We had a second open day for The Q-Team on 28th January and had a fantastic turn out of people interested in joining the team. One of our newer (almost graduated) recruits co-presented this time, with some of the more seasoned Q-Team members, and did a really friendly and professional job. The team has grown hugely and continues to grow with people from Southdown Housing Association and from other organisations making up the crew. We are really excited that this will make for an ever more eclectic team that will be able to more meaningfully engage with

more and more of the people that we speak to. If you want to talk to us to find out how we help people to assess their services as well as recruiting, setting up and running a team of quality checkers, just come along to one of our courses. The next dates are 19th February and 17th March.

Another busy week for The Q-Team. Huge thanks to Andrew who co-presented with me on The Q-Kit training on 23rd January. It was a really great group with representatives from Mencap, Warwickshire County Council, Derbyshire Health Partnership and others. A lively discussion on how we can empower people to have more choice around the support that they receive and the life that they want. More training dates follow on 19th February and 17th March. Email a.grindley@southdownhousing.org for more info.

Fab training session this week with the new Q-Team recruits. This week we concentrated on working on The Q-Teams introductions when they visit a service and did some role play to hone our interview skills. The picture illustrates one of the less preferred interview styles! It was a good session and after some initial coyness people started to really enjoy themselves. Only a few weeks from graduation now!!

Hi I'm David and this is my third year on The Q-Team. I joined the team because I like to meet new people and go to lots of different places. Being on the team and seeing lots of different services has helped me to think about what I want in life and I like to give that back by helping others think about what they might want. When I'm not working with The Q-Team I like to work with computers and go for walks down the beach. I also like to go out for meals and a pint or two.

The Q-Team really enjoyed their visit to the service yesterday and found it really comfortable chatting to people over a bite to eat. Everyone seemed to relax and become more comfortable. Where at first they had seemed unwilling to chat, they moved on to competing to use the touchscreen Q-Kit and tell The Q-Team members about their experiences and things that had happened in their lives. It was great to see people sharing similar stories and talking about how they had dealt with things. It was also great to review services that the team had visited before with managers answering to The Q-Team on any actions following their visit. It was great to learn that they had all benefited from the visits and had been able to make a number of positive changes that the team had identified in their interactions with the tennants. Some great outcomes including a change in how people are involved in choices and a change to the way a communal space is used at a service.

The Q-Team are today meeting with managers from some of the services that the team visited 6+ months ago. The team want to talk to the managers about the action points The Q-Team raised in their report on behalf of the people that live at the services. The Q-Team represent an advocacy group holding staff accountable for the changes requested by the people that live at the service. We are hoping that action points have been embraced and that staff will be able to respond that the changes that the residents have requested have been made. We also have an evening visit to a service in West Sussex. It's another busy day for The Q-Team!

The Q-Team have been invited to Sydney to help our friends at ACL Disability Services to create their own Q-Team to be known as The A-Team. The team are proud and pleased to receive such a generous offer and for the support and faith in what we are trying to achieve. We would also like to extend our warm thanks for the lovely calendars that have been sent to us. We hope that we will be able to find a way of working with you in 2014.

Hi, my name is Stephen and I have been on The Q-Team since 6th September 2011. I enjoy going on visits and meeting people. I also get on well with my colleagues on The Q-Team and we have a lot of fun! I joined The Q-Team to make sure that people we visit are safe and sound and having the life that they want. We are not disabled people, we are people who have a learning disability. When I am not working on The Q-Team I like to relax by watching TV and cooking. I hope that all the stuff I learn from being on the team I can use to train others to help people to assess their service. I also enjoy the lunches!!

The Q-Team are back tomorrow with their first team meeting of 2014! A time to reflect on all that we have experienced and learnt in 2013 and consider any development and training that might benefit us. But also a time to share Christmas stories and have a good old catch up over a sandwich and a cup of tea! Happy New Year to everyone from the team!!