What’s new

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Access Sport are running new 16+ sessions as part of the Mencap Round The World Challenge.

As part of a collaborative effort, lots of fantastic deliverers have teamed up to offer multi-sport sessions in North and South Bristol. The 8 week block will then repeat in the alternate venue later in the year after a cycling and wheelchair sports block too so everyone has the opportunity to try all activities. Along the way, participants earn rewards for the hours of activity they complete.

·       South Bristol Hub (The Park Centre, Daventry Road, BS4 1DQ) –  Mondays 11am – 12pm starting 10^th May

·       North Bristol Hub (Badminton School, Westbury Road, BS9 3BA) – Thursdays 12.15 – 1.15pm starting 13^th May

Participants are required to fill in the below word document to register and return to Joe.Hawkins@accesssport.co.uk.

The Government has been sent a petition calling on them to reverse all ‘do not resuscitate’ orders for Covid-19 patients with learning difficulties.  There are over 160,000 signatures now, yet the Government haven’t replied.  This is unacceptable!

We need to ensure this is no longer ignored so can you please email the Health Minister, Matt Hancock MP? 

He will find 160,000 emails hard to ignore!

It would be great if you could also copy in your local MPs and newspapers, so our voices get heard.  Please also send your email to your local Bristol MP.

If you are not sure what to say, you can find some suggested wording here

Send your email to: matt.hancock.mp@parliament.uk with a heading saying End Do Not Resuscitate notices – petition.

The addresses for the four Bristol MPs are the following:

Kerry McCarthy MP (East) – kerry.mccarthy.mp@parliament.uk

Darren Jones MP (North West) – darren.jones.mp@parliament.uk

Karin Smyth MP (South) – karin.smyth.mp@parliament.uk

Thangam Debbonaire (West) – thangam.debbonaire.mp@parliament.uk

If doctors have said you have a learning disability, you might want to say something like this instead.

Dear Mr Hancock MP,

You have been sent a petition signed by about 160,000 people.  It says you should stop doctors putting Do Not Resuscitate orders on the medical records of people like me and some older people.

This should not be allowed.  Only we can know if our life is worth living, even when it has been decided that we are not capable of making decisions.

This is because knowing about medicine is different to knowing what it is like to be me, and whether I would rather be dead than alive. 

You have had the petition for some time now and the issue has been in the news but have not replied – not even to let us know what you think about it. 

I also thought your website says that petitions with 100,000 signatures, or more, should be discussed in parliament, if possible.  But you haven’t told us the government’s decision about this.

We want you to respond to the petition and to let us know if it will be talked about in parliament now.

I will be waiting for your answers.

Yours

[put your full name and address in this space]

We’ve been asked by Riddell Erridge, a producing assistant at MAYK, to promote an opportunity for Disabled people to get involved with an upcoming Disability arts project happening in Bristol in May.

The project is called A Crash Course in Cloudspotting by the artist Raquel Meseguer Zafe. Raquel’s work creates theatrical encounters that explore the lived experience of Hidden Disability. Her work also claims rest + horizontality as sites for story telling and spectatorship. 

Raquel’s project invites people with chronic pain and other Hidden Disabilities, who need to rest throughout, to share a story and use our App to communicate their rest with our audience during shows at the end of May (anonymously). 

When participants press ‘start resting’ on our App, it triggers a unique sound loop. Together, these sound loops create the sonic landscape we invite our audience to rest within. This sonic landscape illuminates our collective rest, and in doing so illuminated the hidden worlds of Neurodiverse communities. 

We’re contacting you as we want to connect with people who live or work in the South West area, who might be interested in participating.

For more information & how to get in touch with Raquel, please visit her website here: 
https://uncharteredcollective.com/cloudspotting-participants

Brigstowe have are hiring for a new Admin & Support Worker. It’s an exciting opportunity for someone who is passionate about delivering person centered care, has an understanding of the welfar benefit system and housing support, and wants to have an impact and make a difference to people living with HIV.

Brigstowe’s Advice and Support Team work with people living with or affected by HIV. It is a dynamic and varied role, which holds clients at the heart of service delivery. Their clients come from diverse cultural backgrounds, which include many minority groups. Brigstowe pride themselves on offering services, which are person centered and they continually endeavor to understand and reflect the needs of all communities affected by HIV.

The Advice and Support Team consists of 3 part time workers and the role will require applicants to be able to  work well under pressure, be self-motivated, work off their own initiative but also be a great team player and deliver a service which is responsive, flexible and inclusive. It is a heavily advice based role, so a solid understanding of the welfare benefit system and housing related support is essential. Brigstowe provide a client centered, trauma informed approach to maintaining and sustaining relationships, whilst offering effective liaison and advocacy skills to support clients to understand and access their rights and entitlements. They work with clients to assist them to be more independent and to achieve their goals.

Salary: £25,481 to £27,741 (NJC payscale 19 – 23) 
Hours: Part-Time 30 hours. 
Closing Date: Thursday 29th April 2021 11:59pm
Interview Date: Friday 7th May 2021 via Zoom

You will join a collaborative, supportive, motivated and dynamic team.

You will receive: 

Generous annual leave entitlement 

6% contribution to your pension 

Ongoing training and development opportunities 

Regular one-to-one supervision. 

Brigstowe is committed to reducing inequality, valuing diversity and enabling inclusion. We welcome applications from people with the appropriate skills from all parts of the community 

If you would like more information on this role, please get in touch. 

Please submit your CV, with a covering letter outlining your reasons for applying and how your skills and experience fit the person specification.   All applications will be scored using the person specification and therefore applicants who submit a relevant covering letter are more likely to be offered an interview.  

In addition, please complete the Required Information Form and Equal Opportunities Form.  Please send your CV, covering letter and the other forms to info@brigstowe.org .   

The Bristol Sight Loss Council (SLC) – a group of blind and partially sighted people working to improve the quality of life of people with a visual impairment in the city –  are undertaking some research on employment.

Can you complete the following survey by the end of April or circulate it to your contacts.  It is  aimed at ANYONE in employment, who has been employed and employers  and will only take 5 minutes. The results will help inform the SLC’s future engagement with employers.

Go to the followig link to fill out the survey – https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd80ZZEeuLIYGgCBhZcTAsYXOjN7Y-HpOlxdX2p3o3VcIpExQ/viewform

WECIL will host a Labour Party South West regional roadshow via Zoom with the (Labour) Shadow Minister for Disabled People, Vicky Foxcroft MP, on Thursday 13th May from 3pm – 4.30pm.

Vicky told WECIL: ‘As a party, we are determined to be led by disabled people, the experts by experience.’

These roadshows will help develop a response to the National Strategy for Disabled People and a Disability Benefits Green Paper, and start Labour’s four-year engagement programme with Disabled People.

‘As Shadow Minister for Disabled People, I am eager to speak to as many disabled people, charities, disabled people’s organisations, unions and other civil society organisations as possible.’

To attend the Roadshow please register using this link by Thursday 6th May to ensure that they are able to meet all attendees access needs.

Shelter Bristol are recruiting for a new Women’s Peer Research Volunteer and have asked us at the Forum to promote the role.

You would conduct research into the issues women and families are experiencing when it comes to bad housing and homelessness.  The role would also involve you conducting research into the barriers that are preventing women from accessing the advice and support they need.

The role would take up seven hours a week for four months but can be fitted around your schedule. The job is home based and in the Bristol hub (in line with government guidelines).

To find out more about the role and to apply, go to: https://app.betterimpact.com/PublicOrganization/336399b8-c9ea-486f-9373-a6ae5212eb0e/Gvi/9c8ab3b5-86bd-471b-8587-3f4ba06138a7/1

Graeae Theatres are running an online version of their accessible scratch night “Crips with Chips”.

Join them for an hour of live entertainment online on Zoom for an evening of thinking outside the boxset from 8pm to 9pm on Tuesday 20^th April.

The event will include FIVE short palsy from Deaf and Disabled writers responding to a randomly assigned TV genre, from sci-fi to period drama.

The event will be audio described, BSL interpreted and captioned.

Tickets are FREE but you can donate to their Just Giving page. You can find out more about the online event and sign up to attend at: https://graeae.org/our-work/crips-with-chips-at-home/