Media release: 8th September
Think differently about disability and #MakeAChange
We all matter, eh?, the voice of disabled islanders, launches their latest campaign on Friday 8th September, to promote inclusion and accessibility in Guernsey. It’s the start of a change campaign to assist the community to ‘Think Differently about Disability’ that will run until 3rd December, UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPwD more details attached).
The #MakeAChange campaign is a response to business and community groups asking for guidance around the issues surrounding disability and how they can become more inclusive in relation to language, customer service, access, staffing, design and much more.
Karen Blanchford, Executive Director of the Guernsey Disability Alliance, “Disability can affect anyone; it is likely that at some point in our lives many of us will know, care for or experience disability ourselves. With over 13,000 disabled Islanders and 4,000 carers on the island, it is likely that every business interacts, recruits or provides services to disabled people daily. But can we do more? By making a positive change we can have a significant impact on how disabled islanders shop, work, travel, pursue leisure activities and take a full and active part in the community. We are asking everyone to rise to the challenge to #MakeAChange’
We all matter, eh? has produced a series of change cards in order to make these changes as easy as possible. The cards are tailored specifically towards businesses, community groups and individuals and contain information including top tips for those looking to #MakeAChange
Actions taken might be straightforward, like reviewing website content to ensure accessibility for visually impaired readers or increasing the font on brochures and signs. Completing the States of Guernsey’s free online disability awareness training is another way for someone to increase their knowledge of hidden disabilities. Also, changes might be linked to infrastructure in order to aid people with limited mobility to access public spaces.
Why now?
In conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disability (IDPwD) on the 3rd December, the campaign will share and celebrate the changes people and oganisations make as well as encouraging fundraising through organising events and joining in with activities.
Karen commented, ‘without a central Equality function in place in Guernsey the We All Matter eh! team thought it would be useful to share Best Practices and to do this in a way that broke it down into manageable projects that could be completed over a period of time.’
The campaign will run throughout Autumn 2017 with a grandstand finish on Friday 1st December.
For help and support on what changes you can make in your workplace, school or business visit www.matter.gg or contact Karen Blanchford, matter@gda.org.gg
Fundraising
As with all charities and groups, funding is extremely tight, We All Matter Eh is run by volunteers but we need funding to run the campaigns, build websites and materials so businesses, schools and groups are encouraged to raise funds on Friday 1st December.
To find out more about the fundraising, get some ideas and to register for a pack please go to https://matter.gg/make-a-change/fundrasing-pack/
You can register your event or activity on https://matter.gg/make-a-change/fundraising-events/
For more information contact Karen Blanchford; matter@gda.org.gg 07781 467316
Sponsorship – key to the campaigns success
We are extremely grateful to our main sponsors RBC Wealth Management for making this campaign possible. Thank you to all our current and future change cards and event sponsors.
Notes:
We All Matter Eh! We All Matter Eh? is the voice of disabled islander and carers and runs campaigns to raise awareness in the community and encourage change – encouraging islanders to Think Differently about Disability. By doing this we hope to remove many of the barriers that exist for disabled islanders taking a full and active role in the Guernsey: in education, employment, arts, sport, social life, basically all areas of island life.
We All Matter Eh? is a brand of the Guernsey Disability Alliance GDA, which is a Guernsey Registered Charity number CH041and AGC member No. 306. We All matter Eh? is a brand of the GDA, the voice of disabled islanders www.matter.gg
GDA Guernsey Disability Alliance
The Guernsey Disability Alliance was formed in 2008 and is a collective voice for individual disabled islanders, their family members, carers and more than 40 member-charities-list.
Their mission is equality of opportunity for disabled islanders and carers in Guernsey. We want to change how Guernsey thinks about disability.
- We campaign for greater respect for the rights and dignity of disabled islanders and carers.
- We influence policy and practical change in a manner consistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- We engage and empower our members so that their individual voices are heard
UN observe day ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’ (IDPwD)
IDPwD is a United Nations sanctioned day that is celebrated internationally on 3rd December every year. It aims to increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability and celebrate the achievements and contributions of people with disability.
http://www.un.org/en/events/disabilitiesday/
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