Month: October 2022

31st October 2022

Putting hope into action – Stefan’s story

A person we support and their support worker at a disco

Imagine you’re a young person with a zest for life. But you’re isolated and spend five days a week at home with family. You’re caught in a negative loop. No friends = no social confidence = no life for a young person. But then you meet a whole support team who see your potential.  At […]

Read more
27th October 2022

Faith, focus and funding – Faye’s supported employment story

How do you support someone into employment when it’s a struggle for them to leave the house? Faye (not her real name) is autistic, and the level of anxiety she experiences means she finds it difficult to go out of her home. So how was Paula Dowding, Supported Employment Officer at Discovery, going to support […]

Read more
26th October 2022

The first step of 10,000 – Charlotte’s weight loss story

Sometimes it only takes one step in the right direction for everything to fall into place, but how do you know what that first step should be? Meet Charlotte: Charlotte’s story demonstrates something we call active support – support that’s made up of small steps that result in big changes.  Charlotte has battled with her […]

Read more
21st October 2022

Eight award-winning ways to keep caring in a crisis

4 Colleagues with awards

What drives someone to keep on caring in a crisis? Jenni successfully led one of our homes through a Covid outbreak, at one point she was the only one left standing and in her first month too! So, is it any wonder that she is one of our finalists in this year’s Inspirational People Awards? […]

Read more
19th October 2022

Another inspiring win for Selwyn!

Selwyn group photo IPA awards

Have you ever been so inspired that you were lost for words? On the last evening of September 2022. Helen Orford, Managing Director of Discovery left colleagues speechless when recounting how a team went above the call of duty when a person’s support broke down. Just like Donna Smith, Discovery’s Referrals and Assessment manager says […]

Read more
7th October 2022

Need a small spark to work it out? Phil’s story

Two people sat on a sofa, one is on his phone the other looking over his shoulder at the phone

Are you an autistic adult or do you know someone with learning disabilities who has an idea that needs money to make it happen? If so, did you know you can apply for a Small Spark (part of our Community Fund) and receive a grant of up to £500 to make your little or big […]

Read more
5th October 2022

Six top Community Fund tips for a successful bid

A person we support clinking cups with a support worker at the kitchen table

The Community Fund is one of the three distinctive parts of Discovery that makes us unique (see the end of this article for the other two!). The Community Fund is special because, as a not-for-profit, we work with Somerset Community Foundation to reinvest 33% of any surplus profit back into organisations across the county. These […]

Read more
4th October 2022

Wellbeing makes all the difference – seven ways we support neurodiversity

A person we support drawing a plan with a pencil in his left hand

Approximately 15% of the global adult population are dyslexic, 10% are dyspraxic, 4.4% are ADHD, and 1-2% are autistic.   ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, and dyslexia all fall within the spectrum of neurodivergence. neurodivergence is not an affliction or something to be cured. Neurodivergence makes someone the person they are, neuro-differences make us unique. We know it […]

Read more