YOUNG SCOTS WHO HAVE LEARNING DISABILITIES HOST HIGH PROFILE CONFERENCE BUT FUNDING FEARS LOOM
On Friday 20 May around one hundred delegates are set to attend a unique conference in Stirling, which will highlight how one hundred young Scots who have a learning disability have been challenging themselves and their communities over the last four years through their involvement in an ENABLE Scotland project Speak4Yourself.
This interactive conference, which has been organised by young people between the ages of 16 and 21, will be attended by high profile representatives from education authorities and social work departments, MPs and MSPs. And these young Scots are breaking away from convention, using rap music and street dance alongside traditional presentation styles during the conference.
The Speak4Yourself project was established in 2007 with the help of Big Lottery funding and has succeeded in bringing groups of young people, some who have disabilities and some who do not, together to promote self-advocacy, young people’s rights and also help young people who have a learning disability find mainstream youth activities and peer support.
These groups, which are spread throughout Scotland, also advise leading charity ENABLE Scotland on the issues that are important to young people who have a learning disability and as a result have helped shape ENABLE Scotland’s campaign agenda.
The Speak4Yourself project has given young people who have learning disabilities in Scotland a way of voicing what matters to them. The groups have successfully campaigned on a number of issues . Young people from Helensburgh fought to get Argyll and Bute Council to review and improve its transition policy so that young people who have a learning disability receive the correct support at an earlier stage,
Although the project has been a huge success, the young people have grave concerns about how their groups, their campaigning and their peer support network will continue as funding for the project comes to an end. Some of the groups have already folded while others have less than a year to secure new funding. The conference will close with each young person raising a placard emblazoned with one word stating how good the project has made them feel, although for many this will be their chance to convey their dismay about the loss of funding and the end of their groups.
Mike Holmes ENABLE Scotland’s Director of Campaigns said: “This has been an incredibly successful project but I am concerned about the future as funding for these groups comes to an end. The support given to young people through projects like this reduce the risk that they will end up in a future crisis situation. These projects should be seen as a priority as long term it is more effective to a support a young person now opposed to waiting until they reach crisis and then having to intervene”.