Training

Though we are rooted in Yorkshire, we want to see learning-disabled people all over the world have access to creative and inclusive lifelong learning opportunities. Purple Patch Training will give you the skills to use the Purple Patch Approach in your work, enabling you to engage, involve and inspire learning-disabled people through arts-based and multi-sensory methods.

Our approach to training is the same as our approach to all of our work: we meet training participants where they are, and work with them to develop their confidence to use the Purple Patch Approach in the way that best suits them and the people they support. We believe that the Purple Patch Approach can, and should, be combined with training participants’ existing strengths to create inclusive and engaging experiences. Therefore we aim to give our training participants the tools to develop their own ideas, rather than simply replicate a set of activities. At the end of a Purple Patch training session, participants should feel inspired, assured, and excited to start applying our approach to their context.

 Whether you are teaching a science class, want to involve learning-disabled people in your research, are aiming to empower individuals going through a transition, or want to gather meaningful feedback, our training will support you to apply the Purple Patch Approach to create accessible, joyful and inclusive sessions which enable your participants to thrive and reach their full potential.

All training includes a breakdown of the Purple Patch Approach and why we use it, followed by your chosen application of the approach, with activities tailored to your needs. If you’re new to working with learning-disabled people, we will also introduce you to ideas such as the social model of disability, person-centred approaches, and how to be an ‘Accessible Person’ (Kirby, 2023), to help you understand relevant contexts and how this may impact the lives and experiences of learning-disabled people.

I want to use the Purple Patch Approach to support…

…Learning:

In our Lifelong Learning Programmes, we have explored everything from the human body, to famous artists, to the great outdoors, to Shakespeare – with our training, you can bring any topic to life using the Purple Patch Approach! 

…Transitions:

Use creative and inclusive activities to support your participants to feel empowered as they face change. In our transitions training, you will learn about the ‘transitions toolkit’ and how to deliver it to develop participants’ confidence, independence, communication and social skills.

…Research:

We believe learning-disabled people should be involved in all research – our training can help you make that happen.

…Evaluation:

Do you want to gather authentic and meaningful feedback? Traditional evaluation methods may be unsuitable for learning-disabled people and other communities you work with; our training will support you to explore fun creative methods which participants want to engage with, helping you to gather the data you need without compromising your participants’ experience.

Training Information

Contact

If you are interested in any of our training, please contact Fran: