Introduction
We had our first 2025 BDEF CIO members meeting in March.
It was in The Park Centre, Knowle. We are making sure that each of our four members meetings in 2025 are spread out across Bristol and are at different times of the day.
Our first was in South Bristol, the next will be in North Bristol, the third will be in West/Central Bristol and our last one of the year will be in East Bristol at our new home in Easton Community Centre.
What did we talk about?
Firstly, we had an icebreaker session. We asked everyone to briefly introduce themselves and share a little about their connection to the BDEF CIO community.
Secondly, we introduced the new trustees and Co-Chairs of the trustees. You can find out who they are here:
Then we had some table conversations followed by whole-group discussions.
We asked four questions.
- How do we work together as a community in BDEF?
- What does community mean to you?
- How do Disabled people fit in with your idea of community in Bristol?
- How does BDEF fit into these ideas of Community, Bristol and you?
There was a lot of discussion which has given us a lot of ideas of what we should be prioritising at BDEF CIO.
How do we work together as a community in BDEF?
We asked this because BDEF CIO in its new structure doesn’t have any official agreements as part of its membership.
We want BDEF CIO BDEF CIO to be and remain a safe space for Disabled people (including members, trustees and staff).
As agreed at the meeting, what the members highlighted would then become the BDEF CIO member’s agreement.
It was agreed that it is all our responsibility to work towards upholding these ways of working. Therefore, this member’s agreement (focusing on respect, inclusivity, and collaboration) will now be used for all BDEF CIO members.
You can find the new BDEF CIO Members Agreement here.
What does community mean to you?
This was asked as everyone has a different idea of what community means.
Our members described what they consider ‘community’ to mean…
- Community should be reciprocal not hierarchical.
- A connection through making a difference for individuals, for groups and for people who share an identity.
- Connections in spite of barriers and differences.
- People being thrown together randomly and when they are least expecting connections.
- Represents optimism.
- Community is somewhere to hold space for difference.
- A space to feel comfortable and connected.
- A space for sharing and aligning.
- When you see someone/people regularly and say ‘hi’.
- A space to share news and concerns.
- Can be created in spaces where you would least expect it such as on social media.
- Somewhere you can be yourself.
- Somewhere you can offer advice and lean on each other.
- Somewhere you can recognise the importance of each other.
- Having different options to come together.
- Unity and diversity.
- A space where everyone is on a level playing field.
- Somewhere where difference is normal.
- A space to feel connected in politics.
- An appreciation for the natural world and its role in your life.
How do Disabled people fit in with your idea of community in Bristol?
This was asked as although everyone had great ideas of what community was and should be, some of our members have raised how they find community spaces and environments in Bristol difficult to access.
They said …
- There is a need to have a place to drop in. Not all spaces are accessible to Disabled people.
- Disabled people are an asset for everyone, however not everyone recognises this.
- Disabled People Organisations (DPOs) need to work together wherever possible. This previously has not happened very well; this needs to be an area of focused improvement.
- There is a need to have own communities specifically for people with shared identities.
- Disability Equality spaces have generally not reflected the community of Bristol, based on race, gender, sexuality and gender identity among others. This needs to be improved.
- Fighting for Disabled People access in external community groups helps everyone, which isn’t always recognised.
- Sometimes it is difficult for Disabled people to disclose impairments in other community spaces. This can lead to other people in the community assuming Disabled people don’t want to take part whereas the reality is that there hasn’t been any attempt to make the community more accessible which keeps Disabled people excluded. Disabled people don’t want to always have to disclose to join in.
How does BDEF fit into these ideas of Community, Bristol and you?
At BDEF CIO, we wanted to find out how we can make sure that what we are offering as a community is what is wanted by our members.
Therefore, we thought we should find out from our members, what we should be doing and how we should be doing it.
We commissioned Sam Church Illustrations to create some images based on your answers to guide us in our everyday work. We will be using this images to explain our mission and our work as an organisation.
- BDEF’s role is to be a support for Disabled people and to fight for Disabled people’s rights in Bristol.
- It should be a space to share experiences.
- It should build on what is already there in the community, using a community development approach.
- Providing spaces to meet up and link with likeminded people.
- Needs to be united in voice as BDEF.
- BDEF can be a connector.
- It should be a space where Disabled people can be heard, but also make sure that Disabled people are heard in different spaces around Bristol.
- BDEF should always be fighting for the access needs of Disabled people in Bristol, whether that is physical, information, translation or anything else.
- It should be a space to offer guidance and support by Disabled people for Disabled people.
Message from BDEF CIO staff and trustees
We finished off the meeting with a thank you all for your participation and dedication to making BDEF a stronger, more connected community.
We will be using our member’s advice and thoughts to decide on what work we take forward. Our Peer Support and Community Development work is already going some way to address some of the points that you highlight BDEF CIO but we will look to how we can address the other points.
Stay tuned and involved!