Letter in The Guardian

A letter from United Response's Chief Executive, Su Sayer was in the letters section of The Guardian today. It responds to the Government's annoucement on social care funding. Su highlights that all of the coverage of the issue so far has focused on elderly care even though many disabled people are seeing their funding being cut too. It says:

"Health secretary Alan Johnson is to be congratulated for highlighting that current funding is not enough to meet the government's own objectives of providing first-class care to those who need it.

So it is unfortunate that all of the media attention focuses only on how this will affect elderly people. There are other groups, such as those with disabilities, whose quality of life is also endangered. Social care is increasingly directed only at those with the most "critical and substantial" needs and those with "mild and moderate" learning disabilities are excluded, reducing their independence and quality of life.

It is important that we hear the voices of everyone affected in the social care debate, including those with disabilities.
Su Sayer
Chief executive, United Response"

To read this and other responses go to The Guardian's letters page on the subject.

Thank you to our Doitforcharity 5K runners!

Congratulations to all our United Response Doitforcharity 5K runners for completing the race in London on Sunday!

We are so grateful for all of your support and for raising such a lot of money for United Response!

We still have some places left for the 5K in Manchester, so if you missed your chance for London, go to www.unitedresponse.org.uk/support-us

Su Sayer interviewed about Employment Summit

Su Sayer has been interviewed by epolitix.com, the website providing up-to-the-minute politics and parliamentary news.

In her interview, she talks about United Response's Employment Summit on May 15th around employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities.

Read her interview (This takes you to the epolitix site.)

United Response's Employment Summit - limited places still available

There are still some places left for our Employment Summit on 15th May, in London starting from 8.00am onwards.

Part of the event will see the launch of our Supported Employment Policy Report.

The event will focus on the fact that despite the fact that two thirds of people with learning disabilities want to work, less than one in five are given the opportunity. It will explore the barriers people with learning disabilities face in finding employment and ways to support them.

Phil Hope, minister for the third sector, and Susan Scott Parker, chief executive of the Employer's Forum On Disability, will be among the senior spokespeople from the public and private sector, while employers and employees will be sharing their real life experiences. The event is sponsored by Unum.

For a place, please contact Laura.Golland@unitedresponse.org.uk direct.

Every Vote Counts

Our project looking at the voting system, politics and people with learning disabilities was featured in Guardian Society on Wednesday.

The piece highlights findings from a recent survey we carried out, looking at the number of people we support who are voting and the reasons for non-participation.

The survey highlights that while 80% of people supported by United Response are registered to vote, only 16% took part in their last local elections and 20% in the last general elections. The complexity of the the voting system, a lack of accessible information and a dearth of training for councillors, MPs and other political stakeholders, were all highlighted by United Response support workers as key barriers to participation.

Isabel Ros Lopez, UR First Manager, was interviewed by The Guardian about the project. She said:

"People with learning disabilities are citizens too, and we have a social duty and legal responsibility to enable them to take part in the democratic process. The fact that we are not achieving this is a social failure."

Su Sayer, chief executive of United Response, said:

"Political decisions affect the lives of people with learning disabilities in the same way as they affect everyone else - more so in many cases - and yet they continue to be some of the most disenfranchised people in society."

Here's the link to the article http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/30/learningdisability