Daniel Yorath House, Leeds, Yorkshire

Daniel Yorath House is a residential rehabilitation service for people with acquired brain injury, run by the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT). We offer a spectrum of services to meet the needs of individual Service Users with brain injury, including those with challenging behaviour.

BIRT’s programme is designed to help people re-learn skills lost as a result of an acquired brain injury. We will consider any person with an acquired brain injury (whether caused by road accident, assault or illness).

Since opening in 1992, Daniel Yorath House has provided services to more than 350 Service Users aged from 16 to over 65.

View the Daniel Yorath House photo gallery

View pictures of our supported housing in the community

Rob, 23, who spent nine months at our Daniel Yorath House service, writes about his experience of rehabilitation. Read Rob's account.

Download our annual report 2009 (pdf 2.5MB).

assessment

All Service Users have a 12 week in-depth assessment, by the inter-disciplinary team to determine their potential for social reintegration and increased independence.

At the end of the assessment period all Stakeholders are invited to review outcomes of assessment and plan rehabilitation.

We also offer a comprehensive service to personal injury lawyers who need the evidence of assessment to assist with litigation.

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rehabilitation

To develop optimum potential each Service User has an individual programme of rehabilitation. This structure includes learning programmes, personal and domestic activities of daily living, use of leisure time (vital if there is no work to provide structure), community access skills, behavioural management techniques, social skills training and vocational training and support.

Over 60% of our Service Users attend a vocational and/or educational placement. This may be a college course or supported work with a local employer.

The average length of a residential placement is 6-9 months.

We work closely with BIRT’s Community Services to support those Service Users who, after residential rehabilitation, move away to live with their family or in their own flat or supported housing. Over 30 of our Service Users have returned to a community-setting since we opened in 1992.

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transitional living

The following transitional living unit and transitional support unit (houses in the community) are part of the overall service offered by Daniel Yorath House. (view pictures)

Ledstone Avenue transitional living unit, Leeds

This facility is a community house with 24 hour support which is situated near to the main rehabilitation unit. It provides the ideal environment for Service Users to consolidate the skills they have learned in the residential unit, and for “real life” risk assessments to be completed by the inter-disciplinary team.

A placement in the transitional living unit would not normally last longer than 3-6 months. During that time, Service Users continue to receive clinical support, building on the skills they have developed during rehabilitation.

Ninelands Lane transitional support unit, Leeds

In response to identified need and demand by referrers and funders, a new transitional support unit (TSU) has opened to complement the continuing pathway of care for service users at Daniel Yorath House, Leeds.

Service users who have completed their period of rehabilitation, but whose discharge arrangements have to be finalised, can transfer to the TSU for a limited period of time at a reduced fee.

While are the TSU, acquired skills are monitored, supported and incorporated into their longer term placement need by rehabilitation support workers and appropriate clinical overview.

The transitional support unit is a three-bedroomed semi-detached community house situated within 800 yards of the main rehabilitation unit. Completely refurnished, with pleasant, well kept gardens, its close proximity to shops and leisure facilities as well as easy access to city centres of Leeds and Wakefield make it ideally situated.

It is hoped that this project will prove to be an excellent, cost effective solution which meets the needs of both service users and referrer/funders.

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staff team

Our inter-disciplinary team is led by a Consultant in Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation and includes Neuropsychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Vocational Trainers, as well as a range of co-ordinators and support staff. All the team work under expert clinical supervision.

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environment

Rehabilitation programmes take place in a thoughtfully design, modern living environment comprising:

• 19 single bedrooms with en-suite facilities
• one self-contained bungalow
• community-based transitional living unit
• well-equipped therapy facilities
• full wheelchair accessibility
• attractive landscaped grounds.

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how to find us

For more detailed information about the location of Daniel Yorath House please view our on-line map.

The latest National Care Standards Commission report on Daniel Yorath House is available to all our service users and anyone wishing to access any part of our service.

Further information about Daniel Yorath House is also available in our annual report 2008 (pdf 2.5MB).

For further information about Daniel Yorath House contact:

Service Manager
Daniel Yorath House
1 Shaw Close
Leeds LS25 2HA
Tel: 0113 287 3871
Fax: 0113 287 3278
dyh@birt.co.uk

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Events and news from Daniel Yorath House

Garden party for prize winners

Wednesday 8 July saw the annual garden party at Daniel Yorath House to present prizes to the winners of the 2010 Look After Your Head Competition.

Again this year we had a wonderful response with 320 entries from all age groups and the standard was very high.

The winning children and representatives from their schools enjoyed the garden party and this year we were again fortunate in the people who volunteered to present the prizes and support the event.

Our thanks go to the Lord and Lady Mayoress of Leeds. Jim and Andrea McKenna, Trustee Christine Yorath and her mum, Sheila Kay (who again this year thinks the scones at DYH are the best in the country), representing the newly elected local MP – Ryan Stephenson and Yulia Marshall, Rev Gordon Cooper and Rev Helen Banks of St Mary’s church, Shelley Grey of Leeds Adult Social Services, Ann Buckler Divisional Manager North and John Freeland, Consultant Neuropsychologist.

Although the weather was not brilliant, everyone enjoyed themselves and children from Green Lane School in Garforth presented two rugs they had made to the unit and service user Nigel Watson received these very graciously.

