Children and young people with disabilities in Birmingham are set to benefit from a series of vital short breaks in 2017, provided by national disability charity, Sense.

Launching in February 2017, the short breaks follow this year’s successful programme, and will see 30 children and young people experience up to three separate trips away from home over 12 months.

The series of short breaks have been developed in partnership with Birmingham City Council and are designed to offer disabled children in the area the chance to make new friends, increase their independence and try new activities, such as music workshops, outdoor trails and cookery classes. The trips away from home will also give families the opportunity to enjoy some respite from caring duties.

The breaks will take place in a variety of locations and will be timed to coincide with school holidays. The charity is calling for volunteers from the West Midlands to support its 2017 holidays and short breaks programme.

Eleanor Coker, Holiday Operations Manager at Sense, said:

“Following the success of this year’s activities, we’re delighted to be expanding the Sense short break programme in Birmingham. We’ve been organising breaks for people with complex disabilities for over 40 years and understand the benefits a trip away from home can have for the whole family. Programmes like this are vital as they allow parents time off caring, and enable the person they support to try new activities, gain new experiences, socialise and most importantly have fun.

“If you want to do something really rewarding in 2017, why not volunteer with Sense and help support children with disabilities to enjoy new experiences on a well-deserved break. The holidays take place in locations close to Birmingham, so we are making a special call-out for volunteers interested in supporting children and young people from their local communities. You could be kayaking, horse riding, camping or making sandcastles on the beach, whilst making a big difference to the children we support and their families.”

If you would like to volunteer on a Sense short break please visit www.sense.org.uk/content/volunteering-sense-holiday.

Alternatively, call 020 7520 0962 or email shortbreaks@sense.org.uk.

National disability charity, Sense, has responded to the news that the Labour Party intends to launch an early years taskforce looking into childcare provision and early-years learning.

The taskforce, announced by shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, as part of this year’s Labour Party Conference, will aim to ensure that all children and parents have access to quality, affordable childcare.

Sense, a charity which supports and campaigns on behalf of children and adults with sensory impairments and complex needs, has been calling on the Government to ensure better access to specialist early years support for disabled children. Earlier this year, Sense led an inquiry into play provision for children with multiple needs, which highlighted a number of barriers currently preventing disabled children from accessing vital early years and play settings.

Kate Fitch, Head of Public Policy for national disability charity, Sense, said:

“We welcome the news that the Labour Party intends to set up a taskforce specifically looking at access to childcare and early years provision, as it signals a recognition of the important role that these factors play in ensuring that children have the best start in life.

“Access to good quality early education plays a vital role in the development of children with complex needs; however as our Play Inquiry earlier this year revealed, all too often disabled children are missing out on the opportunities they need due to insufficient funding or a lack of appropriate settings.

“With the arrival of the new 30 hours free childcare initiative, without careful Governmental consideration and funding, families of disabled children could find themselves further side-lined as providers struggle to meet the additional costs of offering places to children with complex needs.

“In order to ensure that disabled children are not left unable to access opportunities to develop and learn, Sense is calling for a nationwide policy of early education funding for children with special education needs, that includes notional funding to help providers meet the costs of staff training or making premises accessible.

“With a new funding formula for early years set to be announced, it is imperative that both the Government and opposition urgently start working towards levelling the playing field for disabled children, which is why we look forward to working with Labour’s early years taskforce to ensure that all children have the chance to fulfil their potential.”

Sense

The survey, which was commissioned by Disability Rights UK, highlighted a range of negative attitudes preventing employers from offering jobs to people with disabilities, such as fearing possible discrimination claims (33%) and believing disabled people would need additional time off work (12%).

Sense is concerned that despite the Government’s commitment to halving the disability employment gap, not enough action is being taken to break down the barriers preventing disabled people from finding employment.

Sense will be launching its ‘Realising Aspirations For All’ report next month, looking at how access to work can be improved for deafblind people and those with complex needs.

Kate Fitch, Head of Public Policy at Sense, said:

“It is shocking to hear that one in 10 UK employers do not believe they are equipped to offer employment to those with disabilities.

