LINk core group

Islington LINk is led by a Core Group of elected volunteers.
Anyone who is a LINk member can stand for election to the Core Group. There are 20 places on the group. Core Group members can be individuals from the local community or representatives of local voluntary organisations. For a list of this year’s members, click here.

The next meeting of the Core Group is on Tuesday 15th May 2012, 5.30pm – 8.00pm. Venue: Voluntary Action Islington, 200a Pentonville Rd, N1 9JP - meetings are open to the public but please confirm if you are planning to attend in case of any last minute changes.

The Core Group is elected by the LINk members at the LINk’s Annual Event (in March). Each year one third of the Core Group seats are open in the election. Members of the Core Group are elected on for a three-year term. The Core Group then elects a Chair and a Vice Chair.

LINk Chair, Olav Ernstzen:

Olav has been a member of Islington Local Involvement Network (LINk), since it was formed, and Chair for the last two years. He works closely with the two Vice-Chairs and the Host on strategic issues for the Group and establishing good working relationships with key external stakeholders.

With Islington LINk he has carried out Hospital Discharge research, is a member of the LINk’s Enter and View team and is working to develop a selection of realistic models for Healthwatch.

He qualified as a drama teacher, spent some years in the professional theatre and then qualified as a barrister. He is a member of the Bar Council Disability Group which works to improve access to a career at the Bar for disabled people. He is an adviser to Transport for London and the Department for Transport, recommending practical solutions to improve how local and national services meet the needs of the community.

Locally he has been involved in Camden and Islington’s Low Vision Services Group, the council’s Disability Equality Performance Group and has connections with Talking News, a news CD for visually impaired people. He is a long term resident of the Borough.

LINk Vice Chair, Bob Dowd

Bob has been involved with LINk since it started in 2008 and has been a vice chair for the year 2009/10 and 2010/11 leading on social care issues. During that time he has also represented the LINk at the Health and Well-being Review Committee, one of the council’s committees for scrutinising services.

Bob has worked at Centre 404 supporting people with Learning Disabilities and also set up the Islington Dyslexia Association. He has lived in Islington all my life and am dedicated improving health and social care services in the borough. Bob on the LINk: “I think the LINk is a great mechanism for ensuring that local people have an opportunity to influence health and social care services”.

LINk Vice Chair, Gerry McMullan

On retiring from primary school teaching Gerry decided to become a volunteer in the health sector because we all benefit from good local services.

He became a member of the Community Health Council and later was chair of the Patients Forum. He became a founder member of LINks and has been elected a vice chair. During this time he has sat on various health boards in Islington to represent the patient voice.

His interests are in primary healthcare ( GPs) and in older person’s care both in the community and in care homes. He has lived with his partner in the same house in Islington for over thirty years.

The LINk chairs can be contacted via the LINk host organisation – LINk@vai.org.uk

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LINk Core Group – Individual Members

There are at least six of the 20 seats on the Core Group reserved for individual members. Individual members may be involved in local organisations, but are not representing local organisations in their role on the Core Group. They are accountable to the LINk members.

Sue Cartwright

Sue joined the Core Group because she believes that LINk can make a difference.

She is interested in ensuring that good care and community services are available to everyone in the borough and that access to those services is straightforward and uncomplicated.

She is retired and lives in Islington South. She is a patient member of University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, attends various meetings in the local community and is secretary of her local residents association. She is a team player and has good communication and organisational skills.

Dave Emmett

Dave has been resident in North Islington since 1967. He believes the Core Group needs independent input and would stress the need for the LINk to adopt a “can do” approach: He believes that he can fairly examine issues and sometimes come up with unusual angles and ideas.

Lynda Finn

Lynda Finn is a long-time resident of Islington who is keen to see high quality health and social care provision for everyone who needs these services. She has been a member of Islington LINk core group since 2009.

Lynda wants Islington to have the highest possible standards of care in our residential care homes, the very best quality primary care services with active patient involvement, and excellence in secondary and specialist care for those who need it. And she wants all this to be achieved despite the increased financial constraints that we are all facing.

Elizabeth Jones

Elizabeth has lived in Islington since she was 2 years old, and has had a very varied career over the years, starting off with Banking until she married. She took up retailing until she had an accident in 1980 and could no longer drive a car.She then landed a job in the Academic Field, centring on Business Management.

Following retirement she got involved with neighbourhood forums in Islington, speaking for disabled people, and with In Touch, an organisation for visually impaired people.

In recent years, she has been a member of the Moorfields Patient Forum. She is a Founder Member, Chairperson and Project Manager of Talking News Islington. She is also involved in a range of local Focus groups representing blind and visually impaired people in Islington.

She is keen to extend this involvement to making the LINk work in Islington.

Rose-Marie McDonald

Rose believes hat health is an important factor to any community. She wishes to disseminate information to hard to reach groups and to the Federation of Islington Tenants’ Associations (FITA), covering 40,000 homes in Islington.

