#lscp

instinctive. emotional. agile. loyal.

Lance knows how to take care of himself.

It’s always been that way. Growing up in a big family had taught him that if you don’t learn to be responsible for yourself, life gets real hard real fast.

So he knows how to cook, how to do laundry, all that stuff that keeps an average human alive. He also knows how to fight and shoot and pilot a giant robolion, which is a step above, but what can he say, he leads a stimulating life.

Thing is, taking care of himself is not just about strictly practical things. He doesn’t know about other species, but he does know that humans can’t survive only on eating and keeping stuff clean. His parents have drilled into his skull that being aware of his needs, both physical and psychological, is fundamental.

He remembers sitting alone on his home’s porch at night, a couple of days before leaving for the Garrison, feeling melancholic and not knowing why, and being unsettlingly restless as a result. His Mamà came out bringing two cups of hot chocolate after a while, after giving him his space. Inside, his Mami and Papà were playing some game with his younger siblings, their high, tiny voices not loud enough to carry their words to him.

His Mamà and him stayed silent for what seemed a long time, side by side, watching the waves lazily crashing on the tide, listening to sea murmuring in the cold winter breeze.

“Lance,” she called him at some point, and Lance turned to her, gripping the lukewarm cup tightly to fight the chill in his fingers. Really, he remembers vividly the smaller things, like how warm her hand was when she stroked his hair.

“You have to promise me something,” she said, “that you won’t forget to take care of yourself in that school.”

“I know, Mamà, don’t worry,” Lanced answered, but she shook her head.

“You have to remember to make time for yourself,” she said, shifting to look at him in the eyes, “make time for what you like and to listen to yourself.”

Lance looked away then, at sea again, white foam still visible even in the dark.

“I won’t have a porch to think and being cuddled by one of you, there,” he said, and he hated that his voice was trembling.

“Oh, pececito,” she said, and hugged him, and Lance fell into her open arms and let go of all the accumulated tension, all of his mixed feelings about being accepted in the Garrison, of how he already knew that he would have missed them all so much.

When he calmed down a little, his Mamà kissed his hair and hugged him tighter. “I always knew you’d be a wanderer,” she said, a smile clear in her voice somewhere above him. “That you’d travel the universe and go as far as you could.” She dried the tears on his cheeks and ruffled his hair. “But you’ll never forget us, and we’ll never forget you, and these two parts of you, you have to listen to both of them.”

Lance sniffled and nodded, and promised her that he would have.

And now he’s light years away, and he doesn’t even know where the Earth is, but he still makes sure to do it, even though he doesn’t always manage. He misses his family so much that his whole body hurts, sometimes, and he can’t breath, and wants to scratch himself out of his own skin, but he doesn’t, and he forces himself to inhale, and as soon as he can, he goes find his own little porch in front of the sea.

It’s not always the same thing - sometimes it’s a face mask, sometimes it’s a long bath, sometimes it’s bickering with Keith - but when he feels really, really down, he goes to Hunk. They’ve been each other’s safe ports for years, and know all the tricks by now.

“Can I stay here for a little while?,” he asks, hovering in Hunk’s doorstep.

Hunk is on his bed, writing something on a small pad, and beckons him inside when he sees him. Lance curls up around him, pressing his chest to his tights and his legs to his side and resting his head in his lap.

Strong fingers come down to pet his hair, and Lance close his eyes, breathing in deeply Hunk’s scent. It takes a while for him to stop shifting, fidgeting, changing position, joisting Hunk’s hand that never fails to come back.

“Okay, okay, get up,” Hunk says after a few minutes of this skittish dance, blocking him from trying to turn on his back. Lance sits up only to be dragged down again, and finds himself on his side, back against Hunk’s chest, hugged by one of his big arms. He can feel Hunk’s cold nose against his nape, and it absurdly makes him smile into the pillow. Hunk threads their fingers together and squeezes him, until the only thing left to feel for Lance in the whole universe is Hunk’s hold.

Qsampler ~ LinuxSampler Qt GUI

Qsampler is a linuxsampler GUI front-end application written in C++ around the Qt4 toolkit using Qt Designer. For the moment it just wraps the client interface of LinuxSampler Control Protocol (LSCP) https://qsampler.sourceforge.io/

To register for Workforce Development Funding you will need to complete a 'WDF Partnership Membership Form 2012/2013". Firstly you will need to download a copy of the form, it is best to download this form directly from the Skills for Care website to ensure that you have the most up to date version of the form. You can download the form from this website: http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/funding/workforce_development_fund/accessing_wdf.aspx 

At the time of writing this post the most up to date version is v1.1 and can be downloaded by clicking here.

Once the form has been downloaded you will need to open the .PDF file with Adobe Acrobat Reader. There are other .PDF reading software packages available, however if you wish to use electronic signatures it is advised that you use the Adobe software.

