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Specialist website The Accessible Property Register
www.accessible-property.org.uk advertises wheelchair accessible
residential property for sale and rent in all parts of the UK. Property
for shared ownership (part buy/part rent) is included and the total number
of properties available has increased significantly this year.
APR also advertises high specification wheelchair accessible holiday
accommodation in the UK and overseas. Accommodation includes property
with level entry showers, electrically operated profiling beds, and
ceiling hoists.'
We also support housing providers in the identification and promotion of
accessible and adapted property.
We thought you might like to know that,
for 2010, The Accessible Property Register has significantly increased the
number of wheelchair accessible properties advertised for sale and rent
throughout the UK. The same applies to high specification wheelchair
accessible holiday accommodation.
Residential property and holiday accommodation can be viewed at
www.accessible-property.org.uk.
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This
M.E. Awareness Week, Action for M.E. is hosting a special skydiving
event in Salisbury on 15 May.
This is your chance to do an exhilarating 10,000ft freefall skydive and
raise funds for our charity.
All places must be booked by 7 March. Contact Nicola, on 0117 930 7293 or
book online.
Action
for M.E. |
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 Personal
Budgets - which local authorities are ready?
With the biggest ever shake up in social care funding just one year away
local authorities are failing to provide vital information for disabled
people and risk undermining moves to give greater choice and
independence for up to 1.75million people across the UK.
This conclusion is the result of a systematic review by Livability,
the national disability charity into the performance of local
authorities across England. The review, which included benchmarking best
and worst performers, surveys and a mystery shopper exercise reveals:
*Almost half (45%) of local authority websites had no information
at all on Personal Budgets
*Almost half of telephone enquiries about Personal Budgets were
misdirected and almost a quarter of local authorities were unable
to provide any information at all
*Only 3% of local authorities were able to recommend additional sources of
information on Personal Budgets to the mystery shopper
Livability's mystery shopper contacted 103 local authorities
(including all London authorities). The City of London and Portsmouth
City Council were the best performers, being the only two to score a
perfect 10 for the information provided. More evidence shows that local
authorities are failing to engage and consult with the people who could
benefit from the new funding systems (Personal budgets) being introduced
in 2011.
An nfp Synergy survey commissioned by the charity of over 500 disabled
young adults also showed a disturbing lack of awareness of these new
funding systems, which have the potential to transform their lives. Of
those surveyed:* 9 out of 10 (87%) of the people surveyed had never heard
of Personal Budgets
* Over half (54%) of the people surveyed did not even know the name of
the local authority that provide their services.
Livability is warning that these
findings will affect an estimated 1.75 million disabled people in England
and around 25,000 providers who deliver services which cost the public
purse £17.5 billion.*
Where pilot schemes have been in
operation (for example, in Essex and Coventry) the funding system has led
to disabled people choosing to make substantial changes to their housing
and support services.
Replicated on a wider scale this will threaten the viability of current
services and their staff as people choose to opt for alternatives.
Chief executive of Livability
Mary Bishop said:
"The results of our research are
extremely worrying. Personal Budgets have the potential to transform the
lives of disabled people by giving them choice and control and
yet awareness of them is woefully inadequate. With just over a year to
go until they are rolled out across England, it is clear that central and
local government are ill prepared.
We would like to help and engage with them without delay in
developing new services needed by disabled people."
Mark Harper, MP Shadow Minister for Disabled People says:
"It is clear from the reports findings
that there is still a great deal more to do to ensure that disabled people
up and down the country can take advantage of Personal Budgets. All the
evidence says that disabled
people with a Personal Budget have more control of their lives and better
health outcomes. There is clearly a role here for Central Government to
show more Leadership and to impress upon Local Authorities the importance
of making these opportunities available for disabled people."
Baroness Howarth, is today taking the
charity's concerns to Phil Hope, MP, the Minister for Care Services and
the charity will be delivering the damning findings and recommendations
for urgent action to every MP and local authority in England. To ensure
the funding scheme is kept on track Livability urges:
* Central Government run a nationally branded campaign to raise awareness
of Personal Budgets among disabled people;
* Local authorities and PCTs consult and engage with disabled people in
their area to find out what they want and the help they will need to make
it happen
* Local authorities use that
information to map out the services that will be needed by local disabled
people when Personal Budgets are rolled out nationally in 2011;
* Local Authorities and PCTs work
closely with providers to ensure that the services needed are available
so that disabled people have genuine choice.
For more information please visit the
Livability website
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**Take
Action for Access**
In addition to the Your Voice, Your Say campaign based around the coming
elections, this year we will be focusing on our Action for Access campaign
for a more accessible UK.
