Voice, Choice and Control event

This month people from across the region came together to highlight the importance of people with learning disabilities having voice, choice and control over decisions that impact their lives.

Drama sketches, songs and stories were inspired by people’s real life experiences, and brought to life the importance of independence, control and rights for people with learning disabilities.

Priorities identified for people with learning disabilities include: 

1. Family, friendships and peer support 

2. Community integration and safe spaces 

3. Daytime opportunities

4. Transport

5. Supported and Independent Living

6. Advocacy, Rights and Equality

7. Communication and Information Sharing

8. Healthcare

9. Respite Care

10. Life Transitions

More detailed information under these themes will be put into our Population Needs Assessment, and will be shared soon.

Pom poms and lots of fun!

It was great to see People First Bridgend using our engagement toolkit to run their own engagement activity with their members. It was important for the day to be fun and accessible, while getting to the heart of issues facing people with learning disabilities.

During the day, the group focused on themes including: daytime opportunities; community integration and safe spaces; supported and independent living; advocacy, rights and equality; friendships; transport; communication and information sharing; respite; effective transitioning from childhood to adulthood; healthcare and assistive technology. 

Members who took part were asked to vote on the most important thing to them using pom poms!

This helped People First Bridgend to see what meant most to the group, while enabling people to enjoy the session and have their voices heard on what they think the priorities should be for the future.

Danielle Wagstaff,  Training and Development Worker at People First Bridgend said:

“It’s really nice to see people feel empowered with their answers, so when we are asking people a question, we are actually listening to the answer. We’ve done some voting and people’s votes have made a difference. The group voted that actually, for them, friendships and peer relationships were the most important thing to them.”