Once the document has been opened you will see something like this:

It is important that you read this document thoroughly before attempting to sign as there are a number of agreements that are being made by signing and submitting this document to join a Partnership. Once you have read through the document and you are happy to proceed you may begin entering your data as required.

The first piece of data in the top right corner of the document is the NMDS-SC ID Number, as shown here:

Your NMDS-SC ID is possibly the most important piece of information contained in this document. Skills for Care will need this identification number to ensure that you have adequately updated your National Minimum Data Set to reach the minimum 90% completion in order to obtain Workforce Development Funding. Failure to supply this number will result in your application for membership being denied.

Generally these numbers begin with a letter (usually F) followed by 5 or 6 numerical digits. If you have not yet obtained an NMDS-SC ID then you should visit the NMDS website and register. If in doubt you may call the NMDS helpdesk on 0845 873 0129.

The rest of the information is fairly self explanatory, please note that the Name of our partnership is the Greater Merseyside Care Partnership.

You may also enter secondary address details which will be used as your preferred contact information. This may be helpful if you are registering an establishment but would still prefer all communication to go through a head office.

If you have multiple establishments which you would like to register for membership, there are additional pages provided (example below) which allow you to enter the basic information required to register these establishments (Name or Establishment, NMDS-SC ID and the address of the establishment. If you do not have multiple establishments you may ignore all but the first page.

Once you reach the bottom of the first page you will notice that there is a space for a signature, and when you hover over this space with your mouse it will say "Click here to Sign", as shown below. 

Please note that at this point you may prefer to print off the document and sign it with ink by hand. This can then be sent via post to:

Liverpool Social Care Partnership, C/O Crossroads Care 5 De Havilland Drive Estuary Business Park Speke, L24 8RN 

Alternatively you could scan the document back on to your computer and email it to: [email protected]

OR you may fax your Partnership Form to 0151 427 7044. 

However, with this new version of the Partnership Form there is also the option to digitally sign the form with an encrypted code, to do this you will need to click on the signature portion of the form, the following window will appear:

If you have not done this process before you will need to click "A New Digital ID I want to create now", then click Next.

You will be given a number of options about what type of Digital Signature you would like to create, we recommend you choose the PKCS#12 Digital ID File for maximum compatibility. Once selected, click Next.

Next you will need to enter all of your information.

The bottom three parts of this form ("Enable Unicode Support", "Key Algorythm", "Use digital ID for:") do not need to be changed. Once this form is completed click Next.

You will now be asked where you would like to save your digital ID file. If you are unsure where to save this file you can leave the default location provided, however be sure to make a note of this location for future reference!

Be sure to choose a password you will remember and then click Finish. The "Sign Document" window will appear.

From this window you have the option of selecting one of the Digital ID's that are registered to your computer (or creating a new one!). Enter your password and then press the "Sign" button when ready. You also have the option to Lock Document After Signing. This is advised in most cases but be sure that you have fully completed the document before selecting this option!

Once this is done the signature portion of the document will look something similar to my signature below:

You may close the document and attach it to an email to:

[email protected]

Liverpool Social Care Partnership is glad to announce it is administering the Workforce Development Fund for Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley, Cheshire East and Cheshire West & Chester under the Greater Merseyside Care Partnership.

Workforce Development Funding (WDF) is available to any employer whose staff has completed social care QCF or NVQ training which has been completed and verified after 1st January 2012 up until 1st March 2013.

Currently the funding is granted at £15 per credit for each QCF unit and £80 per NVQ unit, please note that LSCP takes a 15% administration fee for each claim. For more information about the units that are available for funding you down download a list here.

To claim Workforce Development Funding you must meet the requirements set out by Skills for Care / Department of Health. The first requirement is completeion (to 90%) of your organisations National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC). For more information on NMDS-SC please refer to the Skills for Care website ( http://www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk/ ) If you need any further help or guidance you can contact me by emailing [email protected] or alternatively calling the help desk on 0845 873 0129.

You will also need to complete a Partnership Form and a BACS form to register with LSCP for the processing of funding claims.

For more detailed information please refer to the documentation available for download below:

Employers: Employer Fact Sheet Step by Step Guide for Employers Training Provider Fact Sheet 

LSCP Case Study LSCP Claim Guide 

Other Information: List of Acceptable Units for Claiming Example of an NVQ Unit Summary Sheet Example of a QCF Unit Summary Sheet

Partnership Form* BACS Details* *Once these documents have been completed you should return them to [email protected] If you have any questions to queries on the claiming process please contact LSCP on 0151 427 7044 or email [email protected]. Fully Funded Qualifications / Backfill Claims It is also possible to claim for any costs that you as an employer have had as a result of sending your staff onto training, this could include staff replacement costs to cover any rota changes for when staff attend training. For more information please contact LSCP on 0151 427 7044 or email [email protected]