We know from speaking to you that access is an issue that affects
everyone. Every day disabled people face barriers to doing everyday
activities, like using the bank, shopping and visiting leisure facilities
like the cinema. Despite the Disability Discrimination Act which came into
force in 1995, much of the UK remains simply inaccessible to many disabled
people.
**How you can get involved**
**Step 1**
Register online and download an survey
<http://www.LCDisability.org/lists/lt.php?id=ZEoIBgwDAw8FGQABC0oBDQYEAw%3D%3D>
from
http://www.LCDisability.org/lists/lt.php?id=ZEoIBgwDAw8KGQABC0oBDQYEAw%3D%3D
to start surveying your local shops,
pubs, sports club, music venue, or any places that you are planning on
visiting in the UK
**Step 2**
Add your survey to the Access Map.
**Step 3**
Enter our competition ...
<http://www.LCDisability.org/lists/lt.php?id=ZEoIBgwDAw8LGQABC0oBDQYEAw%3D%3D>
to find new ideas, designs, drawings and photographs that illustrate the
access barriers that disabled people face.
The Action for Access site also contains loads more information about
places that have been surveyed in your area, gives examples of some
successful access campaigns and provides information for service
providers on what they can do to improve access. A new section with
resources to help you follow up your surveys and a section on surveying
transport will be coming to the website soon.
**Join us on Facebook and Twitter**
We have recently launched our new Facebook fanpage
<http://www.LCDisability.org/lists/lt.php?id=ZEoIBgwDAw4CGQABC0oBDQYEAw%3D%3D>
and Twitter page
<http://www.LCDisability.org/lists/lt.php?id=ZEoIBgwDAw4DGQABC0oBDQYEAw%3D%3D>
where you will be able to receive the latest updates about campaign
developments, join debates, post your campaign photos and chat to other
campaigners.
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Abuse of
disabled people investigated in Panorama: Why Do You Hate Me?
Some disabled people are suffering abuse and
hostility for no other reason than their disability, an investigation by
BBC One’s Panorama has found.
Secretly recorded footage for Panorama: Why Do You Hate Me?, shown
on Monday 15th., shows a wheelchair user being mocked and
threatened in a bar, while in another incident a mother and daughter film
an attacker smashing every window on their mobility car.
Panorama reveals just how many such incidents go unrecorded.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer, admits that the
justice system doesn’t always get it right when dealing with so-called
“disability hate crime”.
He says: “I think there are lots and lots of incidents of disability
hate crime. I think we haven’t collectively picked them up and
investigated and prosecuted them in the way we should.”
Crown Prosecution Service figures for last year show there were
299 convictions for England and Wales. That compares to more than 9,500
for racial and religious hate crimes.
In Wales alone last year police recorded 116 such incidents, with just
18 convictions.
Simon Green, a wheelchair user from Bridgend, who presents the programme,
secretly filmed a couple of his nights out to expose the hostility
and abuse he sometimes experiences.
During one evening he’s confronted by a group of men who verbally
abuse him, swearing at him and alling him a “cripple”, and suggesting he
can really walk.
Simon, who has been a wheelchair user for six years, says during that time
he has been physically as well as verbally assaulted just because he is
disabled.
And, though the law has got tough on people who abuse others on the
grounds of their race or religion, the attitude towards often low-level
but continued abuse of disabled people seems far behind.
Simon also meets Irene Miles, 77, who was born disabled. She and her
daughter Lorraine, who is her full-time carer, say they have suffered
years of abuse at their Newport home.
Just a few months ago a CCTV camera captured a hooded man running
around their vehicle, smashing every window before disappearing down the
road. The vehicle is a lifeline for the family.
They’ve contacted police 60 times in the last five years but only this
latest incident, which happened last November, has been categorised as a
hate crime.
Lorraine says: “I feel as though the police think we’re a nuisance to
them.I think now they’re sitting up and taking note but the help for me
and my mum has come far too late.”
The family believe their case has similarities with the horrific story of
Fiona Pilkington. She killed herself and her disabled daughter
in Leicestershire after years of persistent abuse.
Gwent Police are now reviewing the handling of Lorraine and Irene’s case.
Chief Superintendent Paul Symes says: “I will do my upmost to ensure that
this is not a Pilkington case for Gwent Police. I’m aware of what the
learning was within Pilkington, part of that involved some criticism
around some perception that agencies weren’t working together.”
Campaigners say disability hate crimes are too often unreported by victims
and under-recorded by police – and that needs to change.
This programme is a version of a report originally broadcast by BBC Wales
on 4 January 2010.
