HEAR US HEROES

Wednesday 4th June 2025

Notes from our last meeting: 

Attendance 👥
• 35 people attended 

Welcome & Introductions:
Victoria Braithwaite welcomed everyone. She gave a special welcome to:

• The new Mayor, Councillor Jackie Slater
• The Mayoress, Lillian Salton

The Mayor’s Talk 🧑‍⚖️
The Mayor Councillor Jackie Slater told us:

• She has been a councillor for 21 years
• She started in the Fernhurst  Ward and then Blackburn South and Lower Darwen Ward
• As Mayor she will represent the people of the Borough and raise money for charity
• She will go to lots of events this year as Mayor
• She is raising money for:
• East Lancashire Hospital (for people who need care for a long time)
• The Rotary Club and Alzheimer’s work

The Mayor and her Mayoress have been friends since school 

 

Hospital Passports 🏥
Beverley Ormerod from Neurodynamix CIC spoke about Hospital Passports 

• She showed us a passport made by Julie Clift from East Lancashire Hospital Trust
• Everyone wanted to know more
• Beverley said Hospital Passports are very important and encouraged everyone to have one
• She can help you fill one in – book a time slot with her

 

Co-Production Group 🧠
Victoria told us that Blackburn with Darwen Adult Social Care have set up a new group. They want people to have a say and help make decisions.

This group includes:

• People with lived experience
• Community and voluntary groups
• People from the council

This is called Co-Production – working together to make services better 

 

The Group’s Idea 💬

This is what the group said: 

We will work together to deliver our aim of 'Nothing about you without you'. To do this we will work with all our different and diverse communities in making decisions about support and serviced provided.

We Asked The Hear Us Heroes... ✅

We asked what everyone thought about the group’s idea. People said:

• It’s too wordy
• 'Nothing about you without you' is hard to understand
• Maybe say: 'Everything about you with you'
• What does 'diverse' mean?
• Needs simpler words
• It should be more meaningful
• It needs to feel like a slogan

 

Learning Disability Awareness Week

Monday 16th June to Sunday 22nd June 📅
The theme is 'Do you see me and hear me?'

Beverley Ormerod from Neurodynamix with the help of Ben Raynor will do art activities with:

• The Resolve Group
• The Monday Craft Group
• The Thursday Mindful Journaling Group

The art will be shown on the 1st floor of Blackburn Library.

 

Events

📍 Thursday 19th June – SEND Inclusion Day
🕚 11am to 2pm and 4pm to 7pm
📌 Grand Venue, 2 Harrison Street, Blackburn BB2 2JE

🎤 Friday 20th June – Singing Performance
⏰ Meet at 12:45 pm outside Blackburn Library
🚶 Walk to the Town Hall
🎶 Sing “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman
🎉 Celebration afterwards in Blackburn Library

We finished the meeting with fun, singing and dancing!

 

Important Reminders:

Meeting Day Change:
• Now held on the first Wednesday of each month

Start Time:
• Arrive at 10:45 AM for an 11:00 AM prompt start

Upcoming Meetings:

• Wednesday 2nd July
• Wednesday 6th August
• Wednesday 3rd September

Visit our Hear Us Heroes main page