BuryILD, which stands for Bury Independent Living Development, is a supported living scheme that was established 25 years ago by family members with the active support of the local authority. It is a person centred and family focused organisation, providing support for men and women with learning disabilities in Bury, to help them live happy, fulfilled lives of their choosing. It is an independent non-profit making charity. Currently, we support 15 people but would like to support more. The formal objective of BuryILD is the positive enabling of people with learning disabilities, through the provision of an individual support service that allows them to lead valued and independent lifestyles within their own locality.
Our Mission Statement is 'Supporting adults with learning disabilities to live independently and enjoy fulfilled lives of their choosing'
In 2013, BuryILD merged with another local charity, 'Contact Community Care' (now our Contact Leisure Division - CLD), which was set up in 1985 in response to requests from people with learning disabilities, for more opportunities to meet up with friends and go out socially in the community. Remaining locally based in Bury, it operated continuously as an independent charity , until the merger with BuryILD in January 2013.
We work very hard to find out what impact our services have on the lives of the people we support and their families, addressing any issues identified proactively. We have separate forums for supported people, families and staff to meet and share views and ideas, and where feed-back to managers and Trustees is actively sought.
Overall, internal and external audits and evaluation show very positive outcomes. At our last formal CQC Inspection in 2018, we were rated as 'GOOD' in all areas - we would like to become 'OUTSTANDING'.
The person centred service BuryILD offers, can range from providing someone with complex needs 24 hour support / through to more targeted support for people who may have their own individual housing tenancies or are still living in the family home. The key is to support people in a person centred way that makes sense to them, building on their wishes and needs. We ensure that our staff are well trained and that their skills and personalities match the needs of our supported people, who are involved in staff recruitment and deployment along with family members.
We have regular coffee mornings, parties and social events. We celebrate being a small, happy, friendly family focused organisation, run by a small, effective staff management team, well supported by Trustees.
Through our Contact Leisure Division (CLD), we offer a range of leisure activities on a fortnightly basis, to a wider group of local adults with learning disabilities (75 in total); this can include people supported in their homes by our Independent Living Division (ILD). Fund raising forms a large part of our work in order to ensure that members can be supported to take part at a reasonable cost. Using volunteers as well as paid workers, the groups generally meet in the evenings in community locations across the Bury area, with activities being chosen by members themselves including cinema trips, 10pin bowling, pub nights, restaurants, day trips, weekends away and running an allotment.
