I would like to extend a very warm thanks to the following participants from the project.
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation provided many best practice materials on their website and Vivien Cooper OBE who set up the Challenging Behaviour Foundation and was awarded an OBE for her work in the United Kingdom. They introduced me to Andy Fenwick as a trainer for the Ukraine training.
The British Institute of Learning Disabilities, who I met with before my trip to Kiev, provided me a free copy of their edition of the Journal of Positive Behavioural Support.
Dr Ashok Roy OBE, who was Chairman of the Board of Learning Disabilities at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, during the most intensive period of the project, was an outstanding contributor to the project. He freely gave his time for the conference calls and provided moral support over the years. As a trustee of the British Institute of Learning Disabilities, he met with me at the BILD headquarters in Birmingham before my trip to Ukraine. Without him, the conference calls with specialists and charities from former Soviet Union countries would never have happened.
Andy Fenwick, after making the trip to Ukraine for the first time, kindly spent his time with me afterwards putting together the test.
Hanna Hopko (former Ukrainian MP) introduced me to Marianna Onyfryk at Institute for Social & Economic Studies (ISES) who provided us with the venue in the centre of Kiev for the working groups and the training.
Raisa Kravchenko and her team at the. All-Ukrainian Public Association “National Assembly of Persons with Disabilities of Ukraine”. They provided a great amount of support for the project, both at the stage of the conference calls, getting the NGOs to attend the working groups and the trainings and organized a follow up best practice training on Positive Behavioural Support on May 17. Without her, the project would never have had its momentum in Ukraine.
Professor Levochkina from Taras Shevchenko university was a great moral support and invited me to talk about my project at the university.
Natalya Sidorenko from the work rehabilitation centre, who introduced me to the centre from which volunteers came to participate in the working groups.
Natalia Stenko provided great support for the working groups.
Evgeniya Panichevskaya, Chairwoman of the Association of Parents of Children with Autism, did a great amount getting the working groups together and getting people together for the Positive Behavioural Support trainings.
Larysa Samsonova from the NGO for disabled individuals “Rodina”, who tried to help me to organize a pilot project in Kiev and showed me one of the institutions.
I would also like to thank all those who gave up their time to attend the conference calls, working groups and meetings.
A special thanks especially to Liubov Mikolaivna, Andy Fenwick and Vivien Cooper OBE.
David Powell
Director
SDVI LTD (for good organisation - if you are interested in sitting on the board, please contact David contact.sdvi.su@gmail.com)