http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Shoreditch_Grandprix_for_Social_Enterprise_and_Charity

“Racing kids trikes around the streets of good ol’ London Town … Shoreditch to be precise, this is a race for real men and real women, who have hearts of gold and nerves of steal … kids trikes have been know to cause horrific knee scuffs. This is a race for social good. This race organised by UnLtd the foundation for social entrepreneurs …”

Support Richard Alan Cowling, the guy founding MESOMOCO CIC, the mental health social firm … a very social enterprise … by visiting his Shoreditch Grandprix fundraising page … at http://www.everyclick.com/richardcowling

Thank you!

Often, elderly people have little available funds to move out of a house that has become impractical (size, stairs etc). This is all very well if the person owns the house and can afford to move elsewhere but what happens if they don’t?

Many of these people want to live independently, without having to go into care. Council housing is often woefully inadequate and, if you believe the media, rife with gangs and knife crime - is this really somewhere an 80 year old should be expected to spend their last years?

I am wondering if such a scheme exists for affordable housing, specifically targeted at the elderly? Or if there is some kind of finacial aid available for those in these situations to be able to buy their own property. This is particuarly relevant if their family are unable to support them financially, for whatever reason.

I think some kind of local council intiative is needed to provide fit-for-purpose housing for the elderly. Something that isn’t a nursing home and allows them to live independently and with dignity.

In order to understand what the Next Practice programme entails, we would advise you to:

1)     Find out what the Innovation Exchange is about

2)     Find out what the opportunities for innovation are under the themes of excluded young people and independent living

3)     Follow the links to our work on excluded young people and independent living – this will update you on our work in the past 7 months  and give you a sense of what we are trying to do.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me - more than happy to help.Good luck!

One of our current projects is an environmental art initiative in partnership with British Waterways. We also have other projects supporting artists and orphan children in other countries.

If interested in being our partner under the theme of Independant Living or Excluded Young People, please email: jai.shalimar@cimpa.org.uk

Here’s the very brief presentation on our thoughts.

With that in mind, we have invited some users of services related to independent living, as well as a number of user-led organisations, to a conversation about the Innovation Exchange on 24th July. The conversation will focus on:
• The future plans of the Exchange
• A chance to meet and interrogate projects short-listed for our Next Practice programme on 9th September
• How user voice can drive the work of Innovation Exchange in the future

If you are a user of services related to independent living or work in user-led organisation, you would be very welcome to join in this conversation. For more information and to sign up simply click here.

Our blurb about our session is as follows:
Control of social care funding is shifting from professionals to the people they serve. So, if the person who cares for you needs a break and you prefer a trip to Benidorm rather than the local respite unit, the choice is yours. Trouble is, information about all the great supported short breaks available across the UK (let alone across the world) is hard to find. People want to be able to find out what is out there, how good it is and book it in just the same way as people book holidays – on line - but systems are non existent. Hear our thinking so far about a solution and contribute your technical knowledge to help us find where to go next.

It is hoped that NET.mesomoco.org.uk will enable people in the mental health space to connect, converse and collaborate – without the stigma associated worries about who’s ‘listening in’; it is also hoped that it will generate a positive affect amongst mental health sufferers.

The social network is strictly for people involved in mental health, including mental health service users, carers of mental distress sufferers, and those who have experience of mental health issues.

Members can use the network to:
 Privately Connect with others who share similar stories, experiences & goals
 Find resources & get support on mental health issues
 Engage in positive discussion around mental health with forums, blogs & community groups
 Search for information and collaborate in producing it, via a Mental Health Wiki
 Keep track of upcoming events like training courses, exhibitions, group meetings, seminars, and conferences

MESOMOCO CIC founder, Richard Cowling, set up NET.mesomoco.org.uk to address the needs of his fellow mental distress sufferers.

Richard believes that this new social network really will make a huge difference to the mental health community: “I’ve been through mental health problems myself, as a depression sufferer, … and a ‘loved one’ has been ‘sectioned’ under the Mental Health Act a number of times. We found that having knowledgeable support available to us from people who had experienced similar issues really helped us to get through those difficult times. Now, by launching NET.mesomoco.org.uk, I hope to use my social media & software engineering skills to help other mental distress sufferers find the information, support, and advice they need when coping with their mental health struggles.”

For more information on this new online ‘gated-community’, … this mental health social network, … go to http:/NET.mesomoc.org.uk

- Ends -

For more information:

Richard Alan Cowling MESOMOCO CIC
Email: Richard@mesomoco.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)7772 274 396

Ben Matthews Bright One Communications
Email: Ben@brightone.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)7842 764 205

Below is a clip of Cabinet Minister Ed Miliband’s thoughts on innovation.

See John Craig present a research report based on our research paper (Innovation for Independent Living) and surveys delegates completed before the festival. What were their responses to the field of innovation? What are the key emerging opportunity spaces in the field of independent living?

Participants were encouraged to share their insights with Ed Miliband - see below Sian Lockwood from NAAPS share her insight on innovation for independent living. If you want to find out what insights other participants shared please click here.

In the afternoon, participants were given the chance to host their own sessions on areas that they were passionate about and connected with their work place.

If you want to find out more about the kind of sessions that were hosted in the afternoon please click here. We would really like to know your thoughts on the event - is there anything we could have done better? Feel free to leave a comment below or get in contact with us.

The research highlights the key challenges to innovation for independent living and identifies the emerging opportunity spaces where unmet needs have yet to be supplied with great innovative ideas. To read the research paper follow this link - we would be really interested in knowing your thoughts and opinions.  If you have any suggestions on other pieces of research you think would be valuable to the work of the Exchange or have any comments please feel free to contact me. I look forward to reading your comments!