Stronger, Louder, Together!
Everyone was so pleased to hear last week that all people with a learning disability who are on a GP register can now receive the Covid-19 vaccine under priority group 6. Read more on that here.
If your organisation is led by self-advocates and/or family members, you can join as a Self Advocacy or Family Carer Organisation.
If a self-advocacy or family run organisation gets most of its income from delivering services rather than doing self advocacy and/or family voice support, then it will be part of the paid supporter category.
We know that small groups and voice organisations come in different shapes and sizes.
So our membership fee structure from 1
December 2020 reflects this:
Turnover less than £200,000 a year:
£25 a year
Turnover in excess of £200,000 a year: £100 a year
Join now by clicking here.
If you want to pay a different way, please email us on:
or phone us on 0300 111 0444
Learning Disability England is England’s only national movement where people with learning disabilities, families, friends and people in paid supporter roles come together as equal people.
That’s because we are stronger and louder together! Together we work towards people with learning disabilities having good lives with equal choices and opportunities as others.
Individual membership is for any individual person who has a learning disability, is a family member, a friend, in a Circle of Support or is a professional working in this area.
Joining LDE means you can give your opinions and get your voice heard. We are involved in many consultations, debates and policy work where your voice is important and people will listen to you.
These leaflets tell you a bit more about why you might want to and what it means to join the membership as a self-advocate or family member.
You will be joining a group of people who also want people with learning disabilities to live good lives.
It is a way of telling people that you support a national movement working with people with learning disabilities for change to happen.
You can influence and be part of campaigning work with partners, government and members.
You will get good information, solutions to problems and new ideas from different meetings, conferences, webinars and resources.
You will be able to join our group of spokespeople, talking about the important things you care about.
Individual Membership (that’s Membership for 1 person) is only £12 a
year.
If you don’t want to join online, you can download a Membership form and return it to us by post.
If you are an organisation or group run by self – advocates or family carers you can join as an organisation.
If you would like to talk this through with us, you can call on 0300 111 0444 or email us at: info@LDEngland.org.uk.
Learning Disability England is working in partnership with Good Things Foundation and AbilityNet, VODG and other disability and digital inclusion organisations and community partners, to help people with learning disabilities get online.
This Digital Lifeline project is looking for organisations operating in England that support people with learning disabilities, including self-advocacy groups, community-based organisations to apply to help deliver the project.
We have spokespeople with learning disabilities, families and other experts who are ready to speak at events and to the media.
At Learning Disability England we believe society’s attitudes towards people with learning disabilities will not be changed until we see people speaking up for themselves, especially in the media and in politics.
All our spokespeople are members of Learning Disability England.
They have personal, lived experience either as a self advocate with a learning disability, as a family member or as a paid supporter.
We also use professionals when covering technical issues.
We have spokespeople because Learning Disability England staff do not speak for people with learning disabilities.
We believe people with learning disabilities and family members speaking for themselves will change the way society sees them.
If you would like a comment or an interview with one of our spokespeople, please contact Sam Clark, Chief Executive, on info@LDEngland.org.uk or 0300 111 0444.
If you would like to find out more about becoming a Spokesperson for Learning Disability England, please contact us on info@LDEngland.org.uk or 0300 111 0444.
We are pleased people in group 6 of the JCVI phase one list are now being invited to have their first Covid vaccine.
Watch the video to listen to Gary Bourlet, now one of the Membership and Engagement Leads, talk about how he helped to set up Learning Disability England.
Learning Disability England was founded in 2016.
It is a registered charity.
For a long time people with learning disabilities have not been seen or treated as equals in society.
Self-advocate Gary Bourlet tried to change this by setting up a national self-advocacy organisation called People First England.
He was supported by Housing & Support Alliance, a charity promoting good support and housing for people with learning disabilities.
But both People First England and Housing & Support Alliance wanted to do more.
They wanted to do something new.
They could see change wasn’t happening fast enough because the learning disability sector was fragmented.
People weren’t working together.
Gary and the Housing and Support Alliance brought some like minded people together to create a movement for change.
These self-advocates, families and organisations worked with Gary and the Housing and Support Alliance to build Learning Disability England.
They made this new organisation a membership organisation where people signed up to the values.
Every member would be equal, whether it was a big support provider or a self advocate, with one vote each for decisions and elections.
The Founding Members are the organisations that helped build Learning Disability England.
We are very grateful for all their support, time and funding.
