This booklet is for the students who live in Beannachar or who come in every day to work here. In this booklet you will find information that you may need to know about life in Beannachar. It answers some of the questions that students have asked in our Students’ Evening.

Before you come to Beannachar you may have read the other booklet which is called ‘Handbook for new Students’. If you have not read this yet you can ask for your own copy to read before you read this one.

There is also a paper that you have to read and understand before you come to Beannachar. It is called ‘Terms and Conditions’. This paper lets you know what to expect when you come to live here and describes the things that will be expected of you. You may need somebody to explain this to you.

As you know we share our lives together in Beannachar as a community. Each person does what they can to help other people and to make sure that everything gets done.

We try to make sure that everybody who lives and works here is appreciated and respected.

Each person lives in one of the three house communities. However, during the day we all work in one of the workshops and we join in the various activity groups in the evenings and at the weekends.

We expect people to join in with all these things, yet we also encourage you to make choices about what you want do. In as many ways as possible we encourage you to take responsibility for your own life. But we also recognise that everybody is different and everybody needs a different amount of support.

Beannachar is a Training Centre. This means that you will be able to learn new things, try out different things and get the support you need as you become older.

Every month the co-worker who helps you writes a Monthly Record. This is a way of writing down all the things that have happened in the last month; things you have done, how you have been feeling; things that you could still learn to do.

The person who runs the workshops where you work also

writes a Work Report to say how you have been getting on.

Every year you will have a Review. A Review is your meeting to see how you are doing in Beannachar.

This is a very important meeting for you and it is a chance for you to really say how you think everything is going for you in Beannachar.

You will come to the Review along with your coworker and your House co-ordinator. Your Social Worker or Care Manager will have to be there and, if you want them to, your parents can also come.

At the Review a Personal Development Plan is made for you which lets everybody who works with you know the kind of person you are, the kind of support you need and also the things that people are going to help you to learn or do.

Part of the Personal Development Plan is called the Risk Assessment. This means that at your Review people have to decide what is safe for you to do and what is not, and how much protection you need for certain dangers.

All of this information is kept in your personal file. Only the people who are helping you will be allowed to read your file. You can ask your House Co-ordinator if you want to see anything in your file.

Some students have an Advocate. An Advocate is a person who helps you to say what you want to say. You can ask your advocate to come to your Review if you want to.

If there is anything wrong with you, you will be able to see one of the doctors at the Camphill Medical Practice. If you want to, you could choose a different doctor.

The doctor may also suggest you join in with one of the therapies if they think that this would be good for you. There are lots of different therapies; Speech Therapy, Painting Therapy, baths, massage, Physiotherapy and Eurythmy.

You will also be able to see the chiropodist (for looking after your feet) and the dentist when they come to Beannachar.

Usually we try and use homoeopathic medicines. This means medicines made from plants or other natural things. Sometimes you may need stronger medicines.

If you are on medication and have to take medicines every day your House Co-ordinator will make sure you always get these medicines.

Because you are living here, getting your food here and all the other things that you need, the government and your social work department pay some money to Beannachar for looking after you.

Some of this money is yours and only you can use it. It is called your Personal Allowance. This money is kept for you in your own bank account. When you need pocket money, clothes, holidays or to pay for concerts or things like that then this money is taken out of your bank account. Our administrator, Jackie, looks after your money for you and your House Co-ordinator makes sure that you have money in your cash box when you need it. When you leave Beannachar you take all your money with you.

If you can understand this and write your own name then you have to sign your finance sheet each time somebody takes out money from your cash box to make sure that it is being looked after properly, and only used for things that are for you. Some people will need more help, and two co-workers will sign the finance sheet for you.

We try to treat people with respect and dignity so that everybody can feel good about themselves and about being part of the community.

You will be expected to behave in this way but sometimes you may find this difficult. If you annoy other people or tease or bully other people we will try and help you not to do this. We will try to understand why you do this and help you to change your behaviour.

You may become cross or angry and start to break things or to hurt yourself or even hurt other people. If this happens then people will have to hold you until you stop. You might have to go somewhere quiet afterwards to cool down and later people will try to talk things through with you to see what went wrong.

Nobody will hit or hurt you on purpose. You will not be locked in a room and you will still always get your tea breaks or meals.

People will do their best to understand and support you. You will have to do your best to try and act in a more mature way, and to see what you can learn from these situations.

As a young person you will obviously want to have your own private life and also be able to make friends with other people. You will be able to do these things.

You might have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. This is fine. But sometimes you may get a bit confused or even upset about your relationships.

