We are a group of islanders, and their families, sharing our stories of living with disability in the island of Guernsey.

We want to raise awareness and change the way the Guernsey Community thinks about disability locally. By doing this we want to bring about greater inclusivity for the 13,000 disabled islanders to access the community, this includes: shops, restaurants & cafes, work, entertainment, education – every aspect of everyday life.

Who we are

We All Matter, Eh is the brand used by the Guernsey Disability Alliance (GDA) to tell members stories

We are a group of islanders, and their families, sharing our stories of living with disability in the island of Guernsey. We want to raise awareness and change the way the Guernsey Community thinks about disability locally. By doing this we want to bring about greater inclusivity for the 13,000 disabled islanders to access the community, this includes: shops, restaurants & cafes, work, entertainment, education – every aspect of everyday life.

We began doing this in 2013 to help inspire our government (the States of Guernsey) to pass the first ‘Disability and Inclusion Strategy’ for the island.

In 2016 we launched our Hidden Disabilities campaign to raise awareness around living with unseen disabilities. Take a look at our videos and factsheets.

In early 2017 our campaign was around Accessible Activities, increasing awareness of accessible clubs for disabled islanders, to increase participation, wellbeing and encourage other clubs to become more accessible.

In 2017, we launched our #MakeAChange campaign encouraging all groups: businesses and community groups to make a change so that Guernsey is more inclusive.

In 2018, we are building on the successful #MakeAChange campaign partnering with Access for All and Chamber of Commerce The Accessible Town project www.accessibletown.gg

Article 8 – Awareness-raising

1. States Parties undertake to adopt immediate, effective and appropriate measures:

a) To raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level, regarding persons with disabilities, and to foster respect for the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities;

b) To combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices relating to persons with disabilities, including those based on sex and age, in all areas of life;

c) To promote awareness of the capabilities and contributions of persons with disabilities.

2. Measures to this end include:

a) Initiating and maintaining effective public awareness campaigns designed:

i. To nurture receptiveness to the rights of persons with disabilities;

ii. To promote positive perceptions and greater social awareness towards persons with disabilities;

iii. To promote recognition of the skills, merits and abilities of persons with disabilities, and of their contributions to the workplace and the labour market;

b) Fostering at all levels of the education system, including in all children from an early age, an attitude of respect for the rights of persons with disabilities;

c) Encouraging all organs of the media to portray persons with disabilities in a manner consistent with the purpose of the present Convention;

d) Promoting awareness-training programmes regarding persons with disabilities and the rights of persons with disabilities.

Get Involved

What needs to change?

The biggest barrier is attitude. It’s simply lack of awareness and understanding.

What’s the States doing about it?

Find out more about Guernsey’s Disability and Inclusion Strategy.

Sponsorship and support

we would welcome support in the way of sponsorship, donations, volunteers, venues etc. Please get in touch at matter@gda.org.gg

Why We All Matter

There are 13,000 people who have a physical or mental health condition or impairment living in Guernsey who experience some sort of difficulty in day to day life. For 4,000 islanders, these difficulties are substantial.

You can find the Disability Needs Survey 2012 at https://www.gov.gg/article/154882/Disability-Needs-Survey

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What can we all do to #MakeAChange

We can all make a change locally wether we are an individual, business or community organisation. Here are some ways you can join us to make a change in Guernsey

Sponsor

You can sponsor one of our projects or campaigns. Funding the project or maybe also involving staff in the event. To find out more about our sponsorship opportunities please contact Karen on Karen@matter.gg

Donate

We welcome donations for our ongoing work or towards a specific project. Donations can be made via the Association of Guernsey Charities Giving website (please press the Donate button or logo), via cheque to Guernsey Disability Alliance or contact one of the team to talk about other ways to make a donation to our membership. Thank you

Donate

Volunteer

We welcome volunteers to support We All Matter, Eh? or the GDA, either with running the campaigns or taking part in the project or activities. Examples including helping out with events such as: Saffery Rotary Walk, Accessible Christmas evening, or assist us to fundraise. Please get in touch with Karen, Trudi or freindsof@gda.org.gg

Pause – Bring down the barriers

Whilst our impairments or disabilities are all different, one thing we all have in common is that we face barriers just trying to get on with daily tasks other people take for granted.
Some barriers are obvious – like a building that has lots of steps. But the way a company recruits its managers and staff can be a barrier too, especially for people with communication and learning difficulties or mental health issues.

Change – Attitudes

The biggest barrier is attitude. Most of the time people aren’t deliberately negative or unhelpful. It’s simply lack of awareness and understanding, combined with a natural reluctance to do things differently. Disability just isn’t something people think about much or know much about. That’s why we’ve been making our videos.

Share – Get everyone involved

We know change won’t happen overnight.  But the first step came when our past Deputies voted unanimously for the Disability and Inclusion Strategy in November 2013.

In April 2016, a new States of Deliberation was elected by the community. A large part of our campaign was to make the Disability and Inclusion strategy real for all of us on a day to day basis. #MakeItReal

Now we really need your help to make the Strategy happen and to bring down the barriers that disabled islanders face.  Because we all matter, eh?

Thank you to past sponsors and supporters

Creating and running a campaign requires support from the community. We would welcome a discussion from any potential sponsors in relation to supporting and funding our campaigns. We are able to offer a number of avenues for recognition: use of your logo on the video, factsheets, sponsors page, as well as extensive use of social media and traditional media (GEP, radio and TV). Please contact karen@matter.gg to find out more. Or donate online at giving.gg (via the Guernsey Disability Alliance GDA)

We are extremely grateful to all our supporters. Without their funding the projects would not happen, the Change Cards would not have been produced and the voice of islanders with disabilities heard. Thank you