Etac Balder F280 powerchair owner Dr. Huw Thomas, 64 from Penrhyncoch near Aberystwyth in Wales, has jointly won the Stelios Award for Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2011

Etac Balder F280 powerchair owner Dr. Huw Thomas, 64 from Penrhyncoch near Aberystwyth in Wales, has jointly won the Stelios Award for Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2011 with another separate entrepreneur Rob Smith following a glamorous ceremony held at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel Kensington, London on 14 December.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou – the serial entrepreneur best known for founding EasyJet PLC at the age of 28, established the Stelios Award for Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007 and the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation in 2009. Now in its fifth year, this awards programme runs in association with the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity, which supports thousands of disabled people in the UK and throughout 50 other countries worldwide. As Sir Stelios explained at the launch of the award scheme: “I am very passionate about encouraging an enterprising spirit throughout British culture. Helping to remove the barriers that disabled people face in business is an important part of this. That is why I was keen to establish an award which gives disabled people an opportunity to showcase their ability rather than have them negatively judged by their disability.”

Dr. Huw Thomas who has Muscular Dystrophy (MD) and uses an Etac Balder F280 powerchair, established Promove UK in 2007 with his business partner Dana Thomas and this recent prestigious accolade reflects Huw’s hard work and dedication over the past several years. With a manufacturing facility based near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, Promove supplies specialist slings used to rescue, evacuate and transfer injured and less able people as Huw explains: “After completing my PhD and working in plant genetics for over 40 years, I decided to take early retirement at 56. However I can honestly say I ‘failed’ at this change in lifestyle and decided that I needed a new challenge! As I have severely restricted movement in both arms, I have experienced first-hand the issues associated with transfers in and out of my Balder powerchair for many years and knew a better solution needed to be conceived. My sling concept was originated back in 2005 when flight attendants were having issues with moving me into an airline seat. From my initial sketches and designs through to CE testing and finally establishing a production line, I was determined to deliver the ProMove sling to market even though my condition for some would be seen as very limiting. Living with MD is so much easier with my Balder powerchair from Etac as the three models I have owned over the past 12 years have always delivered functionality and comfort way beyond any other powerchair available today. I was one of the first people to purchase a Balder powerchair in the UK and I would recommend them to everyone with a condition such as MD.”

Huw continues: “I do face challenges every day with running my business however living with a disability has its advantages for ProMove as it provides invaluable experience and insight. I am pleased to see that this perspective has been recognized by the award scheme and my joint £50,000 prize will now be re-invested into the business so we can expand. It was a wonderful occasion; in addition to the excitement of winning the award, meeting Stelios himself and all the glitterati at the reception was quite an experience. I was able to mingle among the 200 guests in my Balder wheelchair in the raised position which made such a huge difference, being able to speak to people at eye level. The wheelchair generated almost as much interest as I did as the award winner. In addition, I would like to thank Etac for providing me with several fantastic Balder powerchairs over the years as I’m sure without them, I would not have been able to achieve all that I have, culminating in this recent award.”

Sir Stelios concluded: “I would like to congratulate Rob and Huw on running successful businesses and displaying the drive, creativity and determination to reach the top and really fly.” The Etac UK Managing Director, Ian Carter, reiterated this sentiment: “We are thrilled for Huw as he fully deserves this recognition. As one of our first customers in the UK, it is also pleasing to see how his current Etac powerchair continues to assist him in achieving so much and we wish him well with his business expansion.”

http://www.etac.com/en/etaccomuk/?redirect=true

At midnight on 9/10 June 2012 up to 3,000 lycra clad cyclists will be taking to the streets of London for a 100km moonlit ride past London’s major landmarks.

Cyclists will follow a circular route which passes as many famous sites as the organisers could squeeze into the 100km. The eager Nightriders will be provided with support and backup throughout the night, including refreshments at regular break spots and a breakfast waiting at the finish line.

It is hoped that while the capital sleeps, £1 million will be raised in one night.

One cyclist already signed up is Sarah Beedle who is raising money for Leonard Cheshire Disability. Her husband is a resident at the Leonard Cheshire home in Sutton Coldfield.

Old Dears with Gears – four friends raising money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer have also signed up to the midnight cycle.
There’s less than a month to go to sign up – either by yourself, with a friend or in a team. For full details and to sign up online click here.

