacy in education tribunals and formal complaints systems, funded by its charity shop, fundraising activities, grants, and donations. Working with architect, Graham Lewis of


Northwest Design Associates, and advisor, Rob MacDonald of Liverpool John Moores University, HAFS has a ‘state-of-the-art design’ for its own


purpose-built Autism Centre of Excellence. With a site secured on land allocated by the Homes and Communities Agency at the entrance to the Hallwood Park Estate in Halton Lea, Runcorn, and commitment to work on community engagement with the local authority, funding is now needed to cover the building’s construction and commissioning. (HAFS has already itself raised £100,000). Having previously relied on shared community premises, as an interim solution HAFS has moved into its own high street rental, the HAFS Family Centre, with shopfront and backroom space. To remodel the space, HAFS called on its supporters and the community for help. The result is a user-friendly, flexible, and welcoming environment, with a real sense of ownership among its occupants. The shopfront serves as HAFS’ own charity shop, and provides visibility to raise awareness, counteract stigma, and encourage those needing its help. Inside, shelving provides partitioning and


storage, and delineates gradations of privacy – from open-plan to interview room. Every inch of space has been utilised; the kitchen donated and fitted by Howdens is configured to separate off an additional storage room. As a service, HAFS is controlled and run by


its members. The organisation’s website is at www.hafs.org.uk.


Chancellor announces £1.25 bn cash injection


A £1.25 bn ‘package’ of additional investment to boost mental healthcare services was unveiled in George Osborne’s 2015 Budget on 18 March. The HM Treasury Budget 2015 report,


which the Chancellor laid before Parliament on opening his Budget Speech, noted that ‘government is committed to parity of esteem between physical and mental health’, adding: “The NHS Mandate includes a commitment to closing the health gap between people with mental health problems and the population as a whole, and from April 2015 there will be new access and waiting times standards introduced for key mental health services.” The document continued: “The Autumn Statement 2014 committed £150 m over five years to caring for young people with eating disorders, and funding to expand pilots testing new ways to support those with mental health problems to return to work. To go further,


Budget 2015 announces a £1.25 bn package of additional investment.” Of this, over the next five years, more than


£1 bn will go towards implementing new access standards ‘which will see over 110,000 more children cared for over the next Parliament’. The government will also provide £118 m by 2018-19 to complete the roll-out of the Children and Young People’s Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies programme, ‘to ensure there are talking therapists in every part of the country providing the best quality treatment for children’. Other measures include an additional £75 m


‘to give the right care to more women who experience mental ill health during the perinatal or antenatal period’, and an extra £1.5 m in Department for Education funding towards piloting joint training for designated leads in CAMHS and schools to improve access to mental health services for children.


Robotic therapy cat’s aim to ‘enrich the daily lives of people with dementia’


JustoCat, just launched across European market, is a robotic therapy cat developed and scientifically evaluated in cooperation between robotics researchers and healthcare researchers at Sweden’s Mälardalen University designed principally for people with dementia and intellectual disabilities It has been developed and tested in consultation with patients/users and professional


6 THE NETWORK April 2015


caregivers in Swedish dementia care – ‘on the assumption that that many people have memories of spending time with cats’. JustoCat ‘breathes, purrs, and meows’. Its


‘fur’ is washable and removable. The developers say: “JustoCat can provide peace, be soothing, and be a tool for increased interaction and communication. Tests and research demonstrate positive results from patients, clients, and care-


givers.” “The goal of JustoCat is to enrich the daily lives of people with dementia; it can provide increased psychological, physical, and social wellbeing,” says Lars Asplund, the device’s creator. JustoCat is available both for sale and


leasing, via Robyn Robotics, run by the two innovators/researchers at Mälardalen University, Lars Asplund and Christine Gustafsson.


Building on UK success


Building on its UK success, window, door, curtain walling and fencing fabricator, Britplas is also undertaking several projects in Australia, ‘helping to build a world-class mental health support network’. The refurbishment of facilities such as


the Mental Health ward at Caboolture Hospital in Queensland required specialist fenestration to create a secure and pleasant environment. Focus has, however, not been in just one


overseas market; Britplas has been invited to participate in several projects around the globe, including some high-profile projects in North America, such as the Green Mountain Psychiatric Facility in Vermont. Products such as the company’s Safevent window had to pass the stringent American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) tests before installation there could be approved. The new facility replaces a hurricane-damaged predecessor. Britplas chairman, Kevin Gorman, said: “Expansion has been driven by incremental growth resulting from high levels of customer satisfaction and subsequent referrals; a typical example being the Australian market, with several projects originating from one job done well. The continued success has contributed to us having the capital to invest in increasing our product offering – with doors, curtain walling, and commercial fenestration, now available alongside existing products for a more complete fenestration package. All Britplas products seek to create a more pleasant, safe, therapeutic service-user environment.” To date Britplas has completed projects


in countries including the UK, Belgium, the US, the Netherlands, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland.


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