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SDEF Newsletter No.2- January 2002
This newsletter is available by email, on disc or in other formats if preferred. Please contact us to let us know how you would like to receive it.
Forum Update
SDEF Members’ Meeting
The next meeting of members will be held on Friday 5th April 2002 in the Gateway Centre, Perth, from 11.00 - 3.00. There is no charge for attending the event. Lunch will be provided and a travel bursary is available.
The meeting will look at key access issues with a variety of speakers and workshops. It will also provide members with an opportunity to comment on the future priorities for the Forum. We hope at this stage to be clearer about our funding future and commitments.
Please put the date in your diaries. Booking forms will be sent to you shortly.
SDEF Directory of Members
The Management Committee would like to compile a directory of member organisations based on the information provided by members on their application forms. This would cover contact details of each member organisation and their aims and objectives. A draft of the entry for your organisation will be sent to you shortly. Please contact the secretariat as soon as possible if the entry is incorrect or if you would prefer not to be included in the directory. Individual members will not be included in the directory.
Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group
Elma Mitchell, Convenor of SDEF, has now also been elected Vice-Convener of the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Disability.
Access Panels Research
SDEF has been invited to join the steering group of a research project managed by SCVO to look at access panels in Scotland. The researcher will be contacting access panels and other organisations shortly.
Scottish Parliament News
The Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee recently consulted to look at key issues for people with disabilities in the run up to its “taking stock” meeting with Scottish Executive Ministers. Thank you to all those who took the time to send us in comments - a copy of our full response is available at www.sdef.org.uk or we will be happy to send one to you. In total 29 submissions were received by the committee.
The January meeting with the Minister was postponed and will now take place on 5th February. This will be a public meeting in the Scottish Parliament committee rooms. Tickets for the meeting are available from the Visitors Centre on 0131 348 5411, or you can read the Official Report of the meeting a few days later on the Scottish Parliament website www.scottish.parliament.uk.
It is hoped that committee members will take up the points raised by the Forum and the other groups who responded when they meet the Minister. This consultation and the other work being done by Gil Paterson MSP, the committee’s Disability Reporter, will be compiled into a report with recommendations which the committee will discuss in March.
Education (Disability Strategies And Pupils' Records) (Scotland) Bill
The Scottish Parliament Education Committee have been considering the general principles (“stage one”) of this bill during January. At their meeting on 29th January they will look at a draft report on the bill. The final report of stage one will be available shortly, before the committee moves onto stage two and amendments.
Consultations
Disabled Persons Parking Badge Scheme
A consultation paper has now been
issued - copies are available from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/transport/robbs-00.asp
or from John Stirling,
Scottish Executive Development Department, Transport Division 2, 2-F,
Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ telephone 0131-244-0869 e-mail [email protected].
Comments are being collated by DPTAC in London - deadline is 15th
March. The SDEF committee will
be agreeing a response at its meeting on 18th February - please
let us have any comments you would like included before that date.
There is
also a discussion forum on this issue on the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/forums/badge.asp.
Towards
Equality and Diversity
This
consultation, by the UK Department of Trade and Industry, looks at the
implementation of the EU directives on tackling discrimination in the
workplace. Among other things,
it proposes some technical changes to the DDA.
Copies of the consultation paper are available by phoning 0845 60
22260 and quoting code URN01/1466 or from the web at www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality.
Deadline for comments is the end of March.
Publications
Free
Personal Care for the Elderly
The Scottish Executive have published a variety of documents on the subject of free personal care for the elderly. For more details look at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/recent.asp.
Implementation of Part 5 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 The analysis of written submissions to the consultation is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/resfinds/hcc18-00.asp
Benefits
Uprating 2002
Details of benefits from April 2002 are now available. For full details of benefit rates please contact the Secretariat.
Spotlight
on our Members
Aberdeen Action on Disability
Aberdeen
Action on Disability is a user led voluntary organisation, recognised as a
charity in Scotland, which is entirely managed by a committee of people with
physical and sensory disabilities.
