Artists First

Artists First is a group of 16 disabled visual artists with learning difficulties based in Bristol.

Artists First includes artists who met while attending Social Services' Day Centres and artists who have lived in long stay residential hospitals. We believe that as a group we can support each other and that we can do powerful work together, things that we could not do alone.

To watch a short film introducing Artists First, go to www.redweather.co.uk/artistsfirst

or go to their website at: http://www.artistsfirst.org.uk/

Camden Society book

"I Want What You Have: Five Decades of Making it Happen"

A book telling the story of the Camden Society, an organization with the human rights of people with learning difficulties at its heart, in the context of the social care policy of 20th century Britain.

Click here to read a fantastic review

Ceda Charity

CEDA works for disabled adults and children in ways which make sense for them, always keeping the individual at the centre of the service. We will listen, learn and act, to enable each person to be who they want to be, as visible and valuable members of the community.

http://www.cedaonline.org.uk/

Dada South

Dada-South's vision is to create a vibrant community of imaginative, confident and creative people contributing to a fairer, more inspiring world.

Dada-South's mission is to stimulate the best creative experience led by disabled, Deaf and other artists that acts as a catalyst for transformational thinking and doing, both regionally and nationally.  Find out more on their website at - http://www.dada-south.org.uk/

EHRC - Amy Stretch Parker

For the Equality and Human Rights Commission Amy gives a good account of what it's like being Bi Polar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku-N2RB32kE

History of the Birmingham Disability Resource Centre

A Story of Birmingham's role in the wider change brought about by the international disabled people's movement.

Please click this link to find out more:

http://www.disability.co.uk/blog

Live Eels and Grand Pianos

by Andrew Bradford

“Live Eels and Grand Pianos” is both a family memoir and a significant contribution to the social history of the twentieth century. It tells the story of the author's parents, Charlie and Kathy Bradford. Charlie and Kathy were seriously disabled by Polio when they were young children. Charlie contracted the disease in 1909, when he was three, and Kathy in 1913, when she was ten months old. “Live Eels and Grand Pianos” tells the story of their extraordinary courage in the face of adversity.

Find out more or buy the book at http://www.andrewbradfordauthor.com/

Mind - Richmond

RB Mind's Reflection Heritage Project explored and celebrated the heritage associated with mental health and wellbeing in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The project comemorated RB Mind's 50 year anniversary which was celebrated in 2009/10. It aimed to demonstrate the evolution and development of voluntary and statutory mental health services in Richmond and the resulting impact on individuals and communities over the past 50 years.

see - http://www.rbmind.org/reflection

PCS DISABILITY HISTORY MONTH TOOLKIT

Celebrating our struggle for equality

UK Disability History Month (DHM) runs from 22 November – 22 December each year.

UK DHM provides an opportunity to raise awareness of current threats to disabled people, including disability hate crime and the impact of the welfare reform and public sector cuts. The purpose of the month is to raise the profile of disabled people’s rights and to advocate disability equality through celebrating the historical and contemporary struggles and achievements of disabled people globally.

The theme for this year’s PCS DHM activities is 'Celebrating our struggle for equality'. We have a range of resources that branches and individual members can use to celebrate UK DHM.

Resources include:

• Poster

• Poem

• Quiz questions

• Book recommendations with discussion questions:

• 'A Very English Agent' by Julian Rathbone (ISBN-10 0349115087)
• 'Fallen' by Karin Slaughter (ISBN-10: 1846058937)
• 'Accidents of Nature' by Harriet McBryde Johnson (ISBN-10:1842707418)
• 'Bamboo Grove' by Romy Wood (ISBN-10 0956012515)

Click on the link to download the free toolkit

http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/equality/guidance-and-resources/disability-history-month-toolkit.cfm



Reclaiming the Past

The website arose from our project which aimed to explore the role of local mencap societies in the development of community care for people with learning difficulties in East Anglia between 1946 and 1980. The aim was to carry out the work in partnership with many different people. These included Sheena Rolph from the Open University (project co-ordinator) and local societies, including past and present members, and people with learning difficulties.The site contains information about the project and its contributorswhat we discovered how we undertook our research.

SEE : http://www7.open.ac.uk/shsw/reclaimingthepast/index2.htm