What is a 1Voice weekend like and what will I be doing? 

1Voice supports families and individuals building connections with others. Our focus is on creating opportunities for people to get together and have fun and to gain knowledge and support from those further along in their AAC journey. Although the activities for younger AAC users are designed to encourage communication skills, our purpose is not to conduct ‘therapy’.  

The weekend involves activities for AAC users and workshop sessions for parents. The activities will be organised around the Paralympic theme of the weekend. The young people will be involved in fun activities, which will be finalised nearer the time, once we know who will be attending the weekend.   

Siblings attending will be encouraged to join in with the activities with either their brother/sister, or if a different group is more appropriate for their age, they would be welcome to join that group. If we have a significant number of siblings, we will consider running separate activities.  

 The young people will be in a group with at least one role model and one volunteer.  

Some people like to request a volunteer or bring a PA to support the AAC users to access the activities. Other AAC users attend with their parents. Parents who will be supporting their young person in sessions and not accessing the parent workshops, pay a reduced price.    

Parallel parents’ sessions run alongside the activities. These tend to be informal discussions around the AAC journey and related topics. The sessions will be finalised nearer the time.  

Our Patron, Beth, will open the event on the Saturday morning by sharing her Paralympic journey. Over the weekend, 1Voice role models, and sometimes other AAC users, give talks about a range of subjects, sometimes relating to the theme of the weekend or talking about things they have achieved. 

While the weekends tend to be busy, we build in lots of time for people to just get together and chat. 

You can get an idea of what we get up to by watching these videos made at our most recent national weekends. 

2022 national weekend https://youtu.be/_8ngiy0E72g 

2019 national weekend https://youtu.be/7ygl3MnqTS4 

2018 national weekend https://youtu.be/D-BLYUoviAg 

What is the venue like? 

Treloar College is a specialised centre for physically disabled children and young people. There is level access and widened corridors throughout making the venue accessible to wheelchair users, including powered wheelchair users.   

There are several changing place toilets in the main building which will have use of during the weekend. 

What is the accommodation like? 

Treloar college is a specialised centre for physically disabled students and please be aware that the accommodation is relatively basic. 

All bedrooms have overhead tracking hoists. Profile beds are available in most rooms but please request a profile bed at the time of booking.  

Some rooms are ensuite and have tracking hoists in the bedroom/bathroom. Please request at the time of booking if you need this. Other rooms have shared bathrooms however, there is a high ratio of bathrooms to bedrooms.  

In a change to accommodation offered by the college in previous years, many of the rooms this year are multi-occupancy. These include additional pull-out beds in the rooms. If you can share with family members and/or PAs/carers that would helpful and would allow us to maximise the number of people who can attend the event this year.  

Unfortunately, the College is unable to supply us with shower chairs/trolleys as these are student specific and are not left in the rooms. Therefore, you will need to bring your own. However, we will try and have at least one shower trolley in each accommodation block for general use. 

Each accommodation block has use of a communal lounge area. 

Can you cater for dietary requirements? 

Treloar college can cater for individual dietary needs, if they have advanced notice. Please tell us about your dietary requirements at the time of booking.  

Although the food is more than adequate, please bear in mind that the venue is a specialist college and not a five-star restaurant.  

If you require access to a fridge, microwave and/or kettle, please let us know and we will do our best to arrange for these to be available in the communal lounges in the accommodation blocks. 

Will there be volunteers available to help me access the activities? 

Some people like to request a volunteer or bring a PA to support the AAC users to access the activities. Other AAC users attend with their parents. Parents who will be supporting their young person in sessions and not accessing the parent workshops, pay a reduced price.  

We are busy trying to recruit volunteers to support AAC users during the activities. If you would like to request a volunteer, please make it clear at the time of booking. Volunteers will be prioritised for new families and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Our volunteers cannot perform personal care or assist with feeding and drinking. There are plenty of breaks during the activities for PAs/carers/parents to help with this. 

Can I attend for just the day?

To ensure that we can offer a high quality of support for those attending, places are strictly limited. With this in mind, we are opening bookings to residential attendees first.  

We are continuing to recruit volunteers for the event. If we are successful in recruiting more volunteers, we will open the event to those who would like to attend for the Saturday only. 

