What are the facts?
Everyone wants to feel that they are listened to and that their voice matters. We all need to be heard, right? Sadly, that isn't always the case for people with learning disabilities.
Here is what some of the people we work with say:
"The drop-in has made my self-esteem better – I can be myself, talk to people about important things."
"(the advocate) was really helpful with my PIP assessment over the phone and yesterday afternoon at your office. She is doing a great job as a Money Advocate."
"I have a chance to speak up and speak to other people if I’ve got any problems."
"I can be myself without judgment. The group keeps me informed and up to date about things. It’s nice to socialize."
What do we do?
We bring people together to speak up on issues and feel connected. And when things go wrong we support people with 121 advocacy caseworkers. The cost of living crisis has hit everyone hard, but for people with learning disabilities it has been even harder. Our charity gives people direct help with debts, benefit problems and housing issues. We helped people with learning disabilities recoup over £64,000 last year.
We also provide groups where people can get together, feel less isolated and share their experiences. We support people to speak up, gain confidence and feel more empowered. Last year we ran 174 groups and activities, almost a group every 2 days.
What do we need?
We need funding to continue to run our groups and to fund our services to help people to resolve their issues. We also need to pay the bills ourselves! Your donations will go towards keeping our small, but effective charity going at a time when people need us more than ever.
For our Christmas Appeal, we ask people to be generous and give support to a section of society that is continually ignored. Together we can help people to speak up and get the support they deserve.
One of our group meetings for people with learning disabilities.