Disabled people building a better wales

They were joined by Kate Cassidy, employer advisor at the Department of Work and Pensions, along with Welsh organisations and charities, on Friday 14 June for the celebratory ‘My Voice, My Choice’ showcase event, run by leading disability charity Leonard Cheshire, at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.

Carolyn Harris MP, who was joined by fellow politicians Mike Hedges AM, Suzy Davies AM and Tonia Antoniazzi MP said:

‘It was a great privilege be part of all the important conversations taking place at My Voice, My Choice.

‘From hate crime to fitness and well-being, disabled people shared what makes society work for them and where challenges remain.

‘I hope everyone who attended feels empowered to make their voice heard and has learnt more about what services are already in place to support them.

‘Leonard Cheshire has run a fantastic project and I’ll take with me everything I’ve heard about how we can make our communities more inclusive.’

One of the attendees, Simon Green said:

‘As a disabled person myself the sessions put on by Leonard Cheshire were vital. Helping to make sure a disabled person knows how to and where to report a hate crime and the importance of fitness is vital and I applaud Leonard Cheshire for work they are doing.’

Everyone who came to the event got to find out about the local and national services available to them. They also got to raise awareness of the day to day issues they face, discussing social inclusion, hate crime and fitness and well-being. The discussions around access to sport and exercise led to Rebecca Evans AM to offer to look into specialised gym equipment being made available in all council run gyms.

People also got to try out the inclusive sport Boccia and watched a paradance performance at the event.

This showcase came as part of the Big Lottery funded ‘My Voice, My Choice’ project, which has also seen Leonard Cheshire run a series of successful workshops in Swansea earlier this year.

Leonard Cheshire’s My Voice, My Choice Project Coordinator Joshua Reeves said:

‘It’s important to have impactful discussions like the ones we have at My Voice, My Choice events.

‘I can see that the participants have enjoyed the workshops. At a local level, I have learnt so much about the Swansea community and how it should be improved for disabled people.

‘We chose social inclusion, hate crime and fitness and well-being as our main topics and we saw fascinating debates. I hope everyone who took part in these events feels empowered to change their community.’

As well as helping to establish connections across the community, the findings from this project will be used when Leonard Cheshire plans future work in Wales. Leonard Cheshire are also now looking to set up a citizen panel to help shape its campaigning in Swansea.

For more information please contact: Rhian Stangroom-Teel on Rhian.Stangroom-Teel@leonardcheshire.org

Media enquiries

For further information and interview requests, please contact: Claire Farrell on claire.farrell@leonardcheshire.org or 020 3242 0389

Notes to editors

Organisations taking part in the event include:

• Learning Disability Wales 
• Whizz-Kidz 
• Go Wales 
• Swansea Boccia Club 
• Your voice advocacy 
• Children in Wales 
• Exercise for all
• DWP
• Swansea Co producers
• Medimotion