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Wednesday 14 March 2012

Sorting Priorities..Full Of Life...Looking After Our Vulnerable in K&C

Last night the Dame watched, with great interest, a programme about children and young adults with the severest of physical disabilities and those who had suffered brain damage in their earliest of years.
The programme was presented by Rosa Monckton, wife of Dominic Lawson. She did a superb job interviewing families who were 'resource poor' in looking after their children. What was particularly moving was a  set of elder parents frightened at  maybe not being around in their child's later years.
Rosa Monckton felt particular empathy as their daughter suffers from Down's Syndrome. What impressed the Dame was the impact charities such as chickenshed can have in exploiting the latent talents that ALL young people have. The excitement Domenica, the Lawson's daughter, expressed learning she had been accepted by chickenshed was a joy to watch.

Domenica going to chickenshed
The Dame is not making a political point BUT every time we see a piece of exorbitant expenditure, like Exhibitionist Road, Holland Park Opera or a new Mayoral Bentley, we need ask ourselves....is this a priority that should take precedence over the betterment of the lives of our children?

Most of the time the answer will be no.
These are the questions that our councillors need set themselves when being bullied into  'folies des grandeur' by Sir Merrick Cockell and Daniel Moylan.

Much of Monckton's programme focused on the lack of financial resources. It is the correct allocation of those resources that is the mark of a properly functioning and civilised society.

Just now someone has made a valuable comment. The Dame stupidly  overlooked our own Full of Life: It does a terrific job.

The comment....


Rosa Monckton did a wonderful job last night of reminding society that it will be judged by how it treats its vulnerable. Chickenshed do a great job raising young peoples expectations of themselves.
But it is when disabled children become adults societies attitudes towards them changes.


They are more vulnerable as adults than when they were children, parents end up being too frightened to die, because the system which is meant to support them works for itself. This is the shameful reflection we must look at.


Kensington and Chelsea has Full of Life which raises families expectations, lobbies for change and provides expert care to some of THE most vulnerable of our residents and in turn their parents.


To see their staff at work is an extraordinary thing and their summer shows even more so. Its time this Borough celebrated the work that local organisations such as this do on their behalf.


But local papers say their building is at risk? Its time someone rallied round this organisation to actually help them.

14 March 2012 21:35

18 comments:

  1. Dear Dame, this brought tears to my eyes.

    You have possibly never been so right; you speak for all decent people in the borough, of whatever political persuasion.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Council is the biggest landowner in the Borough.

    Time to offload some of this huge wealth and put the money to good use. A good starting point would be the Cremorne Wharf site on the River Thames, next to Chelsea Harbor.

    The area is "hot" for development and a well known Chinese property developer has put together a huge development site that spans K&C and Hammersmith

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well said Dame. Other boroughs find the funds to assist the poor and afflicted; but not RBKC. Many of our councillors openly despise residents, unless they are mega-rich.

    The day will come when K & C residents at all income levels refuse to sanction the scandalous misuse of public funds for which RBKC is notorious. Even here, residents will eventually vote for AN Other.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Without being snobbish it is time the gents on the council did something about the vulgar and commeon spending of the likes of Cockell and Moylan.
    The gents have allowed the upstarts like these two common tykes to run things. Come on Buckmaster, Coleridge etc get on with it. Oust the Oiks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rosa Monckton did a wonderful job last night of reminding society that it will be judged by how it treats its vulnerable. Chickenshed do a great job raising young peoples expectations of themselves.

    But it is when disabled children become adults societies attitudes towards them changes.

    They are more vulnerable as adults than when they were children, parents end up being too frightened to die, because the system which is meant to support them works for itself. This is the shameful reflection we must look at.

    Kensington and Chelsea has Full of Life which raises families expectations, lobbies for change and provides expert care to some of THE most vulnerable of our residents and in turn their parents.

    To see their staff at work is an extraordinary thing and their summer shows even more so. Its time this Borough celebrated the work that local organisations such as this do on their behalf.

