Tuesday 19 August 2008

People with learning disabilities help to celebrate Liverpool as 2008 European City of Culture

Here is a press release we put on our website today about people with learning disabilities helping celebrate Liverpool as the European City of Culture:

A group of people with learning disabilities supported by United Response's Oakfield Day Service have put on their dancing shoes to help celebrate Liverpool as the 2008 European City of Culture.

United Response was one of ten community organisations asked to take part in the dance event, which was organised by Liverpool's Empire Theatre.

The build up to the event was intense with eight people supported by United Response attending five workshops with the theatre company throughout June, before starring in the final performance last month.

Anthony Kennedy who took part said: “I enjoyed the acting & dancing it made me feel good and made my family proud.”

Eileen Molloy also took part. She said: “I liked the sound effects, the music and lighting, it was exciting to dance too, it gave me so much confidence to go out in front of an audience”.

Two members of United Response staff also starred in the event. Senior Support Worker, Diane O Leary, said: “We all grew in confidence as the performance went on and the group worked hard for each other, supported each other, and wanted to do it all again!”

Service Manager, Veronica Astor, heads up United Response’s work at the Oakfield Day Service. She said: "We were really pleased to be asked to take part in the dance event. It was a lot of fun and it was great to be able to play our part in the city's celebrations.

"It was also a great opportunity for people to show off their talent. Over the years we have built up strong links with several local groups, making it possible for the people we support to take part in a number of arts projects from creating their own animations to making films about local history. Last year was the tenth anniversary of the Oakfield Service and with the help of the WEA some of the people supported by United Response made a stunning mosaic to celebrate the event.

"These projects and the dance event show just what can be achieved when the community works together to create opportunities for people with learning disabilities."

United Response works with people with learning disabilities throughout the Liverpool area. Working in partnership with other organisations, we provide people with everything from 24 hour care to supporting them to find work and play active role in the community. To find out more about the organisation, and the work they do locally, contact Alexandra Badwi or Mike Crawford on (0151) 4873605.

Wednesday 6 August 2008

Response to Independent Inquiry's Health Inequalities report published

Guardian Society has printed a letter from Su Sayer today in response to last week's publication of the Independent Inquiry's report into health inequalities.

United Response has welcomed the report, but is calling for the recommendations to be turned into prompt action. Go to our website to read the press release.

Friday 1 August 2008

About Me and My Life - now for sale

We've produced a fantastic resource called About Me and My Life

It's a CD-Rom and booklet to help people create multimedia tools using everyday technology. And we've made it really easy to use.

When we say multimedia tool, we mean a type of presentation that can show pictures, video or audio. These can really help people to communicate the things that are important, or to tell a story.

There are lots of things you can use the tool for. It's powerful and it's for sale!

Find out more on the resources page of our website