SKILL Project
Strengthening Knowledge Ideas Links Leadership
SKILL is an exciting new individual capacity building project made up of workshops, peer networks and leadership development. SKILL stands for Strengthening Knowledge, Ideas, Links and Leadership. The project is funded through a 3-year grant to JFA Purple Orange from the NDIA’s Information Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) program.
Watch the video below to find out more about SKILL.
Check out more videos from JFA Purple Orange.
Who are the Workshops for?
These free workshops are for people living with disability, family members and their supporters. The workshops have been co-designed by people living with disability for people living with disability, and they are also being presented by people with lived experience of disability.
How will SKILL be delivered?
A series of capacity releasing workshops will be run across a range of metropolitan Adelaide and regional South Australia and Far Western NSW locations. Peer networks and support groups will develop from the workshops, and then leadership development opportunities for emerging Peer Leaders .
The new SKILL website also offers people an opportunity to complete workshop topics online at their own pace.
SKILL Peer Support Groups and Networks
SKILL now has Country Connectors running Peer Networks in Berri, Mount Gambier, Nuriootpa, Strathalbyn, Kadina, Kangaroo Island and Whyalla.
Get in touch with Andrew Gibson on andrewg@purpleorange.org.au or 0413 854 863 to find out who your local SKILL Connector is.
SKILL is not just a series of workshops. Peer networks and support groups will develop from the workshops, and then leadership development opportunities for emerging Peer Leaders.
We want to continue the discussions and connections that we make during each series of workshops and continue to share the information, knowledge and experiences that we each have. Topics and themes to explore and discuss are identified during each series of workshops, and these can be a starting point for conversations.
Following on from the workshops we will stay in touch to keep the conversations and connections going. These catch-ups could be different in each local area, to find out and discover what works and what is the best way to connect. They could be:
- Local informal meetings
- Online in the SKILL Facebook group or via Zoom or FaceTime or Google chat etc. so we can make and develop connections and share
- Local meetings and groups
Check out some of the other resources about Peer Support Groups and Networks elsewhere on the Peer Connect site:
Click here to learn more about what peer networks talk about.
Click here to read peer network stories.
Click here to find a peer network.
What are the workshop topics?
Build your vision
Explores ways to build your own best life, inviting you to take charge, identify and make your own choices and decisions in life. You can connect with other people, access the information you need, and look at things that are important to you.
Make your plan
Looks at ways to set goals and plans to achieve your best life, how to communicate this to the right people. This workshop will give you strategies to identify goals and set your own adventure, and also equip you with skills to navigate systems and develop your self-advocacy skills.
Manage your supports
Explains how to utilise your supports to build your best life, and ensure you get what you need when you need it. We will look at self-direction and how to self-manage under the NDIS system.
Safeguard your success
Looks at the important concepts of safeguards and safety, dignity of risk, strategies for raising concerns and the importance of connections with other people.
Feeling at home
Explores the meaning of home and the various options for bringing a vision of your own home to life.
Connect with your community
Explores the various ways and means of connecting with community and expanding your networks and involvement. It will also look at the benefits of Peer Networks.
Current Workshop Series
Disability Awareness Workshops
These workshops will unpack barriers to social inclusion, cultural beliefs, and practices about disability from a CALD perspective.
Dates to be announced. Check back for updates.
What are the benefits of the SKILL Workshops?
These in-depth workshops will provide you with the ideas, skills, knowledge, connections and support to design and lead the life you choose. Each workshop covers specific topics and areas, and people can register and attend as few or as many as they would like too. To achieve the best outcomes, we recommend people attend all six workshops.
Check out more videos from JFA Purple Orange.
Why should you come to a SKILL workshop?
Our workshop attendees from Nuriootpa share the benefits and learnings that they have gained from the workshop series.
Check out more videos from JFA Purple Orange.
Check out some of the other resources about Peer Support Groups and Networks elsewhere on the Peer Connect site:
Click here to learn more about what peer networks talk about.