The overall winner age group 4-11 was Alexander Battersby, Garforth Green Lane School and age group 12+ Will Pitchfork, Garforth Comprehensive School which now go forward to the national competition – good luck to them both.

However, the real highlight of the day was a tour of the Lord Mayor’s limousine which the children really enjoyed – as did the service manager and business administrator!

Ordination at St Mary's

At Daniel Yorath House we receive fantastic support from St Mary’s church in Garforth and were really pleased to be invited to the ordination to the priesthood of Helen Banks on Sunday 4th July 2010.

Helen regularly calls into the unit at coffee time to chat with service users and is very popular, as is her colleague Gordon. The Service Manager, two members of staff and a service user attended the event which was so interesting followed by a really lovely lunch.

Sensational Zurich - once again!!!

	Once again a team from Zurich Insurance in Leeds adopted Daniel Yorath House as one of its challenge projects, which resulted in four very hard working ladies repainting the lounge and kitchen at the Transitional Living Unit.
They made an absolutely superb job of it and were so cheerful throughout it was pleasure to have their involvement and to top that they presented a cheque for £183 which will be put to very good use for the service users.

Kilimanjaro Climb – the party!

	As you will have seen from previous posts on this site Lesley Hawkin and Paul Fryer, the brother and sister of a previous Service User at Daniel Yorath House, recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the unit. Their fantastic effort raised the amazing amount of £17,940 which will certainly be put to good use for the service users, and we had a great party. Lesley gave a talk about their experiences, followed by a lively question and answer session and a quiz. Ann Buckler received the cheque on behalf of the Trust and service user NW presented a gift to each of them and their mother Ann, who did most of the administration. However, as it is Daniel Yorath House the highspot of the evening was the Kilimanjaro Cake made by our wonderful chef Julie Stone.

Musical Fun at DYH

Service users are currently enjoying themselves taking part in music therapy sessions at Daniel Yorath House. Sarah Smith, who is completing a part-time Masters Degree in Music Therapy at the Royal Northern College of Music, is volunteering at DYH from April until the end of the year. The service users sing or play a variety of instruments along to improvised music, pre-composed songs and recorded music. Every Thursday there is an assortment of musical noises coming from the front room and the drums do appear to be the favourite instrument of choice.

Kilimanjaro Challenge

The brother and sister of a former service user at Daniel Yorath House have decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and raise funds for the unit in appreciation of the support given to their brother. Paul Fryer and Lesley Hawkin begin the adventure on 1 March and Lesley very kindly came into the unit on Tuesday 23 February to talk to service users, staff and families about their preparations for the trek and the

challenges they face. We wish them all the luck in the world and will be following their progress on a daily basis.

Who needs a 4x4?

This just shows the efforts staff at Daniel Yorath House made to get to work during the recent bad weather!

Daniel Yorath House has talent

Daniel Yorath House Has Got Talent happened again on 23 December 2009 and was bigger and better than ever.

We had a variety of acts including dance routines, singers, guitarists, comedians and the truly awful. The overall winners were David Baxter on the guitar and Jenny Whitehead who sang, followed by runners up dance routine Funny Bones, aka Kelly Anderson and Lucy Holt. There was even a guest appearance of a George Michael tribute act, service user AK.

Whilst the panel of judges headed by Sandra Hughes-Cowell deliberated everyone sang Christmas songs and danced. Santa made an appearance but wants a new costume for next year as everyone who received a present said ‘Thank you Alan’ to the Head of Care. Once again it was really enjoyable and we cannot wait for next year.

Carol concert

As part of the ongoing Christmas acitivities at Daniel Yorath House on Wednesday evening 16 December local music group, Musicability, together with several members of the St. Mary's church Choir ,visited and gave a carol concert. This was followed by mince pies and everyone present really enjoyed it. Many thanks to them.

Christmas fun Daniel Yorath House-style!

As part of our Christmas activities, Daniel Yorath House held a Yule Log Decorating competition on Friday 4 December and Masterchef came nowhere near!

Service users, staff, families and very good friends of the unit all took place along with a lot of cheating. Thiery Dumouchel, the Yorkshire Life Chef of the year, judged and donated a Yule Log made by himself to the winner.

This event was followed by our annual Penalty Shoot Out Competition with John Meehan from Zurich Insurance in the goals, this year dressed as Santa.

Everyone had a fabulous afternoon and our list of thank you’s is very long but would especially like to thank Nina and Perry who did a lot of the work.

£100 from Good Neighbour News

An organisation called Good Neighbour News very kindly presented us with a cheque for £100. We were nominated for this award by a local Garforth resident John Huntingdon and the money as usual will be put to very good use. The cheque was presented by John and Bill Frith of Good Neighbour News to Sandra Hughes, Service Manager and Service User LB.

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photo gallery

Since 1992, Daniel Yorath House has offered services to over 300 clients
Nineteen single bedrooms with en-suite facilities
Helping people re-integrate into the wider community
Attractive dining areas
Large and small lounges for relaxation
Our rehabilitation programmes are implemented by a multi-disciplinary team
On-site activities are complemented by vocational and education programmes in the wider community
Fully wheelchair accessible
Facilities and services to promote integration

Supported housing in the community

Ninelands Lane transitional support unit, one of two supported houses in the community

Individual bedrooms for all service users

Fully equipped kitchens

Attractive dining areas.

Comfortable lounge areas

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