Campaigns
Voting and democratic rights
Speak Out has a history of campaigning for the democratic rights of people with learning disabilities.
Much of this work was done by the ‘Being Heard in Government’ (BHIG) group. The BHIG group started in 2013 and set out to combat cuts to learning disability services. They organised demonstrations, attended council meetings and public debates. The group also went to the Houses of Parliament and were involved in various all-party parliamentary groups. They made contributions to the Mental Capacity Amendment Bill and campaigned for easy-read election material. In 2020, the group won the ‘UK Parliament Campaign’ of the year award!
The ‘Our Voices Matter’ (OVM) group has continued the BHIG group’s democratic rights work. They have hosted ‘register to vote’ events and co-hosted accessible election hustings with Grace Eyre, before the local council elections in May 2023 and the general election in July 2024.
Big Focus: Housing
At Speak Out, we make sure that people with learning disabilities can speak up and take action about things that matter to them.
Our work is led by listening and responding to the views of people with learning disabilities. Our service is free for people to use and we are independent from council funded learning disability services.