AAD exists
to remove social barriers and promote integration and equality of
opportunity for people with disabilities.
An important aspect of our service is the provision of information,
which is essential if individuals are to be able to access services and
facilities and maintain an independent lifestyle.
Our recent move to new premises will permit AAD to develop its
information service with the provision of an accessible information resource
centre, where individuals can drop in and access advice and information.
AAD is
constantly involved in lobbying for accessible goods and services.
One example of this is the work of the Accessible Transport Group, a
joint enterprise with the Community Placement Team at the Council Social
Work Department. This group of
enthusiastic, disabled transport users has been closely involved with the
local bus company in the introduction of low floor buses in the city, and is
involved in ongoing dialogue with local taxi operators in the city to
monitor and improve the standards and availability of accessible taxis.
AAD is
fortunate in having loyal and committed volunteers to serve on its
committee. It was, however,
recognised that many people with disabilities were excluded from the
community and unable to undertake volunteering roles.
In 1997, funding was obtained from the National Lottery to establish
the “Able to Volunteer” project and employ a dedicated member of staff
to support and assist people to access volunteering opportunities.
This service can include meeting the cost of providing transport and
care expenses or the costs of any necessary equipment and training.
Since its creation in 1997, “Able to Volunteer” has placed 98
people with a physical or sensory disability into volunteering or training
opportunities in Aberdeen city, in placements as diverse as a local park
pets corner and a city centre music store.
Care is
always taken to ensure the individual is allocated a placement, which
complements his/her interests or ambitions, with the aim of promoting their
individual development and self-esteem.
Many persons have benefited from the project, but it also became
clear from the service users that although they derived satisfaction from
volunteering, many would welcome the opportunity of entering into paid
employment. Accordingly, a
business plan was prepared and an application for further funding was
submitted to the Community Fund, to establish a job club for people with
disabilities. In 2001, we were
informed that this was successful and we have been awarded a further three
year grant to provide service users with skills such as preparing C.V.’s,
completing application forms and to make available the facilities to enable
them to identify mainstream employment opportunities.
This funding has assisted us to secure our own premises, and will
enable us to employ an additional two members of staff to assist with the
job club. The volunteering
aspect of the project will continue to operate for those persons for whom
paid employment may not be an appropriate option.
In order to reflect the enlarged area of service provision, the
project has been renamed “Ability First”.
This project aptly illustrates AAD’s basic goals of integration and equality of opportunity for people with disability. We hope to able to continue to provide and develop our services to maintain these objectives in order that people will recognise “Ability First” not disability first.
Scottish Disabled Ramblers
Scottish Disabled Ramblers was set
up in January 2000 by a core of enthusiasts from Fife, all with a love of
the outdoors and some form of disability which made accessing the
countryside difficult without transport and a knowledge of where to go.
SDR removes the question marks surrounding a visit to the countryside
by pre-auditing the trails to be taken and providing information on disabled
toilet facilities and a place for refreshments at the end of the day.
The membership has grown to 100 and
is now Scottish-wide as is our programme of rambles which has seen us out
enjoying ourselves in Culzean Castle grounds in Ayrshire, Rothiemurchus
Forest in the Highlands and along the Union Canal at Ratho.
In all two weekend trips and eight day trips were organised for last
year and a similar programme is scheduled for 2002 starting in April.
As is the way with outdoor
enthusiasts the banter is always great with members coming together on a
regular basis to enjoy social interaction in a relaxed setting.
Far from the madding crowds, there is space and time to concentrate
on the more pleasurable things in life.
SDR is now moving into a transitional phase of development with the setting up of district groups, one of which is Forth & Tay Disabled Ramblers, covering Fife, Perth and Kinross. We have now appointed a committee and have drafted a constitution to submit to the Inland Revenue to gain charitable status so if you are interested in finding out more please contact the Secretary:
Mary Guild, 97 Gillway, Rosyth KY11 2UL, email [email protected]
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