The AMC has been open for almost two years now, and in that time they’ve developed the curriculum, staff and facilities. The state-of-the-art studio and education complex in Southwark offers a range of accredited courses in television and film, radio and animation. This networking event will share their learning and to start to develop new projects with other organisations and to broaden their work into the ‘arts’ sector in general.  The event will showcase some of the work of AMC students, and there’s a chance to take a tour of the building and to meet other potential project partners and funders.

This is extremely last minute, but they are looking for more music professionals (musicians, promoters, producers, teachers, funders etc) to come along. It’s an open drop-in session between 4-7pm in Southwark, with drinks and nibbles – details below. Hopefully I’ll see you there!

Ability Media Centre
56 Southwark Bridge Road
London
SE1 0AS

Map: http://tinyurl.com/AbilityMedia

‘Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted’
Albert Einstein

One of the core areas of my business, Pedantic Consulting, is conducting independent and in-depth evaluations of projects that have received funding from a wide variety of sources. From my experiences, without exception, the organisations that embrace the evaluation process gain the most from it.

Some only carry out evaluations as the funder of the initiative demands it, but it should be taken seriously as great value can be obtained. I can understand, however, why some people might be skeptical or nervous about an outside person evaluating their work as I was on the receiving end of poorly carried out ‘evaluation’.

Some years ago, I was managing a very new and innovative employment related project in North London and I was interviewed by someone who was interested in carrying out an evaluation with a view to writing an article. I met with her and was hopeful her report/article might help promote the new project. We talked for about 40mins and I explained how the project had worked and the results achieved to date. She was pleasant and came across as being impressed.

The resulting article gave the complete opposite impression and was full of criticisms that not once came up in our brief discussion and were completely out of context for the project’s aims. She had looked at the project’s website, talked to me for 40mins and then written an article that seemed to want to address a different agenda and took no account of the fact the project was at its early stages, was new and innovative, was meeting its targets and seemed to be liked by the local authorities and providers who were supporting and benefiting from it.

This was an example of a badly conducted evaluation. Good external evaluations can bring a lot more to an organisation than satisfying the needs of a funder:

• Highlight successes & achievements – often, programme managers and project officers are so close to a project and concerned with areas and incidents that have not gone well that they sometimes cannot see the wood for the trees. An independent evaluator can provide an objective view and will often shout about achievements far more than those directly involved who can only remember the problems and errors made.

• Provide context to targets and results – Projects not meeting their targets is not automatically a bad thing. A good evaluator will assess whether the targets set for a project are appropriate and deliverable against the context of other similar projects and the economic/social climate of the time. Several projects I have evaluated were significantly behind the targets set but the targets were so ridiculous that in actual fact the project was performing brilliantly compared to other projects delivering similar services and support.

• Learning lessons for the future – None of us are perfect and projects never ever go completely smoothly and to plan, so there are always lessons to be learnt. Whether it is about processes, engaging or working with partners, monitoring, etc. it is important to really understand where a project could be better delivered in the future.

• Marketing and Promotion – Independent evaluations do not just need to be an internal exercise, they also validate the success and promotion of your organisation or initiative. Many successful organisations incorporate an external evaluation into their marketing collateral and funding applications. One good example of this, is with the Ready to Start programme managed by Leonard Cheshire Disability who used some of the External Evaluation they commissioned as part of their closing report.

So rather than be afraid of evaluations, organisations should fully embrace the exercise to get the most value from them.

Leonard Cheshire Disability will be holding the Annual Fete at

Newlands House,
Main St
Netherseal
Swadlincote
Derbyshire
DE12 8DA

on Saturday 11th June 2011

The day will feature:

RAF Lancaster Bomber Flypast from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

As well as  stalls, barbecue, ice cream, outdoor café, archery, fire engine, live music & entertainment, children’s amusements, displays & exhibits: birds of prey, model boats, martial arts, fun dog show + lots more

You can download a flyer from here.

The Welfare Reform Bill – the law that the Government has proposed that will make changes to benefits like Disability Living Allowance – is now being considered by MPs in Parliament. MPs have debated some of the issues in the Bill already, and now they have called for evidence to inform the next part of their discussions, when the Bill will be considered by a Committee of MPs.

This is your chance to have your voice heard on key changes, including the proposals to change Disability Living Allowance (DLA) into a new benefit called the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and the proposal to stop paying the mobility component of this benefit to people in residential care.

DLA mobility component helps to meet the extra costs many disabled people face in doing everyday things, such as going to the shops, visiting family and socialising with friends. If this support is removed from disabled people in residential care it will leave thousands of people without the money that they need to get out independently.

