Delivering Dosh Money Awareness Training
Blog written by Steve Raw, Managing Director of Dosh
Sitting in the car park of the venue for today’s Money Awareness Training waiting for the caretaker to arrive, I am thinking about who I will meet and how the workshop will pan out during the course of the day. It is the feeling of excitement I always experience and is similar to the one I had a couple of weeks ago when I arrived for the training I would be delivering with a colleague in the Scottish Borders.
Whilst this is not my main employment (I am/have been the Managing Director of Dosh* since 2009), it is something I love doing and I think I can speak on behalf of my co-presenters, when I say that they love it too.
Introduction to the workshop and why
Several years ago, a support provider for people with a learning disability experienced some difficulties around their support with money. They had received a warning notice from a regulator that they needed to remedy this situation urgently. My organisation (Dosh Ltd – Financial Advocacy at www.dosh.org) became part of the solution by delivering workshops across the country for their managers and leaders. This is something we quickly found we enjoyed and, from the feedback we received from delegates, were good at it too. Since then, we have been providing our training across England and Scotland. (Not yet in Wales or Northern Ireland, but never say never!)
What the workshop includes:
- Concepts and Values – the support options around money for people we support
- Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Best Interest Decisions
- Financial Safeguarding
- State Benefits Awareness
- Introduction to Banking and Banking options for people with a learning disability
- Budgeting, Money Planning, and the Dosh ‘Money Plan Game’
- And a Q & A about supporting people to be more independent and have more control over their money.
Each delegate receives a Money Awareness Workbook which includes information and resources.
Related. Dosh – Play the game featured in our workshop is an interactive a game which was specifically designed for people with a learning disability. Delegates also have an opportunity to play the paper version during our day together.
Delivering training to a team in Sutton in Cambridgeshire
Five things we can do:
- We can customise our workshop to fit the needs of your colleagues. Recently in Scotland an organisation wished to have a focus on Banking; in another part of the country, we were asked to include a presentation on ‘Safeguarding’.
- We make our training accessible for the people attending our workshops. Dosh delivers training to people with a learning disability, support teams, their managers, social workers, and finance teams
- We can deliver workshops anywhere in England, Scotland, and Wales
- Share our workshop presentation in a pdf after our training so that candidates do not need to worry about note taking during the session.
- We provide a follow-up service after the workshop.
What the day involves:
Chocolate! Yes, you read it correctly. We have an activity that you can actually eat and when your energy is beginning to sap, we come to the rescue with a liberal sharing of sweets.
We spend time getting to know our delegates, especially during the activities and the breaks. We find out what worries and challenges them and about supporting people with their money.
Working alongside our delegates as the workshop progresses.
We use a range of media and training methods including videos, film, power point, flip chart, paper exercises and Q & A sessions.
Five things that make us different?
- Financial Advocates who deliver the training also support people daily with their money and state benefits to bank, budget, and plan.
- I am a parent/carer for a woman with a learning disability who copes with autism, so I bring a family member’s perspective to the table.
- We share stories and experiences from our ‘day to day work’ to illustrate our presentations.
- We do not stick rigidly to our programme – if the class wants us to focus on a particular area during the day, we can adjust our programme.
- Our support and training do not end when the workshop finishes as we share our contact details with delegates so they can continue to request information and answer questions they may have thought of after the training.
Feedback from our recent workshops
“Very Informative” “Enjoyable, learning” “Nice and friendly speakers” “Friendly, nice speakers, learning enjoyable” “Enjoyable, easy to understand and interact” “It was spot on” “Very good well presented” “Enjoyable” “Enjoyed the day” “Good action points to take away” “Very good training session very informative” “Very informative and fun” “Valuable information and sweeties”
The best thing about today was: “Gaining more confidence around supporting people with their money” “I will, apply this to my work in the future”
If you would like to hear more about our training and would like to book a workshop, here are some of, out contact details
Information about our training: https://www.dosh.org/training-and-workshops-for-your-group-or-organisation/
email: Angela and Kerry [email protected]
email me: [email protected]
Note: * Dosh is a not-for-profit company, supporting adults with a learning disability to have more control and independence with their money, since 2007.