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PUPILS at a Tunbridge Wells school have
raised funds to enable sixth former Marcela
Capaja to make a bid for gold at the
Taekwondo ITF World Championships in
Argentina this month.
With her place in the England junior
squad assured, 17-year-old Marcela
Capaja, a boarder at Beechwood Sacred
Heart School in Pembury Road, had to find
a way of raising �1,500 to pay for the trip to
Mar del Plata.
She said: "Everyone got together to
arrange events like cake sales, competi-
tions and special events. It has made me
feel very special. I have never had this kind
of support before, and knowing everyone is
on my side has made a huge difference.
Everyone is encouraging me to train hard,
and the school cooks are even providing a
special high-protein diet. It is fantastic."
Marcela, a black belt who is studying for
A-levels in physics, maths, art and English,
is training six times a week for the compe-
tition, which will bring together junior and
senior teams from over 80 countries from
November 26-29.
She said: "Beechwood's judo instructor,
Vic Court, is helping me with speed and fit-
ness, and local coaches Tim Dunn from
Tonbridge and Philip Lear from Crow-
borough are also assisting. I feel I am doing
all I can to be ready, so I really, really hope
I can win gold."
Marcela's father, Piotr, who brought his
family to England from their home in
Poland when his daughter was just a few
months old, is also a member of the
England taekwondo squad, and is a current
world silver medal holder.
CONCERNS have been raised
that proposals for the future fund-
ing of social care do not focus
enough on the growing numbers of
young disabled adults.
The Government's long-awaited discussion
document, Shaping the Future of Care
Together, acknowledges that the current sys-
tem is failing thousands of people with disabil-
ities, the elderly and their families. It sets out
several options for combating the demograph-
ic time bomb and a predicted �6 billion black
hole in the social care budget nationally.
Graham Gibbens, KCC's cabinet member for
adult social services, said: "In my eight years
as a member of this council I have always
stood up for the most vulnerable in Kent.
"What does this document say about free
care for younger disabled adults and the most
vulnerable � the answer is very little and dis-
abled groups are very concerned."
Stephen Elsden, chief executive of Compaid,
a Tunbridge Wells-based charity for adults
with disabilities, agreed there was a tendency
to concentrate on the provision of social care
for the elderly: "I think the green paper does
base its views on an ageing population rather
than looking at people who may be born with
a disability or acquire a disability."
He said that, while there was a welcome
move towards providing mainstream educa-
tion for children with disabilities, there was
not as much support to help young people with
disabilities to access places at col-
leges or universities. He explained:
"There are such a wide number of
options afforded to young people
and we must make sure they are
equally accessible to young people
with disabilities.
"I've been working with people
with disabilities for 10 years,
and an issue that has been very,
very pressing is that disabled
people are supported at school
age but it is the transition,
those aged around 18 to 25,
when a lot get stuck and can-
not move on to more inde-
pendent lives."
KCC's Cllr Gibbens said
that at first glance the green
paper appears targeted at
older people, but if you dig more deeply it
is clearly intended to be for all adults who
have various types of need.
He said that a big issue for local authorities
was the increasing number of people with
learning disabilities and physical disabilities
as well as the number of older people.
Cllr Gibbens said that the authority was also
worried about`eligibility criteria' because KCC
is currently among only a few authorities pro-
viding care for people with `moderate' needs.
"This green paper is aimed at the critical
level, which is two levels above where we are,"
he said. "The big issue that is unanswered is
whether local authorities will be able to carry
on providing services at the lower level and
whether that is going to leave us with a big bill."
The paper outlines a national care service
with everybody receiving some state support
to create a"fair,simple and
affordable" system but
commentators have al-
ready been calling for
greater clarity about how it
will work.
Funding is also a concern.
Roger Gibson, chief execu-
tive of Pepenbury, which provides residential
support for people with learning disabilities,
said: "We support any initiative that is well
funded and benefits disabled people; however,
often such initiatives do not fulfil their poten-
tial because funding proves inadequate."
Compaid's Mr Elsden said a lot of what the
Government was proposing KCC was already
doing, such as personalising services.
"The thing that is slightly worrying is the
idea of a national care service, which is a fine
one, but how is that going to be funded? I don't
think central or local government has woken
up to the true costs," he said.
The consultation on the green paper ended
on Friday but the debate is set to continue
ahead of the General Election next year.
By JENNA PUDELEK
jenna.pudelek@kosmedia.co.uk
Marcela's going
for gold at the
championships
Experts concerned over scope of Government green paper
Care plan will
be disabled by
lack of funding
UNBALANCED:
Stephen Elsden of
Compaid is one of
the experts who fears
the plan's leaning
towards the elderly
may result in younger
disabled people
being overlooked

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