If we think that you need some advice or support about this we will try to talk about these things with you or suggest you talk to somebody else who can give you some advice.

You should never make somebody do something that they do not want to do and nobody should make you do anything that you do not want to do. If you do something that is not right, like touch somebody or try to kiss somebody who does not want you to, we will help you see that this is wrong. If somebody does something to you which you feel is not right, you should tell your co-worker or House Co-ordinator straight away.

It is important that you feel safe, but also that you can have friendships and spend some time together with your friends.

But it may happen that something happens to you that you do not think is fair. Or there may be something or somebody you are unhappy about.

If this happens to you, you can speak to your co-worker and see if they can help. Or you can talk to your House Co-ordinator about what is upsetting you, or your parents.

If you feel that they cannot help you, you can ask your House Co-ordinator to contact your social worker or care manager – or advocate if you have one.

If you still feel that nobody is taking notice of what you are saying then you can ask your House Co-ordinator to help you to write to the Chairman of the Beannachar Management Council.

You could also speak to the Inspector of the care Commission when they visit for an Inspection. This is the person who comes twice a year to Beannachar to check that everything is being done properly. They will also listen to you and try and help you with your problem. You could also write or phone directly to the Care Commission.

The phone numbers of these people who could help you are at the back of this booklet.

But if people get too busy or lose their temper or try to do things too quickly or just behave in a silly way then accidents can happen.

So the best way to make sure that nothing goes wrong is to think about our behaviour and the way we do things.

We will also try to find out how the accident happened and then do our best to make sure that it cannot happen again.

Each student has a Risk Assessment as part of your Personal Development Plan. This means that everybody who knows you well and is involved in looking after you have agreed what protection you need to protect you against accidents and what risks it is safe for you to take.

If there is a fire in the house or workshop that you are in you will either be told to go outside or you will hear the alarm bells ringing.

Make sure you go outside straight away. Don’t run and don’t panic. The co-workers and the House Co-ordinators will make sure that you are safe.

Now and again there are Fire Drills. This means that the alarms will be made to ring on purpose so that people have a chance to practise what to do in case there is a real fire.

You should pay attention during these Fire Drills so that you will always know what to do and where to go.

Never play with matches or lighters, the gas cookers or candles in case you start a fire by mistake.

Beannachar has a booklet called Health and Safety, which explains how you can avoid accidents by being careful. You could ask somebody to explain this book to you or you could read it yourself.

Most students need to have a co-worker with them. You must pay attention to what the co-worker says and keep together so that you do not get separated from your co-worker.

You should always have a Beannachar address card in your pocket or your bag when you are in town so that people can help you get back to Beannachar if you do get lost by mistake.

Your co-worker will also have a card so that they can phone

Beannachar for help to find you. We might also phone the police to look for you if we cannot find you straight away.

If you do get separated from other people you must stand still where people can easily see you. You should not walk around looking for the other people again, as this might make it more difficult to find you.

Stay calm, don’t start to panic. As long as you stay still it will be easier for your co-worker to find you again.

If you get very worried you could ask people who work in a shop to help you or if you see a policeman you could ask him for help. But don’t talk to strangers – only to people you think can help you by sending a message to Beannachar.

The best thing is to pay attention and stay together so that you do not get lost in the first place.

When you have been in Beannachar for some years you may feel that it is time to move on to a new place. Or the people who know you best may feel that it would be good to make a new start somewhere else.

It can be difficult to find the right place and so at your Review people will need to start making plans for where you could go.

You might be able to visit a few different places and go for a trial visit for a week or two.

Your social worker and House Co-ordinator will help you with all of this.

You can also join the Independent Skills Course that helps students to learn how to cope better by themselves, especially in town.

Hopefully all you have learnt in your years here will help you to manage this next step in your life successfully.

Some of the students in Beannachar interviewed former students who have now moved on - you can view Douglas' interview here, and Kevin's interview here.

is George Wilson.

His address is

20 Balmoral Place

Aberdeen AB1 6HR

His phone number is 01224 587017

You can contact the Care Commission at:

The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care,

Compass House

11 Riverside Drive

Dundee DD1 4NY

Tel: 01382 207100

Website: www.carecommission.com

Beannachar Camphill Community,

South Deeside Road,

Banchory-Devenick,

Aberdeen, AB12 5YL

Tel and fax: 01224 869250

You can speak to Jackie about money and accounts.

Rose - 01224 869138

Silver Birch - 01224 861825

Sycamore - 01224 868605