Learning Disability England’s Founding Members are:
Advance
Aldingbourne Trust
Avenues Trust
BILD
Brampton
Brandon Trust
Bromford
Centre for Welfare Reform
Certitude
CHANGE
Choice Support
CMG
Connect In The North
Dimensions
Essex County Council
Essex Family Carers Network
Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities
Hft
Inclusion North
Kent County Council
KeyRing
MacIntyre
mcch
NDTi
Paradigm
Progress Housing
Reside Housing
Respond
Swanton Care
Three Cs
United Response
Learning Disability England is bringing 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.
As a membership organisation, members work together to build a world where people with learning disabilities have good lives with equal choices and opportunities as others.
We can’t name you all, but you are all very important.
The Vision for Change
The Vision for Change says the difference Learning Disability England wants to make.
All work at Learning Disability England is moving towards this vision.
You can read the Vision for Change here
We have completed a Cranfield Trust Journey to Excellence (J2E©) consultancy project signifying our commitment to continuous improvement.
Join us
Membership starts from just £12 for individual members.
Learning Disability England members and partners, and the wider learning disability community, have been campaigning for some time for all people with learning disabilities to be made a priority for the Covid-19 vaccine.
The Representative Body represents Learning Disability England members and acts on their behalf, making important decisions about Learning Disability England says and does.
The Representative Body is an even split of 4 self-advocate Reps, 4 families and friends Reps, and 4 organisational Reps.
The members of the Representative Body make sure that Learning Disability England stays true to its values and is always working towards its goals.
Any member can put themselves forward to be on the Representative Body, and all members can vote.
The Representative Body is made up of these 12 elected representatives:
Kumudu Perera
Kumudu is a disability advocate for My Life My Choice and also works as a health ambassador.
He is also a phone buddy and represents people with disabilities.
Kumudu believes Learning Disability England is important because people with lived experience and knowledge about it are included as equals.
He wants to see a society where people with all kinds of disabilities work together with families and paid supporters to improve things ‘because if you’re trying to do things on your own nothing will change’.
Phil Hughes
Phil says he has gone through most of his life with people judging him by the way he looks and how his body works. And had people talk to him like a child.
After too many years spent in a day centre, he got involved with Sunderland People First. Phil has helped get a changing place in the Royal Hospital. He looks into why disabled people die a lot younger, with the Stop People Dying Too Young group.
And he has made a video about dysphagia and the right to take his own risks. This is now used in hospital training for new SALT assessors.
Phil strongly believes in everyone having a voice. And has found people ‘who have a disability like me’ are often left out and are not given the opportunity to have a voice or support to voice their opinions and rights.
It’s because of this he decided to stand for the Rep Body ‘so that people with similar needs to me get listened to more’.
Jack Marshall
Jack has Moebius Syndrome which impacts his life with a number of physical and learning disabilities.
From an early age Jack has spoken up for himself & others with regards to disability. He has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity and challenges himself to seemingly impossible tasks.
Having attended special schools and been written off as non academic due to his learning disabilities, Jack fought for the right to go to mainstream college. He worked his way from a Foundation programme with some great support, and now Jack is at Stafford University studying Law.
Jack was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the New Year’s Honours List 2019 for his campaigning and fundraising.
Mary Woodall
Mary is a self advocate from south London. Mary is a campaigner with the group Campaign 4 Change, and also works part time as a receptionist for Premier Inn.
Mary is interested in politics and enjoys campaigning on different topics that matter to people with learning disabilities, such as the recent Campaign 4 Change lockdown campaign. Mary says teamwork is very important to her. She stood for election because she is passionate about making a difference, speaking up at a local and national level and listening to other people’s views.
Mary also enjoys knitting, arts and crafts and spending time with family.
Liz Wilson
Liz lives in West Yorkshire. She has a daughter with learning disabilities who recently moved into her own Supported Living flat. She also had a brother who lived nearby until his death in 2022. Liz has managed direct payments for her daughter and brother.
Liz believes all people with learning disabilities are all different. She says she encourages her daughter to speak up for herself. But her brother didn’t use words to communicate so she says he and many like him need family to speak up for him and interpret his unique communication to those who don’t know him so well. Liz would like to find more and better ways for people who have lots of support needs to get involved and be heard.
Liz has had people with learning disabilities in her family for her whole life and has seen many policy changes. She says ’the thing that has never changed is the love and commitment of families who work so hard to make sure our loved ones have a good life’.
Liz has also spent most of her adult life working alongside people with learning disabilities and autism and their families. She recently retired and says ’I can confidently say I don’t just bring my own views to this role, I have many voices behind me’.