The Welfare Reform Bill includes other reforms such as the introduction of the new Universal Credit and limits to the payment of contributory Employment and Support Allowance to a 12-month period, which you may also want to comment on.

You are able to submit your views until May 24th, but the sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into consideration. Responses don’t need to cover everything in the Bill – if there’s one issue that matters to you, it’s really important that MPs hear about it. And responses don’t need to be long or very formal – it’s just a way to make sure that MPs get to hear what people outside of Parliament think about the changes that are being proposed to benefits. You can email your submission to scrutiny@parliament.uk now.

In your email include your name, address, telephone number and email address.

Your submission should be attached to your email in a Word document and include:

• a short introduction about yourself
• the date of submission
• a summary of your main points
• numbered paragraphs

Your submission should be no longer than 3000 words.

Or if you prefer, you can email your views back to us at campaigning@LCDisability.org, and we will try to reflect the views we receive in our own response to the Committee.

If you have any questions please feel free to reply to this email and we will try help.

Best wishes,

Hannah and the Campaigns Team

Tired of the usual running events? Looking for a fresh approach to a fundraising challenge?

This year, Leonard Cheshire Disability have come up with an exciting new challenge that will change the way you see disability and sport. We’re proud to launch Tri Together, a triathlon uniquely designed for disabled and non-disabled people to swim, bike and run together.

We believe that everybody should be given the chance to take part in sports if they want to, whatever their abilities. That’s why we’re launching Tri Together, a triathlon uniquely designed for disabled and non-disabled people to swim, bike and run together. Triathlon is not only the fastest growing sport in the world but the perfect way for us to create a fully inclusive sports event that aims to bring together people from all walks of life and raise funds for Leonard Cheshire Disability.

New to triathlons? Swimming not your thing? Don’t worry!

Tri Together is the perfect triathlon for all abilities. With an accessible indoor 400m swim, a mostly flat 15km cycle through the leafy surrounds of Crystal Palace Park and a 5km run finishing in the iconic Jubilee Stadium, this three part challenge can be entered as an individual or shared in a team with friends or family, work colleagues or triathlon regulars.

C’mon challenge yourself or get a team together and help us make Tri Together a day to remember.

To find out more about Tri Together or to register online visit www.lcdisability.org/tritogether or:

Text TRI to 80878* Call 0203 242 0294 Email tritogether@lcdisability.org

And once you’ve confirmed your place don’t forget to create your Virgin Money Giving fundraising page

*standard text rates apply

Huge thanks to Helene Martin Gee and her fabulous team for taking such good care of all of the delegates and panellists. And Amma and Len, you are the greatest!  xx

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to speak at the historical Greenwich university about being a Disabled Entrepreneur and it was great fun!

The attendees were were a number of students at the university who are considering starting their own businesses.  I felt very honoured to be able to share my story and to show that turning something you are passionate about into a growing and successful business is not only possible but can be really enjoyable.  I also explained that whatever type of business you are starting, accessing good solid support and the various types of networking that is out there (social, meetings, events, clubs etc) are key to helping to grow your business.

After a welcome by Prof. Thomas Barnes (Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Enterprise),  Leonore Lord gave a presentation about Leonard Cheshire Disability and the work they do to support and encourage the growth of disabled-led businesses via the Enabled4Growth programme that they currently run.   After my talk, the students then had presentations by the following:

• Managing Director of Disability Claims Management
• Dare to Be Different – David Jai-Persad, BDM CMS
• Closing remarks, Martin Davies, Director of R&E

It was great to speak with the students one-to-one during the break and to be able to give them lots and lots of encouragement.  I really look forward to seeing them as successful entrepreneurs in the years to come.

Huge thanks to Leonore for inviting me  xx

Well for the next six months I have decided to use all that determination for the greater good and raise a whole bundle of cash for Leonard’s Cheshire Disability. I, Stacey Beattie will be climbing the World’s largest free standing mountain as well as raising (at least) £4k for Leonard’s Cheshire Disability!

I have to raise the majority of the cash before Christmas and at this moment I can’t quite work out which is the harder challenge! If you have any fundraising ideas I’d love to hear them. So far my fundraising activities include, holding a beauty day, salsa event and a planned jump in the sea on Christmas day (can’t wait for that one!)
If you have any spare change and would like to donate you can at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/StaceyBeattie it would be very much appreciated and for a very good cause. Every pound makes a difference.

