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In conversation with Pat Charlesworth
- Author:
- HOLMAN Andrew
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 38(4), December 2010, pp.242-244.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Pat Charlesworth is a self-advocate and a campaigner. She is one of the London representatives on the National Forum of People with Learning Disabilities. The National Forum is a government-funded body set up as part of the Valuing People programme in order to tell the Government how the programme is working from the perspective of a service user. This interview describes her childhood history, how she became involved in advocacy work, and her feelings about the Valuing People programme and the future of the National Forum. Pat Charlesworth was frequently in trouble as a child, but then started voluntary work which increased her confidence and led to her involvement with advocacy. She is unsure about the ability of the National Forum to tackle the current issues in the spending review and the cuts this will inevitably bring, and wants a National Forum that could bring all the self-advocacy groups and organisations of people with learning disabilities together to speak with one voice to fight the cuts and keep services safe.
People need people
- Author:
- HOLMAN Andrew
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, 10(2), February 2010, pp.14-17.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
Andrew Holman, Chairman of Stars in the Sky, a social enterprise dating agency for people with learning disabilities in the UK, explains why his organisation is joining with Learning Disability Today to launch a campaign to tackle isolation. He addresses the related issues of friendship and relationships noting that in the past friendships have often been ignored by service providers with little effort made to help people maintain old friendships or make new ones. It is also suggested that independence and choice can sometimes end in isolation. Not only are friendships good for the individual but prioritising friendship can mean different, but ultimately fewer, demands on services. The author believes that compared to maintaining friendships the thought of having a long-term relationship can seem insurmountable. He accepts that things have move forward since sexual relationships between people with learning disabilities were first openly discussed in the 1970s. ‘Valuing People Now’, the Government’s new three year strategy for people with learning disabilities, pays attention to relationships. It puts emphasis on the importance of enabling people with learning disabilities to meet new people, form all kinds of relationships and lead a full life with access to a diverse range of social and leisure activities. It includes the right to become parents. The idea behind the campaign discussed here is that everyone should have access to these rights and ‘Growing Friendships’ is calling on partnership boards in areas of the country without a friendship or dating agency to set one up.
The case of the missing advocate
- Authors:
- HOLMAN Andrew, ASPIS Simone
- Journal article citation:
- Viewpoint, 26, March 1998, p.10.
- Publisher:
- Mencap/Gateway
Discusses the Lord Chancellor's consultation paper Who Decides?, Making Decisions on Behalf of Mentally Incapacitated Adults. The authors challenge the view that other people always know best.
Southampton listening to users' views
- Author:
- HOLMAN Andrew
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 11(4), April 1998, pp.6-7.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
Many organisations and service providers say one thing in their glossy brochures and do another in their actual provision. Reports on Southampton Community Trust's Charter for adults with learning disabilities.