This will be my first 1Voice national weekend. What can I expect?

Expect to meet AAC users of all ages and stages! 

Expect to meet others with shared experiences. 

Expect a relaxed, easy going and friendly atmosphere. 

We are aware that the event can be overwhelming for some. It may be the first time that you’ve met other AAC users. It may be the first time you have met adult AAC users who are living independent lives. You may be at the very beginning of your journey. 

To help with this we will do the following.  

We will host a new families’ online meeting in the run up to the event to give you an opportunity to ask questions and meet others who will be attending for the first time.  

We will host a new families’ welcome meeting on the Friday evening before dinner, which you may like to attend. Again, this will be an opportunity to meet other families who are attending their first national weekend.  

What is the timetable for the weekend? 

The timetable will not be finalised until nearer the time, as the individual activities will depend upon those who register to attend the weekend. However, as a guide, this is how the event has run in previous years. Please note, all timings at this stage are approximate.  

Friday   

• Arrive and register from 4pm 

• Time to settle in 

• 5pm - New members’ meeting 

• 6pm - Dinner 

• 7.30pm - Official welcome and informal ice-breaker activities 

 Saturday  

• Breakfast from 8am 

• 9.30am - opening presentation 

• 10am – activity sessions / parents’ workshops, with a break 

• 12.30pm lunch  

• 2pm – activity sessions / parents’ workshops, with a break 

• 4pm – free time / informal networking with other attendees 

• 6pm – dinner 

• 7.30pm - evening entertainment and raffle 

 Sunday   

• Breakfast from 8am 

• 9.45am - activity session / parents’ workshop, with a break 

• 11.15am - everyone together and a chance to share what they have been up to over the weekend 

• 12.30pm - lunch 

• 2pm – vacate rooms and leave 

1Voice events are very informal and you are welcome to drop-in or out of any of the activities.  

I would like help with the cost of attending the event. 

The trustees are keen to ensure that no one is excluded from the event due to cost alone and we would greatly encourage you to get in touch with us to find out how we may be able to help you attend the event. All conversations will remain confidential. Please get in touch with Jo at events@1voice.info.  

I would like to volunteer at the event, please tell me more. 

We would love to hear from you if you are interested in volunteering at the event. 1Voice relies on volunteers to make its events a success. As a volunteer, your accommodation and board are covered and we can assist with travel expenses, if agreed in advance. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Jo at events@1voice.info. 

The role typically involves working alongside trustees/volunteers to help support the young people to access the activities.  

Our volunteers do not undertake any personal care tasks nor are they able to give food and drink, so typically the young people attend with a parent, carer or personal assistant. Where they are attending solely with a parent or parents who want to attend the parents’ workshops then the role may involve working directly with a young person for the day/weekend and helping them with the activities and such tasks as navigating the campus.  

The final plans won't be finalised until nearer the time and we plan to hold a brief online meeting prior to the weekend for volunteers to get an idea of what will be involved. 

As a volunteer you will be required to have a 1Voice DBS. This will be arranged for you free of charge. There is also a short volunteering registration form for you to complete.  

We have volunteer spaces for the whole weekend or part of the weekend.  

If you would like to volunteer, please complete the weekend booking form so that we can reserve suitable accommodation, if required.  

The accommodation at the specialist residential college is relatively basic. Many of the rooms this year are multi-occupancy. These include additional pull-out beds in the rooms. If you can share with other volunteers this would helpful and would allow us to maximise the number of people who can attend the event this year. Please indicate your preference on the booking form.  

Cancellation Policy 

Your place(s) is secured upon receipt of payment in full. 

Please ensure you have insurance to cover the full amount in case you are unable to attend as we will still be charged for the place(s).  

Where a late cancellation is made, we will offer your place(s) to our waiting list and if successful, we will arrange a refund of the cost (less a £20 administration fee per group booking). 

A refund will only be made where we are successful in filling the place(s). 

To avoid cancellation charges, please cancel by 14 July. 

If we are unable to secure sufficient funding to run the event your place(s) will be refunded in full. 

Event Cancellation 

If we are unable to secure sufficient funding; or we don’t have enough numbers; or we don’t have enough volunteers to safely run the event, we will have to cancel the event. In the unlikely event that we will need to cancel the event, you will be notified by 2nd July.