Yesterday we heard about how some disabled people are living in Ukraine.

Through the news reports we saw the institutions people are living in and the kinds of support some people get.

Like a lot of people, we were shocked and upset.

We want everyone to be valued, supported and belong in their community.

We know a lot of people will want to do something to help stop this.

Learning Disability England are members of Inclusion Europe, and we support their work on ending institutions generally but also Ukraine.

Their conference in September is Europe in action to end segregation.

There is also a session with the European Disability Forum on Rebuilding Ukraine inclusively.

We hope Learning Disability England members can join those sessions or support the work.

These stories from Ukraine are shocking but we must not forget that institutional practice can exist anywhere.

We are thinking about what we can do to support Ukrainian people.

We hope all Learning Disability England members are also looking at what we are doing to support all people to live Good Lives and provide services that help people flourish.

Kindest regards,

The co-chairs of Learning Disability England:

Wendy Burt

Scott Watkins

Jordan Smith