Latest News

Latest News

‘We are aiming to be a lean, mean citizenship machine’  

Tim Keilty speaks about the reality of the organisation he is Chief Executive of, in a world of ever-tightening budgets…

Here they are again, providers moaning about the money. 

I work for a canny big organisation employing 350 staff to support 170 people.  We are a Co-operative and Community Benefit society with Charitable status.  We are not in it for the money.  

Read more  “‘We are aiming to be a lean, mean citizenship machine’  “

Learning Disability England Co-Chairs respond to last week’s budget 

The Co-chairs of Learning Disability England have been thinking about the government’s budget and what that means for the LDE members they know and represent. 

Jack, Scott, Kate and Tim share what they think here: 

Some things look good and are welcome: 

  1. A raise in the maximum earnings allowed for people getting Carers Allowance is good 
  1. We are pleased to see some investment for schools and Children with Special Educational Needs 
  1. Better support for disabled people to work is good in principle 
  1. Making public services better is good – we want to see affordable and social housing, a strong NHS and transport we can all use. 
Read more  “Learning Disability England Co-Chairs respond to last week’s budget “

“People are experts in their own lives”

Gary Bourlet and Amanda Fawcett, Membership and Engagement Leads for Learning Disability England share how they recently presented on self-advocacy at the Blackbelt National Advocacy Conference…

There are many different types of advocacy, from independent advocacy, to peer advocacy to what I would argue is the most important – self-advocacy!

Paid advocates are so important and I think could actually play a major role in supporting people with learning disabilities to self-advocate.

Read more  ““People are experts in their own lives””

“Our NHS is broken, but not beaten. Together we can fix it”

Blog by Ivan Olbrechts and James O’Rourke – Family and Friends Representatives of Learning Disability England

The new Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said that:

Our NHS is broken, but not beaten. Together we can fix it. “

Announced on Monday, 21st October, the government has asked the public, NHS staff, and experts to help ‘fix’ the NHS via a new online platform:

Change.NHS.uk

Read more  ““Our NHS is broken, but not beaten. Together we can fix it””

“I am proud to be black and I am proud to have a learning disability”

Based on a conversation with Aisha Edwards

Aisha reflects on why diversity in the media is needed, some of the barriers she has had to overcome in her life and why she thinks Black History Month is so important…

October is Black History Month. This is a month that gives people the opportunity to share and celebrate the impact of black heritage and culture.

I wish that this was something that people were doing all year round, not just at this time, but I think it’s great that people are stopping to think about the good things black people have done through history.

There are lots of black people, especially women, who I look up to and have had an impact on my life.

Letitia Wright is a big role model for me. She is a Guyana-born actress who has overcome problems like depression and is now living in the UK and is a successful actress.

Read more  ““I am proud to be black and I am proud to have a learning disability””

“We speak a lot about what it means to lead good lives but not much about what it means to have a good death” 

Gary Bourlet – Member and Engagement Lead for Learning Disability England


We speak a lot about what it means to lead good lives but not much about what it means to have a good death.  

People find death more difficult to talk about.  

To me, a good death would be a death that involves choice. I was able to plan what I wanted to happen before, during and after.  

Read more  ““We speak a lot about what it means to lead good lives but not much about what it means to have a good death” “