Thanks for your support and donations and please wish me the best of luck… something tells me I’m going to need it!

Stacey

My mother has become disabled in the last three years so I have seen first hand the effect a disability can have on a person’s life.  My mother has given me the inspiration and determination to raise money in the hope that I can make a difference.

Please help me so I can help Leonard Cheshire Disability Charity help others.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/StaceyBeattie

Leonard Cheshire Disability provides innovative and life changing support services to give disabled people the opportunity to live life their way. Whilst they are best known for their residential care homes, they also provide a wide variety of services across the UK and in over 52 countries around the world.

There will be loads of stalls, entertainment, live music & dance, displays, exhibits and a flypast by the BBMF Lancaster bomber (ETA 13 45).

There’s an Outdoor Cafe, Barbecue and Ice Cream as well as stalls selling everything from Shoes to Plants, Clothes, Jewellery and Bric a Brac.  There will be a Children’s area with a Bouncy Castle, Fairground Roundabout and lots more.  You can even have your photo taken with some amazing Birds of Prey, get some Chocolate Fountain and have a round of Croquet!

Watch some Karate experts smash blocks, sit in a real Fire Engine and check out our fantastic American Tow Truck.

Entrance is just £1, with under 12′s FREE.

The whole event is to raise funds for your local Leonard Cheshire Disability service:  Newlands House, Netherseal.

Leonard Cheshire Disability is a Registered Charity, No. 218186.

However when we saw the challenge Ilyas Khan, Chairman of Leonard Cheshire Disability is taking on, strangely none of us fancied it!

Ilyas Khan is challenging 2 times boxing world heavyweight champion “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon to 3 rounds in the ring! This is the same “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon who out of 55 fight victories won 38 of them by KO!

The 47-year-old will don his boxing gloves and get into the ring at the Mercure Dunkenalgh Hotel, Thursday 3 June, to raise much-needed funds for the charity’s work with disabled people in Lancashire, as well as other parts of the UK.

Thankfully he’s not just stepping from the office into the ring, Ilyas Khan has been training every two days for the match since completing the first Virgin London Marathon earlier this year.

You can donate to Ilyas Khan’s Virgin Money Giving page here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/IlyasKhan

The fight takes place on the 3rd June and if you’d like to go along and watch tickets are available for the main fight as well as three bouts of professional boxing (details on the poster below) .

Vas has been on crutches since contracting polio and decided to take on this grueling challenge not only to raise money for the charity, but to motivate and inspire others.

With the assistance of a trained trek guide, Vas took 10 days to climb the 19,341 foot mountain. He said of his achievement “the challenge wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, except the summit night; that was very challenging, both mentally and physically. I got through it though, I got through it by picturing how many people I could inspire and motivate to go out there and turn their lives around for the better, especially people with a disability. Once I got to the top, I had this feeling entering my soul that said; Vas, you can do, be and have anything you want in life – there are no limits, the only limits that exist are the limits which we accept of ourselves. This is the message that I want to give out to people, both, disabled and able-bodied. Anyone can do anything they want, if they believe they can!”

Find out more about trekking and walking with Leonard Cheshire Disabilty by visiting their site. And sponsor Vas by going to Justgiving at Leonard Cheshire Disability.

Speaking at the event were Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary for the Treasury, and Jean Lambert MEP, Green Party Member of the European Parliament for London (you can read our blog post about their contribution here).  Other highlights of the event included:

• The thoughtful introduction to the event by Kevin Jenkins, Councillor for Newham and Co-founder of Community Links, an organisation that sees the consequences of poverty on a day to day basis.  Kevin talked about poverty does not respect any class or culture – it can affect anyone at anytime.  He also talked about the ‘poverty of aspirations’, where people are willing to accept their ‘lot’ in life.  Yet, everyone has the ability and the skills within themselves to overcome this – they just need the confidence to do so. 
• Launch of the ECP film for the 4 in 10 campaign – raising awareness of long lasting impact of young Londoner’s growing up in poverty. (The film featured children and staff from Community Links’ Arc in the Park open access childcare project)
• The ‘Buzz’ session, facilitated by the Kaizen Partnership, which saw participants sharing ideas around four key topics:  Old Age Poverty, Child Poverty, Working Age Poverty, and Severe Multiple Deprivation
• The presentation of the City Parochial Foundation research – London’s Poverty Profile.  This is an independent report which has brought together a wide range of indicators related to poverty, inequality and social exclusion in London.  Some of the key finding included;