“There are over 100,000 working age people with dual sensory loss and complex needs in the UK, and it is deeply concerning that 80% of them are currently not in work and unable to reach their full potential. People with disabilities face a multitude of barriers to accessing work, such as negative employer attitudes and inadequate job support programmes.  All too often they are written off as unemployable when in fact they have a great deal to contribute in the workplace.

“The Government has made an admirable pledge to halve the “disability employment gap” by getting 1 million more people with a disability or long-term illness into work.  However, much more needs to be done to educate and support prospective employers so that people with more complex disabilities can be given the opportunity to work.”

More information on the report is available at http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2016/august/1-10-businesses-unable-support-employee-disability-or-health-condition.

Mike Robinson

A Nottinghamshire man will be tackling a 52 mile walk to raise money for Sense, the national deafblind charity.

48 year old Mike Robinson from Ruddington, Nottingham, will be taking part in the Sense RidgeWalk on 18 June, a cross country hike following the Ridgeway, the oldest and one of the most scenic national trails in the UK. The hike which has to be completed in 24 hours, starts at midday and involves trekking throughout the night in order to cross the finish line by midday the following day.

Mike, who works as a Programme Office Manager at Openreach, was inspired to take part in the event and raise money for the charity in memory of his stepfather Rob Robinson who was a long-time supporter of Sense following the birth of his grandson Matthew who is blind.

Mike is no stranger to a challenge and often takes on two marathons a year. As part of his training he has been completing regular short walks around Rushcliffe Country Park with his dog Rocky.

Mike said: “I have high functioning Asperger’s Syndrome which will make walking with all those other people an extra challenge, but I’m hoping to complete the route in 18 hours. Thankfully my wife has been very supportive of my training which can be tough to fit around work and two young children. I have been waking up at 3.30am to fit in morning walks but knowing that I’m raising money for Sense in honour of my stepfather gets me out of bed.”

Mike is aiming to raise £500 for Sense, the funds raised will help deafblind children and adults overcome the isolation that they face on a daily basis and enjoy some of the things that most people take for granted. To sponsor Mike please visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MikeRobinson666 

William McGregor painting exhibited at new exhibition in Birmingham

National deafblind charity, Sense, bring ‘I Know I Can’t See, But I Still Look’ exhibition to Birmingham, in collaboration with Glenn Howells Architects

National deafblind charity, Sense, is bringing an exclusive exhibition showcasing work by artists with sensory impairments from across the UK to the Nest Gallery in Birmingham from 11 May until 7 June.

The exhibition, which is open to the general public, will celebrate colour, texture and narratives, ‘I Know I Can’t See, But I Still Look’ will showcase a range of unique visual arts, ceramics and textiles created by artists with sight and hearing loss.

Sense run a range of services across the country that enable people with sensory loss or complex needs to take part in arts and creativity projects. The exhibition will highlight some of the best examples of expressive contemporary artwork currently being created by the deafblind artists working within the charity’s projects across London, Birmingham and Exeter.

‘I Know I Can’t See But I Still Look’, which will visit the Nest Gallery for one month, has been produced in collaboration with Birmingham based architects, Glenn Howells, who have designed Sense’s new TouchBase Pears building. Due to complete construction in Selly Oak in summer 2017, TouchBase Pears will provide state of the art facilities that will enable disabled people and the wider community to participate in a range of art activities.

Stephanie Tyrrell, Arts & Wellbeing Projects Manager, at Sense, said: “We’re delighted to bring Sense’s ‘I Know I Can’t See, But I Still Look’ exhibition to Birmingham. This special collection of work showcases some of the best visual arts, ceramics and textiles being created by artists from across the UK with sensory loss.”

Glenn Howells, Director at Glenn Howells, said:  “Involvement in arts can have a huge impact of an individual’s wellbeing and quality of life, by helping people to develop confidence, communication skills and sense of identity. Sense has a long and proud history of supporting people with sight and hearing impairments to find a way to express themselves creatively and we’re delighted that this unique exhibition will celebrate the colour, textures and narratives of some very talented deafblind artists working within our London, Birmingham and Exeter projects.”