Please Note: If you are resident in the UK you can now watch this episode
of Panorama on BBC iPlayer by following the link below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qykm2/Panorama_Why_Do_You_Hate_Me/
You can also see highlights and further comment on the Panorama website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/default.stm
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Charities for
the disabled merge to face new climate
Two
of the leading charities that provide support for disabled people in
Britain are merging in the first of what is expected to be a wave of
similar tie-ups in the voluntary sector.
Advocacy Partners, which provides independent advocacy services to those
with learning disabilities, mental health needs or physical impairments,
is merging with Speaking Up, which offers similar services.
The merger was brokered by Breakthrough, the joint venture formed in 2005
between CAN, the social enterprise, and Permira, the private equity firm,
which seeks to help established social enterprises to continue growing.
Other such mergers in the voluntary sector are expected as
charitable donations and financial support from local and central
government are expected to decline. Almost one UK charity or social
enterprise in five is thought to have made people redundant during the
recession.
A recent survey for Breakthrough of more than 70 leaders of charities and
social enterprises found that almost two thirds had considered mergers or
acquisitions. Almost four in five agreed or strongly agreed that there
should be more mergers in the “third” sector. However, few such mergers
have got off the ground until recently, partly because of fears of
antagonising donors and because — according to those polled — most such
bodies are more focused on helping those they exist to support than on
the efficiency of their organisation.
The biggest merger between two British charities was in 2002, when the
Cancer Research Campaign joined the Imperial Cancer Research Fund to
form Cancer Research UK. Age Concern and Help the Aged joined forces last
April to form an organisation soon to named Age UK.
Jonathan Senker, chief executive of Advocacy Partners, will take the
same role in the merged organisation — Advocacy Partners Speaking Up.
Craig Dearden-Philips, the founder of Speaking Up, will seek election as
chairman of the new body’s board.
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Reinstatement of income support for disabled lone parents
Between March and October 2009 some lone parents with a disability or
health condition had their award of Income Support (IS) ended incorrectly
and were subsequently directed to claim Employment and Support Allowance.
The DWP have identified around 17,000 customers who may have been
affected and now need to contact them to offer them the opportunity
to:Stay on their current benefit Move back to IS, if they are still
receiving
benefit; or Reinstate IS for the period following the end of their award
of IS if they are no longer receiving benefit. From 15th February 2010
an exercise will commence over a four week period, where DWP will contact
all affected lone parents advising them of the error and informing them
of their options.
Each customer will be asked to complete a reply slip outlining
their preference and return it to their local Jobcentre Plus Benefit
Delivery Centre (BDC) in a prepaid envelope. A dedicated national
helpline (including Welsh language and textphone numbers) has been set up
to provide further information. The number is 0845 850 0456. Additional
support will be provided through the customers own Benefit Delivery Centre
to help them decide if they are better off remaining on their current
benefit.
If you would like more information about lone parent changes generally
and how they are being implemented an Information Pack “Changes to
Income Support for Lone Parents and Jobseekers Allowance for all Parents”
provides information about the changes for lone parents.
This is available on the Jobcentre Plus website at
www.dwp.gov.uk/adviser/updates/changes-to-benefits-for-lone.
Disability Alliance
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Share the Care Week in March
Share the Care Week in March is to raise awareness of the needs of families
of
disabled children - part of the BIG Breaks campaign
Verity Hitchings, Shared Care Network, writes, "Shared Care Network’s annual awareness week will take place from 7-14 March 2010. It aims to raise awareness of the needs of
families
of disabled children and to recruit short break carers for disabled
nationwide".
"These carers are ordinary people who provide regular care
to
a disabled child while giving their family a regular break from the
demands of caring. It is part of Shared Care Networks BIG
Breaks campaign which aims to double the number of families receiving a short
break to 20,000 by 2010". For more information: Visit:
www.sharedcarenetwork.org.uk
or contact Verity Hitchings -
E-mail: verity.hitchings@sharedcarenetwork.org.uk Tel: 0117
9415361.
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Don't
forget those with learning difficulties, parties told
Only 16 per cent of people with
learning disabilities are exercising their right to vote, it has been
claimed, as a campaign is launched to make disabled people's votes count.
A report from United Response published today also found that at least
half a million people who have the capacity to vote are not doing so.
The national disability charity is calling on political parties to do more
to ensure that 2010 is the "most inclusive election in UK history".
Su Sayer, United Response's founder and chief executive, said: "People
with learning disabilities are affected by decisions made at a national
and local level in the same way as everyone else.
"Yet information about the democratic process is often presented in a way
which is confusing and full of jargon. As a result, many people who would
like to vote currently find themselves excluded."
The report follows three years of work funded by the Electoral
Commission. It calls for voter turnout to increase to at least by 40 per
cent.
All parties could publish their manifestoes in a
format easy to understand for people with learning disabilities, it
suggests.
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