London is the most unequal region in England and income is more concentrated at the top than elsewhere.  It has the highest proportion of households in the top tenth of incomes nationally, and the highest proportion in the bottom tenth

The proportion of households in London living in temporary accommodation is tem times higher than the national average

The proportion of men who die before the age of 65 is much higher in inner London than in any other region of England

London has the highest rate of income poverty of any other region in England (after housing costs).  Inner London in particular has the highest rates for all age groups (children, working-age adults and pensioners)

• Voices from the Ground Up – Presentations from local organisations who promote social inclusion, which included the Migrants Resource Centre and their newspaper giving a voice to migrants in the capital The New Londoner, the Need Not Greed Campaign on ‘Myth Busting’, End Child Poverty London and the Leonard Cheshire Disability who are working to tackle exclusion and enable access for disabled people.

Maeve McGoldrick of the Need Not Greed Campaign sums up the day:

The event finished with two calls to action – firstly, for everyone at the event to continue to develop ideas and take action to help eradicate poverty.  Secondly, to tell others about the work that is happening and that will happen in 2010 – help us spread the word! 

Click here to see photos from the event >>>
Click here to see the videos from the event >>> 
Click here to find out more about how you can get involved in combatting poverty in 2010 >>>

The Britain’s Got Talent judge was speaking out after judging a charity Newsroom’s Got Talent event where news teams from ITN, BBC, Channel 4, Al Jazeera, Five News and NBC let their hair down on stage for a night of singing and dancing.

Grease Medley: Katie Durham, Mary Nightingale, Romilly Weeks and organiser of the charity event, news producer Erin O’Toole

The event was held at Vinopolis in central London and saw ITV news scooping first place with its Grease Medley.

A tanned Morgan said: ‘Not since Susan Boyle have I been so shocked by the level of talent I have seen on stage. Unfortunately, for the opposite reasons… But it was all for a great cause and a lot of fun. Particularly for the judges!’

Joining Morgan and Phillips on the panel of judges was a slim-looking Ulrika Jonsson, who looked at ease in her role as a judge.

Taking part in the winning act was newsreader Katie Derham, who squeezed into a pair of tight leather trousers, and Mary Nightingale, who wore a black wig to play the part of Rizzo.

Earlier in the show, an almost unrecognisable Jon Snow and Krishnan Guru-Murphy sported black wigs and sparkly silver jackets as they sang Do Wa Diddy Diddy and the Five news team sung a news medley.

Other acts taking part in the event – hosted by Catchphrase presenter Roy Walker – included London Tonight, who put on a feisty performance to the Austin Powers theme tune, featuring Lucy Cotter and Faye Barke, and a Sound of Music performance by BBC News, sung by Sophie Raworth, Kate Silverton, Fiona Bruce and Emily Maitlis.

The event, which was sponsored by New Look and Diageo, raised money for Leonard Cheshire Disability and Helen & Douglas House.

Today was the day and we’d arranged for professionals Paul Power and Alistair Wethers to come along and coach the boys. Both Paul and Alistair are registered disabled and gave their time for free today – Bravo! We arrived at 9am this morning and met Alistair and Paul at the lake. We chatted a while, waiting for the Leonard Cheshire group to arrive and I took all Nick’s tackle to his chosen swim.

Mike, Ben (a keyworker at the home), Francois, Marcus, Alex and Tom arrived at about 10am and were keen to get started! The weather was glorious and the fish were biting. Paul and Alistair set up whips for the lads and they were soon into their first fish – a gudgeon! Lots more followed throughout the day and we fished till 2pm. Dave, one of the BAC’s bailiffs had turned up aswell and helped out too – what a star! I made bacon butties, teas and coffees and DD was my runner till everyone had eaten and had their drinks. Then she and I went walkabout between the budding anglers, helping where necessary, putting maggots on hooks, landing fish, and casting out! She was amazing and got on really well with all the lads. I have never been a prouder Mum!

Here are some shots of the boys at the lake today…

 Marcus with Alistair

Marcus hooked into a rather large carp, by accident and Paul valiantly and skillfully played it for a good half hour, hoping to land it, but it wasn’t to be. Next time!

DD with Ben (keyworker) and Alex, who caught 70 fish in all and had the day’s best, with a beautiful roach well over 1lb in weight!

DD with Tom, who’ll bring his voice-box next time…

Francois, the perfect gentleman!

Alex in action, coached by Alistair.

