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History
The roots of SDEF go back
to a conference, “The Empowerment of Disabled People” held in September
1995 at Erskine. This was attended by three hundred people, including
service users and representatives of service providers and local
authorities.
In December 1995, two
members of the Kilmarnock Forum, who were also office bearers of Strathclyde
Forum on Disability, wrote to around five hundred organisations floating the
idea of an all Scotland disability group.
Interest was sparked
amongst a number of groups and a Steering Group formed involving: the
Lothian Coalition of Disabled People; Aberdeen Action on Disability,
Disability Alliance in the Scottish Highlands, Nithsdale Coalition of
Disabled People, Stewartry Coalition of Disabled People, Dunfermline Forum
on Disability and Strathclyde Forum on Disability.
The Steering Group worked
during 1996, gaining the support of the then Scottish Office for an
inaugural meeting to establish a national forum on disability, with the
strong suggestion that Disability Scotland should become involved to provide
ongoing support.
The first meeting was
held at Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, with the kind permission of Sam Galbraith,
on Wednesday 5th November 1997. Around seventy delegates attended
from all over Scotland, the majority concluding that: a new Steering Group
be elected to carry the work forward; the constitution of the organisation
should be refined; and Disability Scotland should provide the secretariat
and support.
Elections were held and the Steering Group was extended to fifteen members, their first meeting being scheduled for March 1998. The following year, after much hard work, the constitution was finalised and the Steering Group made its recommendations.
There was a unanimous
mandate, from the disability groups which responded, to see a Scottish Forum
established. At a meeting in Glasgow in November 1999 an interim committee
was formed to consider membership and to arrange a further meeting in
Edinburgh in March 2000. Miss Elma Mitchell was elected Convenor, a post she
held until her untimely death in March 2004.
During 2000, Disability
Scotland ceased to exist and it was only with the determination, commitment
and financial input of the committee that the venture continued. There was
also an appeal to members for small donations. However, there was a clear
need for structured support and a meeting was arranged with Yvonne Strachan
of the Equality Unit of the Scottish Executive in September 2000 to discuss
the way forward.
In early 2001 Elma
Mitchell arranged administrative support with the Scottish Council for
Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). In July that year charitable status with the
Inland Revenue was granted, and on the same day 9th July 2001, an
AGM with the title “Including Us All” was held at the Dunblane Hydro.
Funding was received from
the Scottish Executive’s Equality Unit in 2003 and the organisation became
a Company Limited by Guarantee in February that year.
The first two members of
staff were engaged, the first being Dianne Jackson, who became Office
Manager and, shortly afterwards, Wyn Merrells was taken on as Project
Manager.
During 2003, SDEF was
elected the umbrella body for Access Panels and in 2004 received further
grant assistance from the Scottish Executive’s Community Care Division to
carry out the work. As a result of this extra responsibility SDEF employed
Robert Pickles and Elaine Wilson during 2004, to act as Access Development
Officer and Access Development Administrator respectively.
Dianne Jackson having
given valuable service to the organisation, particularly in its period of
becoming established as a professional body with an office base, took early
retirement in August 2004 and SDEF employed Maeve Caraher as Office
Administrator.
However, for much of the
long period in reaching where we are today, the effort was provided by
dedicated people who gave of their time, without any aim besides
establishing an organisation to be of service to people with disabilities in
Scotland. In particular, much of the drive came from our late Convenor Elma
Mitchell, who sadly died just as we were becoming the umbrella body for
Access Panels, a cause for which she had striven for years. The award by the
Scottish Executive of �500,000 for Access Panels was announced less than
two weeks before she passed away and serves as a fitting tribute to her
efforts.
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� Copyright Scottish Disability Equality Forum 2003-2006
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