What a difference a year makes. In April 2012, the SURG members met for the first time, all of them excited but a little nervous and unsure about what to expect. 

One year on, they have had fun, formed friendships and grown in confidence. They have also learnt lots about Sense and feel that they are starting to see good changes in services.

Sue Dunnett explains the importance of SURG to her: “I feel that Sense needs us, especially deafblind, we could tell you, we’ve got experience, we could tell you what we wanted, what would need to be done, and… we help Sense to understand. So I really believe that SURG is going to be very strong”.

The group met up in March over two days in Birmingham. We started the first day with a luncheon and time for catching up on news.

The meeting got off to a great start with Chair, Bob Teague, welcoming everyone warmly and Alison Jameson and Clair Burton leading an ice-breaker, teaching us some BSL signs for foods and drinks. 

Peter Cheer (Group Director, Operations) and Alan Avis (Head of Engagement Strategy) then gave updates on the actions that had been taken since the last SURG meeting. These included actions on technology in residential services and ideas about having counselling and sheltered accommodation services for deafblind people.

The meeting ended with a good discussion about the future of SURG. We discussed how to find new members in the future and talked about new roles that the current members could play: for example, visiting groups and services to tell them about SURG; advocating on behalf of other people; being a vice chair; helping to set up a Facebook group.

After all the hard work, everyone was in the mood for a celebration! We had a wonderful dinner together which ended with a speech from Bob and the presentation of a birthday cake to mark the first anniversary of SURG. There was also a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ in song and signing.

The next morning, Alison and Clair once again led an ice-breaker, this time a game of bingo using the signs they had taught the day before. The SURG members then enjoyed an informative talk from the Sense Legal Team.

The meeting ended with a fun activity: designing a logo for SURG. The group members used an array of art equipment and techniques to create designs. They voted on which one they liked best: the winning design was by Samantha Browne.

Sean Bartlett sums up his feelings about this meeting and what SURG means to him:

“It gives you a chance to meet different people. When I’ve come today I’ve learnt a lot more about independence and the more I do it, the more independent I’ll become. We’ve all understood when it’s got to the serious bit where we’ve got to have a chat about each thing.. but I’ve always enjoyed the fun bit… that’s what I really love about it. I think SURG is a great thing and I hope it keeps going for many a year”.
 

For more information email Emma Mold (Projects and Engagement Officer) or telephone her on 0121 415 6748 or textphone 0121 415 2720.