I did get the boys’ permission to take their pics and put them on our blog. They’re quite excited at the prospect of appearing on here, although Alex already has a profile on Facebook! And finally, the Group photo at the end of the afternoon before we all parted… it says it all.

Back row – left to right: Mike, Alistair, Ben, Paul. Front row: Marcus, Francois, Tom, Alex, DD and Nick.

First Membership Meeting of the GPDD in Eschborn, Germany

World leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Oceania representing civil society organizations, governments, and multilateral agencies including the World Bank and UNESCO unanimously approved a Charter and elected the First Board of Directors for the Global Partnership for Disability and Development (GPDD). Meeting at the headquarters and as the guests of the German Technical Corporation (GTZ) in Eschborn, Germany, the assembled agencies and organizations made a core commitment to a world of inclusive communities where individuals with disabilities regardless of age, gender, or type of disability enjoy their rights and have access to opportunities on an equal basis with others.

With a commitment to partnership to combat the social and economic exclusion and impoverishment of people with disabilities and their families in developing countries worldwide, the GPDD represents an unprecedented alliance of agencies, organizations, and resources to accelerate change within and outside of government that targets development activities to include and promote social and economic rights of individuals with disabilities.

Four years of planning by a Coordinating Task Force culminated in the historical formalization of GPDD with the election of the First Board of Directors in Eschborn, Germany, last Wednesday. The 12 members elected to the Board of Directors are:

• Mr. Khandaker Jahurul Alam, Asia Pacific Disability Forum
• Ms. Tanya Barron, Leonard Cheshire Disability
• Mr. A.K. Dube – African Decade Secretariat (Chair of the GPDD Interim Board)
• Ms. Sangita Gairola, Representative of the Government of India
• Ms. Celia Siphokazi Gcaza, African CBR Network (CAN)
• Mr. Kalle Könkkölä, Disabled Peoples’ International
• Mr. Rudiger Krech, GTZ
• Ms. Euphrasia Mbewe, World Federation of the Deaf
• Mr. James Mwandha, Commonwealth Disabled Peoples’ Forum
• Mr. Andreas Pruisken, Christian Blind Mission
• Ms. Indumathi Rao, CBR Network South Asia
• Dr. William Rowland, World Blind Union

This unique Global Partnership will bring important world attention to the needs and aspirations of people with disabilities in developing countries. The assembled GPDD members agreed on a beginning plan of action to expand the membership base of GPDD, promote data collection and analysis that identifies more accurately the living conditions of and barriers faced by people with disabilities in developing countries; to facilitate information sharing on effective inclusive development policies and programs; to support the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in cooperation with partners and member organizations; and mobilize resources to build the capacity of the GPDD broad constituency through alliances and networks to become a reliable and effective expert disability and development platform.

With support from the World Bank and the governments of Italy, Finland, and Norway as donors to a Multi Donor Trust Fund, the GPDD will bring much needed attention to reduce poverty and eliminate barriers to full social and and economic participation.

For more information about GPDD and how you may become involved, please contact Maria Reina, Executive Director at mvreina@law.syr.edu

Individuals may also contact Maria Reina (mvreina@law.syr.edu) to inquire about subscribing to the free GPDD listserv.



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Aardman Animations have teamed up with the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity to launch Creature Discomforts, based on their much-loved Creature Comforts series.

Nick Park’s Aardman Animations has unveiled new characters

The six animal characters are voiced by disabled people who talk about the discrimination and difficulties they encounter.

Peg the Hedgehog, Slim the Stick Insect, Flash the Sausage Dog, Tim the Tortoise, Spud the Slug and Brian the Bull Terrier will feature in TV adverts from January.

The campaign aims to highlight the disadvantages that disabled people experience, and to raise awareness.

It will feature in newspapers, magazines, bus stops and online from November 15, and in TV adverts in January.

Recent research carried out by the charity revealed nine out of 10 disabled people in the UK believe they are the victims or prejudice or discrimination.

Bryan Dutton, director general of Leonard Cheshire Disability, said: “We want people to change the way they see disability, to think and act differently and to make a positive difference to the lives of disabled people.

“Disabled people experience unnecessary social barriers which are created largely through ignorance.

“In the 21st century it is unacceptable that such negative attitudes to disability still persist. Everyone has a part to play in creating a world in which disabled people are included in every aspect of life.

“Creature Comforts is well known and much-loved for its ability to bring home messages in a simply, everyday way. Our Creative Discomforts campaign builds on this, making a serious point with humour.”