Sunderland People First have been chosen as part of the Learning Disability Leaders List in the category Advocacy, Policy and the Media for their #SelfAdvocacyWorks project in which they have been mapping self-advocacy groups across the country and developing an online interactive map.
The project is a collaboration between Sunderland People First, Inclusion North, Learning Disability England and the University of Sheffield. Sunderland People First and Lucy Virgo were part of the Crook Public Service Fellowships at the University of Sheffield which provide the opportunity for future leaders in public and not-for-profit sectors to take short periods away from their day job and immerse themselves in a collaborative project with academic colleagues on a pressing policy issue or challenge.
Sunderland People First and Lucy Virgo worked with Professors Dan Goodley (Education), Paul Latraille (Sociology) and Katherine Runswick-Cole (Education) to develop a searchable online map of self-advocacy groups in England. This is the first time that an online directory of self-advocacy groups has been made available in England.
The project team were grateful for the support of the wider self-advocacy movement, who provided enormous support for the project by ensuring that self-advocacy groups from across the country are represented.
The online map, created with the support of the web development team at Evoluted, is in the final stages of preparation and will go live in January and will be hosted on Learning Disability England’s website.
Follow #SelfAdvocacyWorks for more information or contact k.runswick-cole@sheffield.ac.uk
