Home > Dragons' Den > A&C Dragons' Den - 6 October 2009

A&C Dragons' Den - 6 October 2009

The first Adults & Communities Dragons’ Den took place on the afternoon of 6 October 2009 at the Orange Studio in the City Centre. The dragons panel consisted of Councillor Sue Anderson, Peter Hay - Strategic Director, Steve Wise - Service Director (Transformation), and Jim McManus – Joint Director of Public Health / BEST Sponsor.

First to face the dragons were the Learning Disabilities team from Hockley Day Centre led by Tom Mullan. The team were looking for funding to install CCTV to protect the staff, service users and the centre from future break-ins. Over the last 6 years the day centre has needed to raise about £6,000 to replace items stolen and fix damage caused. The team hope the CCTV will not only act as a deterrent but, also offer some security for staff and service users returning from trips or events some of which take place in the evening. In addition to this the team currently run two very popular programmes for service users - Greenfingers and Aspirations, both have suffered from the recent burglaries. The dragons were happy to support this action and agreed the funding request.

The second team hoping to impress the dragons was the Younger Adults team at Tyburn Road Day Centre led by Les Baldwin. The team want to update the current Kitchenette which is for service users to practice and develop their pre-requisite skills before gaining employment; in its current state the Kitchenette is not fit for use. The team have looked into the idea of using other venues, but there is not a cost effective or suitable place available to them. The team bid for funding to install a new kitchen and a bit of a face lift to make it more user friendly. The dragons felt that the work could be done for a lower price and offered the team half of the money requested and asked them to return at the next Adults and Communities Dragons’ Den to discuss what else may be needed.

Braving the dragons before the break was Suzanne Bridges from the Communications and Information Team. Suzanne and the team were hoping to put together a paper directory of the most up to date contact information for the directorate. The A to Z guide would benefit anyone without internet access, including staff and would be circulated to all houses. She indicated that producing a new service directory will help raise awareness and promote all services within A&C. The dragons felt that while it was vital that this information be accessible to all, a paper directory should not be the main source of information as this does not fit into the Council’s sustainability priority and would become outdated very quickly. They wanted to work with Suzanne and team on different methods and also felt that funding would be available through the current Business Transformation programme.

The fourth team presenting to the Dragons were Gary Kettle and Paulette Cummings from Hodge Hill & Ladywood Older Adults. Gary & Paulette were looking for funding to implement the use of Citizens Band (CB) Radios with elderly, vulnerable or disabled people to act as a social forum. The radios would help reduce social isolation and help increase interaction in the community. The CB Radios work on a free longwave frequency, anyone on the same frequency can listen and interact. Whilst the dragons appreciated that social isolation was a problem with older adults, they also felt that the presentation was lacking in a full business plan. They also had serious concerns about the issue of safeguarding, as the radios would not be on a closed frequency and this left users vulnerable. The dragons were unable to support this idea but hoped that the team would take on board their feedback and hopefully return with a re-thought out approach.

Last in the front of the dragons was Patrick Mcdonough from the Visual Impairment team. Patrick wanted funding to purchase six CCTV machines which enable the user to read correspondence and other documents. The team want to place five machines in libraries across Birmingham for use by the public and the final machine in their office for their service users. There are five and a half thousand registered visually impaired people living in Birmingham some, if not all of these people have to rely on others to read private correspondence such as bank statements or bills. These machines would enable people to walk into a library and read their own correspondence, giving them more control over some aspects of their lives. This would give service users more self confidence and potentially prevent any problems that may incur if appointments or bills are missed. The dragons were very impressed with the amount of research and the level of detail contained in this presentation. They also felt that this fitted in very well with some of the seven key outcomes for adults including exercise of choice and control and personal dignity, they were more than happy to support this idea.

The next Adult and Communities Dragons’ Den will be held on the 28 January 2010. If you have an action or idea that could provide an effective efficiency saving or potential budget saving apply to Dragons’ Den. Closing date for applications will be 11th December 2009.

If you would like anymore information or an application form please contact Charlie Ody on 0121 675 0045 or email AC Best Support Team