Rose’s experience includes being chair of the Islington Community Project and director of FITA, a Partners Housing Residents Forum member, and a parent representative on the Children’s Disability and Strategy Commission. She has been a Homes for Islington panel member and part of Disability Action in Islington’s Housing Forum. She is a founder of ‘Stamp Out Islington’ campaign, an anti-bullying campaign.

She is used to working to deadlines, under pressure and working with people’s whose first language is not English.

Isabel Munoz

Isabel believes in a better and improved life for the community. She believes that quality Health and Social services should not be received based on who you know but as a basic Human Right.

She is experienced in project/supervisory management having worked for an International company (JOI) and through her work with children (private childcare & teaching). She understands that finding solutions that work isn’t easy. Her personal experience with Health/Social services (she became disabled in 2003) aides her in ensuring that the concerns of those I’m representing, are heard via the LINk.

She says “Not everyone’s concern can be addressed; we’re a large community in Islington. If we address the most common issues at this level, I believe we’re making a start in the right direction.”

Geraldine Pettersson

Geraldine has been resident in Islington for 25 years and is a social housing tenant active in her Housing Association’s activities. She is committed to ensuring the users of public services, especially health and social care, get their voice heard to positively influence the availability and quality of services essential for the health and well-being of all residents.

Geraldine has undertaken the ‘Enter and View’ training for LINk. A social researcher by training and occupation, her work has included gathering users’ views on London’s health services (published by the King’s Fund) and on the needs of carers.

LINk Core Group members – Group representatives

There are at least six of the 20 seats on the Core Group reserved for group representatives. Group representatives have been selected by the organisation that they represent, they share LINk information with their members and give LINk a perspective on the views of the people that they represent. They are accountable to the LINk members.

Age UK Islington

Age UK Islington is a member of the LINk Core Group in order to contribute their learning from the thousands of older Islington residents they have contact with each year. As older people are among the main users of health services and home care, Age UK believe they need to be well represented on the LINk.

Age UK’s extensive work with older people across the borough, including a high proportion of BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) older people, enables them to offer a good cross-section of relevant experiences and contribute to the key issues affecting older people locally. Their desire to be actively involved in the Core Group can be seen through their proposed representative on the Group being the Vice- Chair (herself an older Islington resident) of Age Concern Islington’s Trustee Board.

Disability Action in Islington

Disability Action in Islington (DAII) exists to bring together disabled people who live, work or study in Islington. DAII is an organisation run by and for disabled people. We provide free information, advice, user-involvement and peer support services for disabled people, and a range of training and consultancy services to the voluntary and statutory sectors.

DAII works to raise awareness of disability equality issues and promote a more accessible and inclusive environment. All DAII projects and services are based on the social model of disability.

DAII has a substantial pan-disability membership; with many people interested and active in improving local health and social care services based on their experiences of using them. DAII can therefore access and represent a wide range of views concerning local services.

iBUG (Islington Borough User Group)

iBUG (Islington Borough User Group) is a not for profit organisation set up in June 2005 to represent the views of mental health service users in Islington. They run the Highgate Patients Council and represent service users at NHS Islington and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. iBUG campaigns for the rights of mental health service users.

Islington Voluntary Sector Health Network

The Islington Voluntary Sector Health Network (IVSHN) is a network open to all voluntary sector organisations working in the borough that have a health remit as part of their work. The network aims to ensure that the voluntary sector is provided with information about developments in health service delivery and commissioning and to identify ways that organisations can take advantage of opportunities to work together with statutory partners to support health service delivery.

The organisations that comprise the IVSHN are in a position to identify the impact on the community, individuals and patients and see the importance of being able to share this knowledge with the Islington LINk to help strengthen the voice of patients and the public.

An organisation member of the Islington LINk since its inception, the IVSHN are pleased to have been an active supporter in helping to develop the LINk and are keen to continue this valuable role.

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The Core Group:

Guide the work of the LINk
Develop and monitor the LINk work plan, which sets out LINk activities for the year
Monitor the LINk budget
Promote the LINk and its work in the local community.

If you want to contact the Core Group or raise an issue with them please email LINk@vai.org.uk or telephone 020 7832 5814.

Core Group Meetings
The Core Group holds a monthly meeting to discuss LINk business and health and social care issues. Meetings of the Core Group are open to members of the LINk and members of the public to attend as observers. So why not come along and see what the LINk does. If you would like to attend a meeting, please contact LINk@vai.org.uk or 020 7832 5814 and let us know. If you have any access requirements, please let us know before the meeting. The agenda and minutes for Core Group meeting can be downloaded below. Please contact us if you would like the full papers.

Next meeting dates

Tuesday 15th May 2012, 5.30pm – 8.00pm. Venue: Voluntary Action Islington, 200a Pentonville Rd, N1 9JP – meetings are open to the public but please confirm if you are planning to attend in case of any last minute changes.

Tuesday 17th July 2012, 5.30pm – 8.00pm. Venue: Voluntary Action Islington, 200a Pentonville Rd, N1 9JP – meetings are open to the public but please confirm if you are planning to attend in case of any last minute changes.