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 2008 (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

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.

Commissioners come to lunch

On 19 November 2009 a number of commissioners were invited to Daniel Yorath House for lunch followed by a discussion session in which the difficulties of obtaining funding in a challenging financial climate were discussed.

Dr John Freeland gave a presentation relating to outcome measures for service users which started the discussion session. This lasted for two hours and very useful feedback was received with explanations of the changing conditions in the public sector and what the future holds.

We also discussed what more information we could provide to ease referrals and how this should be tailored.

Also present was a leading personal injury solicitor who discussed conditions in the medico legal sector and the impact of a recent judgement will have on future cases.

From the exercise, it emerged one of the greatest concerns of commissioners were extra charges, and they stressed the need for a very clear explanation of these charges.

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.

Garden construction thanks to Zurich

Words fail us – which if you know Daniel Yorath House is a very rare occurrence! In October, as part of the Zurich Challenge, a team of 15 people arrived to carry a remodelling of part of the garden at the transitional living unity, a house near to the main unit. All the teams from Zurich are truly amazing but this team had construction skills which would have cost a large amount of money if a contractor had carried out the work. They did a fabulous job of taking down walls, new fencing and building decking which will enable wheelchair access. As usual they involved the service users and everyone had a really good day.

Zurich rise to another garden challenge

As readers of this page will know, in past years volunteers from the Zurich Challenge scheme have carried out projects at Daniel Yorath House and this year was no exception. Their challenge was to improve the garden area at the transitional living unit, a separate house near to the main unit. As you can see, they did this in spectacular style, using specially made planting boxes. Our thanks go to the team of volunteers for their hard work, enthusiasm and efforts in raising the money to buy materials and plants and also Barkers Fencing, Swillington Nurseries, Hire World and Kippax Garden Services and Maintenance who gave their time and expertise for free. Service users really enjoyed joining in and even managed to get Zurich tee shirts.

Harewood 10 mile run

On Sunday 4 October, two staff and one service user from Daniel Yorath House took park in the 10 mile charity run at Harewood House, near Leeds. They all successfully completed the run in really respectable times and apart from sore knees the following day really enjoyed the experience and are planning to do more.

Garden looking good!

It is not strictly speaking a news item but would like to share photographs of the garden at Daniel Yorath House which this year have really been wonderful, full of colour despite the rainy weather.

Look After Your Head garden party

On Wednesday 8 July 2009 DYH held its fourth annual garden party to present prizes to the winners of the ‘Look After Your Head’ competition. From over 250 entries prize-winners from each year group, ranging from 4 to 12 years old, received a small prize and the overall winner received a voucher for a cycle and helmet. In addition this year the winner of the 3T competition also received a Comet voucher for £170. Five schools attended and many thanks to local businessman Mike Dobson, councillor Mark Dobson, George Williams from Garforth Town football club, Aidrian Highfield president of Garforth Lions, Rev Cooper and the new curate Helen, two service users, WR and DR, and DT Trustee Christine Yorath, accompanied by her mother Sheila for presenting the prizes. Another service user, NW, made a great speech to thank everyone for attending and special thanks to service user, GR, for assisting in handing out the prizes. Following the presentation the children and accompanying adults had refreshments and afternoon tea was enjoyed by the presenters of the prizes and a comment was made that DYH provides the best scones in the country – well done to our Chef Julie! .

Thank you British Gas!

We would like to give a huge 'thank you' to British Gas who as part of Gas Giving Day 2009 came to Daniel Yorath House on Saturday 4th July and fitted an entirely new central heating system at our transitional support unit in Ninelands Lane, Garforth. As if this was not enough they also removed an old shed and fitted new fencing to the transitional living unit in Ledston Avenue and generally tidied the garden. At one stage in the day we had so many gas company vans parked in Ninelands Lane the local residents were making plans to evacuate! Once again, many thanks for their generosity and also to service users in the houses who baked cakes and generally helped with the catering.

30th anniversary exhibition

To celebrate the 30 year anniversary of the trust a photographic exhibition was commissioned and as part of Brain Injury Awareness week this exhibition was shown in the Civic Hall in Leeds. On Thursday 14 May a civic reception was held and the Lord Mayor of Leeds kindly opened proceedings. A service user from community and Daniel Yorath House, whose stories were featured, attended the evening and really enjoyed it. With the help of our local councillor Mark Dobson they also saw parts of the Civic Hall and the workings of the council were explained.

Bowling success

We recently had a very successful outing for clients to the ten pin bowling alley in Castleford, funded by a generous donation from the Leeds office of Zurich Insurance Company, who presented us with a cheque for £500 raised by a challenge event.

Several clients enjoyed a package which provided games and food and the overall winner was Angie Heaps, Rehabilitation Social Worker. We are not entirely sure it was fair that a member of staff won!!

Two new houses

The Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust recently purchased two houses close to Daniel Yorath House to use as a Transitional Living Unit and Transitional Support Unit. We’ve adapted these houses to meet the needs of our Service Users and provide two really superb properties to help service users on their care pathways.

Conservation volunteers

Six of our clients have been working with the Temple Newsam Estate and a local conservation group on projects in the vicinity of Daniel Yorath House. They meet once a week at different locations to clear weeds, coppice trees, plant new shrubs and bulbs and learn new skills. One service use, TG, said he enjoyed being outside and seeing changes in the seasons.

We are very grateful to the groups involved for giving us this opportunity.

Volunteering for Garforth Town FC

Service user Nigel Watson, writes about his voluntary work for Garforth Town Football Club, and why it means so much to him. 'In 2001 (aged 36), I ended up in hospital with a brain injury. I spent some time at York House in York and was then transferred to Daniel Yorath House in Leeds – a brain injury unit for adults. This is where I live now.

'I am unable to do paid work, but when Stef, my occupational therapist, gave me the chance to do some voluntary work outside the unit I thought it was a good idea.

'The work was at Garforth Town Football Club. The club is mostly run by volunteers. I go every Wednesday and help Norman and Jim around the grounds. I do jobs like weeding, fixing the fences and sweeping the terraces (though this was a tricky one due to my balance not being great). I do indoor jobs like cleaning the changing rooms after matches and keeping the club shop tidy.

'There is something different for me to do each week. This makes it interesting. Working with Norman and the lads makes me feel a part of the club in a small way and gives me a great sense of achievement.

'Since starting work at Garforth Town I love to go to home matches on a Saturday and cheer the team on.

'I hope I can continue to go and help out each week. It would also be good if we could develop even stronger links between Garforth Town Football Club and Daniel Yorath House.'

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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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