Kate Chate Family and Friends Rep
Kate Chate
Kate is a registered Makaton Tutor and a Family Consultant for Dimensions UK (a support provider). Kate sits on the Suffolk Learning Disability Partnership Board (Suffolk is where she lives) and she was a Parent Carer Representative for Suffolk’s parent carer forum for about 10 years. Kate is also a trustee for Ace Anglia.
Kate says she stood for election to the Rep Body because she has been inspired by so many amazing family carers to help make change for people with learning disabilities and their families. Including for her son.
Kate believes passionately in ensuring everyone’s right to a good ordinary life. She says she will ‘find Learning Disability England’s way of listening to families, and then bring as many new voices to that as possible. To make as much positive change as we can’.
Paula Strike
Paula has worked with children and adults with disabilities for 20years, as a teaching assistant and SENDco support. Now working across Essex with family carers, making sure they have the information and resources they need to advocate for their family member with a learning disability, Paula is able to share her knowledge and experience with others. This job also includes working with local authorities, health and social care to coproduce with families wherever possible; and challenge services who do not. Lived experience is the most valuable resource services can access, and Paula makes it her mission to remind them. She is particularly concerned with making sure everybody’s voices are heard by being creative with communication and sharing information
James O’Rourke
James is older brother to Tony who was diagnosed at the age of 5 years with learning disabilities (although they didn’t call it that back then in the 1960’s!).
As you would imagine James’ life has been influenced by his brother’s learning disability.
Since leaving school James has had a wide-ranging career from residential/community social work to sales and marketing; politician to advisory roles for NHSE.
James’ passion is to ensure those with learning disabilities like his brother who have difficulties communicating are heard.
Nathaniel Lawford
Nathaniel says he is a fan of people, stories and learning. Throughout his education including a masters in Globalization and fascination with philosophy, to his work from easy read trainer to inclusion director, to his volunteering as an academic speaker and activist researcher- he explains “I have in all things loved learning from, being with and living with the wonder that is humanity. For all lives matter and all wisdom should be cherished.”
Angela Catley
Angela trained as a nurse for people with a learning disability in the 1980s, aged 18, doing most of her training in a big hospital where more than 500 people with a learning disability lived. Angela said ‘It was awful. It taught me what happens when we stop seeing people as equal citizens. This lesson has stayed with me my whole life’.
Since then, Angela has worked for lots of different organisations. Most of them were charities or social enterprises. A lot of her work has been with or for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Angela used to work for Community Catalysts, helping people think about the way people are supported. She still does that now working with others independantly
Angela believes people should be able to live life their way, following their dreams and getting their voice heard. She also has an understanding of all sorts of organisations and services and the challenges they face when they try to make this happen.
Angela says ‘I have good connections with lots of local authorities and with many smaller organisations too. I hope this might bring something extra to my role’.
Marianne Selby-Boothroyd
Marianne is the Development Director at Certitude, which supports more than 1800 ‘awesome’ people across London. Marianne says that at Certitude she listens to the views and ideas of people they support, their families as well as colleagues, and works with them to influence how Certitude works and improves as an organisation.
Marianne says Certitude belongs to different networks and has good relationships with other support providers across the country. Marianne is also a Partners in Policymaking graduate and links in with lots of people nationally who have great experience and lots of knowledge and skills to share. She will use these networks and relationships to connect with members to identify shared issues, progress ideas and action as well as feedback what is happening.
Away from work, Marianne is mum to 3 boys who have additional support needs, and is the trustee for a parent led charity called Sparkles which provides speech and language therapy to children who have Down Syndrome.
Marianne says ‘through the networks of both Certitude and my own personal experience, I will seek to connect with and expand Learning Disability England membership’.
Tim Keilty
Tim has worked with people with a learning disability for 30 years, as a support worker in a village community, as a supporter to a People First group, an advocate, as a Person Centred Planning Co-ordinator and now as a Special Projects Manager. As the years go by the job titles get more cumbersome but the focus of work remains the same!
Tim has also worked on building sites, as a pub manager and as a cleaner – jobs which are as valuable to his experience as jobs in social care.
Tim works for New Prospects Association in North Tyneside, because he wanted to find out whether it was harder to actually make things happen than tell people how to do it. It is.
Tim is a qualified social worker, but puts more store in the fact that he was once described by Jack Pearpoint (admittedly in an off the cuff comment) as ‘a remarkably gifted leader’.
Tim writes a blog http://talesfromserviceland.blogspot.co.uk, has written a book with a colleague, is a Fellow of the Centre for Welfare Reform and always likes to share ideas and work together.