The exhibition is free to the general public and opening hours are between 10am and 4pm.

National deafblind charity, Sense, has previously called on the Government to introduce legislation that would end “digital exclusion” faced by people with sight and hearing loss.

Sense, the national deafblind charity, has expressed disappointment at the Government’s refusal to bring in legislation that would see the introduction of subtitles, signed content and audio description on video-on-demand content.  In partnership with Action on Hearing Loss and RNIB, Sense has been calling on the government to end ‘digital exclusion’ faced by people with sight and hearing loss due to the lack of access services in programming.

Sense has argued that the Government should introduce measures to improve the accessibility of subtitles in video-on-demand content, so that people with a hearing and sight loss can ‘catch-up’ on TV and films how and when they want.

The Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, Ed Vaizey, carried out a review in Autumn 2015, and as a result notified Sense that the Government feel sufficient progress is being made by broadcasters, content providers and platform operators towards increasing the provision of subtitles and other services on their video-on-demand services, and that the introduction of legislation “could have a detrimental impact on what the sector has shown it is able to achieve on a voluntary basis.”

Joff McGill, Head of Information, Advice, and Research at Sense said:

“The overall picture of current provision is disappointing. While accessible content can be found on an increasing range of devices, there are still large gaps on the major TV platforms and there have not been great advances for subtitle provision in 2015 – 76% of the UK’s on demand services are still inaccessible. As a result, many of the people that we represent cannot access TV content in the way others take for granted. Why should Video on Demand be any less accessible than the TV we watch as it is broadcast?”

“Yes, it is a complex picture, with new technologies emerging, a lack of standardisation, and a number of organisations involved in ensuring subtitles and other access services are delivered. But a common framework, set out by Government, would help.”

Sense welcomes improvements that have been promised by broadcasters and platform operators, and remains committed to working with the industry. Mr Vaizey told the charity that he will be contacting broadcasters, content providers and platform operators in Spring 2017 to request an update on what further progress has been made.

Joff McGill continued: “We look forward to responding to the Government’s call for industry to work closely with Ofcom and organisations such as Sense. In the absence of legislation and a common framework, the Minister’s leadership will be vital to ensure deafblind people are not excluded.”

“We will be responding to the industry, the regulator and the Government shortly, and will be working closely with our supporters to continue campaigning to ensure that deafblind people have equal access to TV.”

National deafblind charity is calling on the Government to urgently address the barriers preventing equality for disabled people.

National deafblind charity, Sense, has raised concerns over the findings of today’s report into discrimination against disabled people by the House of Lords.

The report found that despite the Equality Act, disabled people still face daily barriers to living an independent life, with access to transport and public buildings cited as key concern.

Sense submitted evidence to the report that showed in spite of progress to equality, deafblind people are still facing discrimination on a daily basis, including being asked to leave restaurants or shops because of guide dogs or not receiving information in accessible formats.

The charity is now calling on the Government to be proactive in implementing the strategic steps needed to advance equality for disabled people, commit resources to breaking down barriers and raise awareness of the duties designed to enable disabled people to participate in society.

Richard Kramer, Deputy Chief Executive for deafblind charity Sense, said:

“We’re deeply concerned by the findings of the Lords’ report; however, it sadly doesn’t come as a surprise.

Sense consistently receives feedback from the deafblind people that we work with that there are still huge barriers preventing them from living independently and playing an active part in their community. A recent inquiry by Sense revealed that one in two disabled children have been turned away from play settings and activities. We know that disabled people are being refused access to transport, struggling to enter public buildings or losing jobs because of lack of appropriate support.

It’s unacceptable that despite the Equality Act, disabled people are still experiencing multiple counts of discrimination in their everyday lives.  Currently, the onus appears to be on disabled people to fight for their rights through the courts, when they just want to live a normal life like everybody else.

Equality shouldn’t be seen as a red tape issue, it is an opportunity to increase life chances for disabled people. The Government must act on their duties and urgently look at why the Equality Act isn’t working for disabled people. It’s time for them to accept the current failings and make a serious commitment to begin breaking down the barriers that are preventing disabled people from participating in society.”