Every Vote Counts! website launched

With elections around the corner, we've launched the Every Vote Counts! website to make it easier for people with learning disabilities to use their vote and have their say.

The website, www.everyvotecounts.org.uk has been built in consultation with people with learning disabilities. It is part of the three year Every Vote Counts! campaign launched by us, and funded by the Electoral Commission. It is designed to open up the democratic process to the thousands of people with learning disabilities in England who are currently missing out on the opportunity to vote.

We hope the Every Vote Counts! website will make the democratic process more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Using pictures, easy to understand words and audio, the site provides information on how politics works, how it affects people's lives and how people can get involved and register their opinion.

It also includes a section where users can feedback on their own experiences of using the website, contributing to its ongoing development as well as the option to register to receive updates as new features are added. The site is continuing to be user tested with people with learning disabilities, so it can be as accessible to as many people as possible.

Read the full press release on our website

Making Money Easier launch event

We will be launching "Making Money Easier" on 26th November. "Making Money Easier" is a set of printed and online guides designed to make banking more accessible and easier to understand for people with learning disabilities.

The event will be held on Wednesday, 26th November, 4.30-6pm, Institute of Directors, London and has been kindly sponsored by HSBC.

The event will be hosted by Martyn Lewis and guest speakers will include Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Health. Building financial capability has never been more important. And this includes building financial knowledge and awareness amongst the 1m people with learning disabilities in England who are often effectively excluded from mainstream financial services by a lack of simple, accessible financial information.

To bridge the gap, we have been working with the umbrella body ARC and funders including the Friends Provident Foundation, the Now Let’s Talk Money Campaign and HSBC to create a range of brand new accessible resources under the banner "Making Money Easier".Attendance is free of charge but places are strictly limited.

To book your place please contact Pauline Spiers either by email at pauline.spiers@unitedresponse.org.uk or by calling 020 8246 5208. You will then be sent an official invitation and joining instructions.

To read the press release in full please go to our website.

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

Every Vote Counts

Every vote counts: United Response launches campaign to engage people with learning disabilities in the democratic proces

United Response, the charity creating opportunities with people with learning disabilities or mental health needs, has launched a campaign to make the democratic process more accessible to the thousands of people with learning disabilities in England who are missing out on the opportunity to vote.

The campaign will be funded by the Electoral Commission, under its programme to encourage greater participation among disabled people.

In the 2001 General Election only 31% of people with learning disabilities voted compared with a national turnout of 59%. Every Vote Counts is a three year campaign to increase the number of people with learning disabilities that are registered to vote and help them have more of a say in the political decisions that affect their lives.

During the first year of the campaign, United Response will consult with other organisations and people supported by the charity, to create a resource to help people with learning disabilities better understand how politics affects their everyday lives, the reasons for voting and how to engage in the democratic process.

United Response will then disseminate the information, providing training for its staff so they can support people to become more actively involved. It will also offer training to organisations and groups involved in the electoral and democratic process on how to make information about policies and candidates more accessible to people with learning disabilities.

For more information email info@unitedresponse.org.uk

Mental Wealth

In June 2005, a group of people with mental health needs took part in a project called Mental Wealth. The project aimed to equip those people with the skills they needed so they could take photographs about what it's like to have a mental health need.

The results are amazing. We decided to make a mini-book out of some of the photographs. And now we have decided to make it available to everyone.

You can get a copy of the mini-book by going to the United Response website: www.unitedresponse.org.uk