FIVE members of staff from the NOW Group are taking part in this years Belfast Marathon to help create awareness and support the newly designed JAM Card Application.  

The JAM Card (an abbreviation of ‘Just A Minute’) is a credit card-sized plastic card that people with learning disabilities/difficulties can carry and use to alert staff in retail outlets, public/private transport providers and other areas of public life that the card-holder needs Just A Minute of patience and time when interacting with you.

The JAM card was the idea of members of the ‘Kidnap Wednesday’ social forum – set up by the Belfast-based supported employment and training organisation NOW as a way of giving their service users and other people with learning difficulties the chance discuss the issues they face day-to-day.  The group has been meeting every Wednesday in Belfast city Centre’s Black Box since 2011.

It was during these weekly meetings in Summer 2012 that the group shared experiences about how they often felt under pressure when
they were out and about in every-day life, whether it was paying for goods at a shop or boarding public/private hire transport. They said they wanted a discreet way of letting people know that they needed “Just A Minute” of time and patience when using a service.  So with NOW’s help, along with initial funding from the Belfast City Council-administered Police and Community Safety Partnership’s Small Grants Scheme, the JAM Card was born.

Kidnap Wednesday members helped design the JAM card and they wanted to keep it simple and eye-catching.  It’s the size of a credit card and so easy to carry around.  One side has the distinctive, colourful jam jar logo, while the opposite side has brief but to-the-point information for businesses and services: “Please be patient.  I have a learning disability/difficulty”. 

JAM window stickers were also produced to circulate among shops and businesses. These stickers would be a way of alerting JAM Card holders that they would receive the time and patience they needed if they chose to take their custom there.

The JAM  Card is now in the development process of progressing into and application to be used on smart phones and tablets.  

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