A Brief Overview

In previous years, we have drawn from popular culture as inspiration to help us frame our annual reports. We’ve been inspired by classic album covers, movie artwork and last year we took our creative lead from the wonderful world of literature. 

As we gathered together to discuss potential themes for this year’s report, there was no shortage of great ideas, but one in particular, suggested by our colleague Tom, stuck out more than the others. 

His idea was simple but brilliant: a C-Change menu. Not just any menu you’d find in your average restaurant, but a bespoke menu reflecting the lives of the people we work for, with ingredients that have been nurtured and selected with great care, combined with some non-negotiable core ingredients – staples really – that come in the form of our basic human rights as enshrined in Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

Every person that we work for has a bespoke service made up of a myriad of things they  enjoy doing much like the numerous but different ingredients that go into making every dish on a menu unique. These ingredients have been selected by the people we work for on their planning days and through ongoing communication to help shape what their best lives will look like for the following year. Their teams then work alongside these individuals to bring this to fruition: tweaking and seasoning as they go, to achieve the required ‘taste’. 

Article 19 essentially states that we are all entitled to live in a world where people are free to speak their opinions, to participate in decision-making and to make informed choices about their lives. In real terms, for the people we work for here at C-Change, this effectively means participating in recruitment –  choosing their team members where possible, living in their own homes and enjoying all the day to day activities that give our lives that rich sense of fun and meaning; including all the day to day activities (shopping, cleaning, paying bills) that we might not enjoy doing so much.  

For this to be possible, people everywhere must be able to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of information. 

As our CEO Sam Smith here at C-Change often reminds us, those core human rights are not the icing on the cake or the sprinkles on the ice cream – they are the non-negotiable ingredients.  

Each and every bespoke service at C-Change is framed around those rights/ingredients. 

We add whatever ingredients it takes to live a good life to make those signature dishes sing and zing. 

What was brilliant about Tom’s idea was that alongside the core ingredients from Article 19, each person we work for has the right to choose their own individual recipes, size of dish, ingredients that go into the meals that enable them to live their best, most fulfilling lives.  

They may add a dash of weekly gardening, a pinch of TV, a bit of music and the odd hill walking trip. You get the idea, they are of course the centre of their own support arrangements, free to change their minds at any time, “No pudding for me, today” or “I’m not enjoying the music class anymore”, “Sugar and salt aren’t good for my health.” 

Like all things in life, there’s the sweet and the sour, the accompaniments and the condiments each course tailored to, driven by and inspired by the people we work for.  

#BetterIsPossible