Support
Support if you employ a Personal Assistant
We have a contract with an organisation that provides free support to enable you to manage your Direct Payments and we strongly advise that you use this service, Penderels Trust (Employment Support and Payroll Service) phone: 02476 937370.
Support if you do not employ a Personal Assistant
Please call the Independent Living Team (details found under 'contact us' on this page) and we will do our best to help you.
Peer support
Peer Support enables people to draw on their own experiences and offers great opportunities to meet with other people who have or want to find out more about Direct Payments. If you would like to talk to us about Peer Support groups, or require more information, please contact the Independent Living Team.
Workshops
We will be facilitating informative workshops across Warwickshire to equip people with the skills and knowledge to manage their direct payment successfully.
You can also meet other new direct payments recipients, members of our team, and ask any questions you have.
We highly recommend you come to a workshop: you can consider using some of your Direct Payment to cover the cost of attending.
What will the workshop cover?
- the customer journey – getting it right at the beginning, what works well and what can be improved
- monitoring and contribution – what monitoring are looking for, how to complete monitoring, best practice for keeping good records. What is a contribution and how to pay it.
- personal assistant (PA) good practice from Penderels – what you can do as an employer to minimise problems and improve employee’s performance
- what to look for in an agency
- an overview of what PA training is on offer by Skills for Care
- other ways of using your direct payment
- training available
Please tell us if you would like to meet with other Direct Payments customers or if you are interested in attending a workshop and we will forward details once available.
Using direct payments to come along to workshops
As we highly recommend you come to a workshop, you can consider using some of your direct payment to cover the cost of attending.
You may also be able to secure additional funding for training from Skills for Care - Support for Individulal Employers and PA's.
If you can’t attend a workshop
If you are unable to attend any of these workshops, we are happy to arrange something to suit you. We can also provide support over the phone or via email.
Training for your Personal Assistant
If you have a Personal Assistant, and they require training in something to support you, you can contact Skills for Care - Individual Employers. You may be able to secure funding for this.