Speaking Up at the Newbury Warden Conference

Two of our Youth MPs were recently asked to deliver 4 workshops at a training conference for Neighbourhood Wardens in the Newbury area. Both Dan and Niall are volunteers on our Lincolnshire Youth Parliament - a forum for young people to act as democratically elected MPs and take the issues that affect their lives to the relevant decision-makers and professionals. Unlike all of our other Youth Parliaments, which are made up of Youth MPs with learning difficulties, our Lincolnshire Youth MPs are all young offenders or young people at risk of offending.

Pictured: Dan leading his workshop

The theme of the conference was 'Behind Closed Doors', and the main aim of the day was to dispel any of the Neighbourhood Wardens' misconceptions of what it is like to be a young person in today's society, and to allow them to gain an awareness of what young people want to gain for their future.

Dan and Niall planned the workshops to feature loads of interactive activities that they'd used during our Parliament events, including an activity called 'Frank' - where a willing volunteer is drawn around on a large piece of paper, and the Wardens write in the body what they think it's like to be a young person in society today. The Wardens' Frank was then compared to a Frank made my our Lincolnshire Youth MPs, and Dan and Niall led discussions about the different topics they'd covered.

Pictured: one willing volunteer in the process of creating Frank!

Pictured: Frank!

The boys got some fantastic feedback from both the Neighbourhood Resource and Training Centre, who organised the event, and from the Wardens in attendance. Their confidence grew throughout the day, and it was great to see the Wardens interacting with them so well - they all seemed to be having far too much fun for a training event!

Pictured: Niall leading his workshop

Dan and Niall are both very passionate about trying to change people's ideas about 'the youth of today' - and show that every young person is different.

Speaking Up visited by Andrew Duff MEP

Due to his work commitments in Europe, Andrew Duff MEP isn't in Cambridge very often, but two weeks ago he was kind enough to stop by our office to have a chat with our Promote the Vote team and learn about their exciting new website.

Pictured, clockwise from top left: Speaking Up's CEO Craig Dearden-Phillips, Promote the Vote team member Sean, Andrew Duff MEP, and team members Andrew, Neil and Ryan

According to the Department of Health, only 31% of people with learning disabilities voted in the 2005 general election, compared to 61% of the rest of the population. We developed our Promote the Vote project to address this.

Promote the Vote aims to encourage people with learning disabilities to develop an awareness of politics and its impact on their lives. Our fun and accessible workshops are delivered by a team of people with learning disabilities who are all enthusiastic about politics. The overall aim of the project is to encourage people with learning disabilities to register to vote, and have their voice heard in the next election.

The Promote the Vote team wanted a way to show even more people with learning disabilities how important it is to vote, and to give them accessible information on how to do it - so, they've been working really hard on a brand new accessible website to do just that!

Pictured: Promote the Vote team member Heather doing some filming for the new website

Andrew Duff MEP came along to meet the team and learn more about the project. The team interviewed him for a feature on their new website... like most politicians, he went on a bit, so gave us permission to edit the footage ruthlessly!

Pictured: Sean and Andrew Duff MEP shake hands after a fantastic interview!

The website will be launching on the 6th November, so watch this space...

Speaking Up for Carers in Cambridgeshire!

Speaking Up is now being funded by Cambridgeshire County Council to provide an advocacy service for unpaid adult carers of adults - family members or friends who need support because of sickness, age, or disability. We're really excited to be developing the independent, free and confidential advocacy service in collaboration with Crossroads Care Cambridgshire, as it will have a massive impact on the lives of carers in the county and ensure that they have a powerful voice.

The recognition that carers have a right to have a life outside of their caring role has been an important development in social care. Issues relating to access to respite care, ongoing support, and access to information have been highlighted as being extremely important to the health and well-being of carers - and independent advocacy support can make all the difference to them.

"There's a real need for advocacy to be available, and to be reaching as many people as possible" Carer, Cambridgeshire

If you'd like more information on our new advocacy service for carers, please feel free to get in touch with our Advocacy Service Manager, Reiz, at reiz.evans@speakingup.org