Big Focus for Better Housing
Big Focus for Better Housing
Speak Out's Big Focus Campaign For Better Housing For People With Learning Disabilities
Speak Out's Big Focus Campaign For Better Housing For People With Learning Disabilities
The Reality
Speak Out members want people to understand what “home” is like for people with learning disabilities.
Many of the things that people might take for granted are not our experiences.
For us, home can mean:
- Limited choice
- Frequent upheaval
- Living in unsafe and inappropriate places
- Limited support to live independently
- Little understanding about our experiences
People with learning disabilities want change
Safe and appropriate housing is a human right.
For the past year, Speak Out members have been shining a light on the issues local people with learning disabilities face with their housing – and developing recommendations for change.
Read the campaign report here.
Together, Speak Out members:
- Held an open advocacy meeting to hear what people with learning disabilities had to say
- Ran creative workshops to explore housing and what’s important about home
- Created a powerful poster campaign to illustrate the experiences of housing for people with learning disabilities
- Attended the Learning Disability Partnership Board and other meetings to represent what people feel about their housing
- Made podcasts interviewing people [like who?] about housing issues
Find out more about our creative workshops
Previous 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.
