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LoveLife 2
Start date: Sep 1, 2016, End date: Aug 31, 2019 PROJECT  FINISHED 

'LoveLife' is highly innovative. It will directly benefit 48 people, 24 of whom will have a learning disability and indirectly benefit a minimum of 1440 people. It will develop a vocational Training Course for staff of service-providing organisations in collaboration with people with a learning disability that will also be of immediate benefit to family carers and will as part of the project legacy, be adapted to serve as a training course for people with a learning disability. The outcome we seek is to raise awareness amongst staff of service providers, family carers and people with a learning disability themselves of their rights and needs concerning personal relationships and sexuality, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The topic of personal relationships and sexuality is often still considered as a taboo by professionals and families of people with a learning disability. This situation urgently needs to be addressed via coherent training and sensitisation activities so that the competencies of staff working in the disability sector and family carers can be enhanced, their confidence in dealing with matters can grow, with the ultimate goal of improving the well-being of people with a learning disability. The project partners will seek to secure appropriate accreditation for the Training Course in their respective countries. 'LoveLife' uses an innovative approach focusing on a recognition that people with a learning disability are experts of experience, and training them as co-trainers with non-disabled colleagues to deliver this training course. 6 of the project partners (not EASPD) have played a direct role in trying to support people with a learning disability to address issues arising from relationships and sexuality. Aside from our university partner, Pädagogische Hochschule Salzburg,this activity has been of an informal, unaccredited nature and partners have to some extent been working in an isolated way in their countries. This is because since it is a difficult, sensitive topic, many organisations and family carers feel daunted and give priority to tackling other,less challenging areas. Partners to collaborate with within countries have therefore been hard to find.With an extensive Research Report (IO1), aimed at better understanding the needs of people with a learning disability and the barriers to healthy personal relationships and sexuality in their social and family environments, the partners of the 'LoveLife' project will create a comprehensive toolbox (IO2) and Glossary (IO3) that will be essential elements in development of a Training Course, but will also be a stand alone freely available resource to professionals and other stakeholders interested in this area. The development of a Curriculum (IO4) and a Training Manual (IO5) to include pedagogical methods and tools, will provide the framework for 2 intensive 'Train the Trainer' courses (C1 & C2). The courses, for a total of 48 direct beneficiaries as participants (24 of whom will have a learning disability) will give them the confidence, knowledge and skills they need to deliver the Training Course as part of the legacy of the project. The courses will be highly interactive, participative and practical. The 4 trained teams from each country who have participated in the 'Train the Trainer' courses will then disseminate information about all the Intellectual Outputs of the project at Multiplier Dissemination events. (E1-12). Two events with 20 participants each will take place per country. The second 'Train the Trainer' event and the final Training Manual will be informed by a Review (IO7)The Research report, the Training Manual and other tools will be made available without charge to the learning disability service sector and to advocacy organisations through the blog and partner websites. The training of people with a learning disability to act as experts of experience and staff of service-providing organisations as a team will increase and become a more formal part of the annual training programme of the partner organisations as a further legacy of the project.Learning from the research and training activities undertaken by the project will inform the creation of policy recommendations and guidelines. (IO8).These will draw attention to the rights and needs of people with a learning disability to benefit from confident and knowledgeable advice. A new vocational Training Course will be an important step in achieving these competencies. These recommendations will be disseminated amongst policy makers and other stakeholders at the local, regional, national and European government level. Other Intellectual Outputs developed by the project will include tools and activities to sensitise audiences to the rights and needs of people with a learning disability concerning personal relationships and sexuality: the DVD (IO2), a blog (IO6) and the Multiplier events in the partner countries.

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