    But local papers say their building is at risk? Its time someone rallied round this organisation to actually help them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cllr Judith Blakeman15 March 2012 at 06:46

    This is the most important issue that the Dame has raised in a very long time. The points made by Anonymous 21.35 are very serious and deserve proper attention.

    S/he is right to say that the problems really become apparent when people with learning difficulties or learning disabilities become adult. At that point they become the formal responsibility of the local authority and their parents and guardians no longer have any rights or say in their care. The parents may then be treated by the local authority and the health care providers as irrelevant nuisances who have no right to interfere in the care that their children get. One mother told me that, when her child reached adulthood, the key worker told her with great glee "there is nothing you can do now, she is ours!" - yet whenever the system breaks down, which happens frequently, the local authority then calls on the parents to step in. I have asked Cllr. Robert Freeman to look at this in the scrutiny sub group that he is chairing into the role and needs of carers across the borough and I hope he will accept this challenge.

    The cuts made to services for adults with learning difficulties - particularly those with "less severe needs" in this year's Tory budget are the most savage and far reaching I have ever seen to a service that purports to serve the most vulnerable residents in our community. I am deeply saddened that no one took the opportunity to find out what their effect will be before members of the Council voted to endorse such shameful cuts. The displacement and possible closure of Full of Life is only the tip of a very nasty iceberg.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cllr Blakeman has her finger on the pulse.

    It is a shame that the Leadership is not connected up too. But Cockell is too busy feathering his own nest and has no time or inclination to attend to his responsibilities.

    And Conservative councillors compound the evil by not getting rid of the rodent

    ReplyDelete
  8. Why does Cllr Buckmaster, Chairman of K&C Conservatives, sit back and let the boat continue to drift?

    Is his life so shallow that all he wants is to be Mayor again so that he can dressed up? Something that he loves to do

    ReplyDelete
  9. Full of Life has been quietly going about some truly marvellous work with the most vulnerable in our society. They are a true example of how "big society" can work and this is what this government is supposed to be all about! RBKC must sustain this valuable service.

    ReplyDelete
  10. WASP says we should sell off Cremorne Wharf to fund more support for these very vulnerable residents.

    No need WASP, the Council plans for massive underspends every year that are then capitalised, often for vanity projects.

    Senior Tories may shout loud and long about the sums about to be spent on North Ken Academy - shockingly overdue - or Holland Park School - shockingly overspent - but even with these projects there are funds to spare for anything they want.

    Put more simply, they have a choice, and have made their choice.

    And that is shameful.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nothing will change unless and until residents directly address the issues at the ballot box.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Some may recall a report stating that K & C is the worst place to die in London, England or even the entire UK. Almost no services exist for the end of life.

    The wealthy don't need such services. There is a 13 year difference in life expectancy between the wealthy south of K & C and the poor north. Smoking etc partly accounts for this, but doubtless programmes to discourage smoking are restricted on financial grounds. The longer the 'poor' live, the more they cost our delightful Council. Public funds are to be spent on Tin Elephants & Opera.

    ReplyDelete
  13. 15/4 09:30
    You are so right.

    The only way change can happen is if two or more of the useless scrotes in the Town Hall lose their seats.

    Its the only way to get them to wake up and smell the cheesecake.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Full of Life look after the most complex children and their programmes save the council money. My child attends Full of Life and without them our family life old be hell. I cannot understand why this stupid council still want to close them down. They are the only voice for the most vulnerable, they helped me and my family when we could not get any support they are not afraid to fight the council.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lord above, what is going on here..I have seen the young people which Full of life support, and they must be The most vulnerable people we have in this Borough. I am happy to see at least two of our distinguished Councillors are supporting this Charity, but I do have to question 'what about the others', oh I forget they must be having Tea!!!!
    God bless the Dame for bringing this urgent matter to our attention.

    ReplyDelete
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