Stronger, Louder, Together!
Accessible resources and information to help you use your vote or support others to use theirs in the upcoming elections
Local elections are set to be held in the United Kingdom in some areas in May 2024.
These elections will be a chance for you to decide who runs local services like schools, care for the elderly and disabled and libraries.
The General Election will be happening later in 2024 we think
An Update from Gary and Mary on the Houses of Parliament Reception to Launch the Future of Care 5 Report written by the Social Care APPG in March 2024
Sarah is the CEO of Choice Support, a social care Community Benefit Society that creates opportunities for happiness for people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and autistic people.
We really are stronger and louder together.
I spent three joyous weeks in February 2024 at the Learning Disability England Conferences. As members, you know that Learning Disability England exists to bring people and organisations together to create a movement for change where people with learning disabilities, families, friends, and paid supporters come together on an equal basis.
Gary Bourlet, Self-Advocate & Membership and Engagement Lead for Learning Disability England
One thing I love about being a self-advocate is that I get to meet lots of other self-advocates from all around the country. In February I met lots of new people at the Learning Disability England conferences.
Kate is a Family and Friends member of Learning Disability England’s Representative Body, and a Family Consultant for Dimensions UK. Kate has written this Plain English blog for members, about being part of a group called ‘Using The Law’
Using the Law
The Access Social Care charity and Social Care Future are running a group called ‘Using the Law‘.
The group has been set up to “empower individuals and organisations with the necessary knowledge to navigate the legal landscape of social care.”
Read more “‘Using The Law’ – A blog update from Kate Chate.”
Gary Bourlet, Self-Advocate & Membership and Engagement Lead for Learning Disability England
“It’s great to vote, ‘cause then you get a say on who’s going to be running the country” (Dr Mark Brookes, MBE).
There will be local elections in May and a general election later this year. Every adult in England has the right to vote. But how do we make sure we can? We want to make sure that those of us with learning disabilities are able to use our right to vote.
In September the Rep Body held 3 sessions to meet members.
It was great to meet people from across the membership and have a chance to hear about the issues that are important.
We wanted to share an update about what we heard in those meetings and what actions we are taking from that.
North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council are carrying out a housing needs assessment to understand what housing needs local people have.
Understanding what is important to local people helps local authorities to plan for the future.
Gary Bourlet, Membership and Engagment Lead for Learning Disability England introduces a new film
Learning Disability England and Speakup Advocacy have been putting together a film called ‘Impact of Advocacy’.
It looks at the changes that have happened since people with a learning disability have felt empowered to speak up for themselves.
It looks into the important history of the self-advocacy movement and speaks to many inspirational people with a learning disability about their stories.
Last week we launched the film as part of Advocacy Awareness Week.
As a figure in the Self-Advocacy movement for over 37 and half years and a co-founder of People First in the UK, I have personally seen the impact it has made over the years.
