Day Services Are Becoming Life Opportunities 

Bolton Cares is working with Bolton Council to modernise and improve the way we run day services across Bolton.

We believe that everyone who accesses Life Opportunities should have the opportunity to co-produce activities and spend their time meaningfully. Whether this is through shared hobbies, arts, outings, leisure activities, learning, fitness, friendships, socialising or employment.

Our aim is to support people’s independence and help them live enriched lives with positive links to their community.

The Big Conversation

The initiative to improve day services started with the ‘Big Conversation’ during October and November 2021. Over 300 people had their say on how services could be modernised and run in Bolton.

Two important actions came out of the Big Conversation.

• That our day services should be renamed Life Opportunities to reflect the scope and breadth of our plans and give it a more modern feel
• That collaborating with people to co-produce how services look and delivered is critical to our success.

Our exciting journey

In the image below you will see our journey so far. Our ambition is to work with people to develop and offer personalised support which is flexible and connects people with their communities. This thread will guide us through our exciting next steps and beyond.

There are three key strands to the improvements we are making:

• Opportunities for people with Learning Disabilities and / or Autism
• Opportunities for people in the community for people who would prefer to have access to community-based activities within their local neighbourhoods for some or all of their time.
• Opportunities for older adults and adults living with various stages of Dementia.

To take the project forward we have established a new Life Opportunities Team, who will drive change, and champion coproduction, best practice and opportunities to connect people better.

Working collaboratively, the team are out and about working alongside the people we support and their families, as well as our dedicated staff teams to make sure we are thinking creatively and listening to people’s new and exciting ideas to shape services for the future.

The team are currently:

• Setting up a governance framework for Life Opportunities services to ensure the project is workable and sustainable for decades to come.
• Looking at innovative and creative ways to bring to life the ideas and changes people wanted to see.
• Piloting a range of community-based activities and reflecting on feedback to guide next steps.
• Having conversations with the people we support and their families to find out what matters to people, what their aspirations are and what activities they would like to do, so that we can shape and personalise our services.
• Talking to our day services staff to gather information on what inspires them, the kind of hobbies and activities they like to do so we can match and theme our sessions and events.
• Developing a range of communication tools to keep the people we support and their families, as well as our key stakeholders up to date with what we are doing.

Our new Jubilee Community Centre

Our new community centre is at the heart of our Life Opportunities project. Take look at how its developing here New Jubilee Centre – Bolton Cares.

The new centre is being built on Crompton Way in Bolton and it will be completed by early Summer 2023.

As it enters its final stages of construction, we want to continue our conversations about what the new centre can offer to the people of Bolton.

The Jubilee Centre will be a fantastic community asset for everyone to enjoy and will house sensory and quiet rooms, rooms for arts and crafts, therapy, rebound sessions, garden space, a café and a separate hydrotherapy pool and changing area. It will be a place for socialising, learning new skills, personal development and community support.

If you would like to find out more about our Life Opportunities, have any questions or would like to get involved, please get in touch.