Learning Disability England, Community Catalysts and representation
Helping create a world where people with learning disabilities have equal choices and opportunities
My name is Angela Catley and I lead work on development for Community Catalysts (who host Small Good Stuff). I have a background in working with people with a learning disability and am really interested in the issues they face.
Over the years I and Community Catalysts have had a strong connection to Learning Disability England (LDE) a membership organisation that brings together people with learning disabilities, families, friends and paid supporters on an equal basis. Members work together to build a world where people with learning disabilities have good lives with equal choices and opportunities as others. This aim really resonates with me, and I am sure it will also resonate with my colleagues at Community Catalysts and across our wider Local Area Coordination, Coalition for Personalised Care and Small Good Stuff family.
I am pleased to share that I was recently elected as a member of the Representative Body at LDE. There are three types of members on this body – one is people with a learning disability, another is families and the final group, the one I am in, represents organisations and paid supporters.
The members of the Representative Body make sure that Learning Disability England stays true to its values and is always working towards its goals.
This is all new and I am still finding my feet, but I do know I need to find ways to share the work that LDE is doing and to link with organisational members and represent their views. In my new role I am particularly interested in trying to ensure this includes organisations and supporters that might not always have a strong voice. This might include very small organisations and community groups, local area coordinators, shared lives carers and others that work with and for people with a learning disability in creative ways.
So, I am posting this blog for a few reasons.
· Firstly, to let you know about LDE and invite you to become a member if issues facing people with a learning disability are of interest to you or relevant to your role.
· Secondly, to try and find out if any of you are already LDE members and whether the Small Good Stuff newsletters or Facebook group might be a useful way for me to link with you as your representative.
· Thirdly, just to let you know about my new role and aspirations.
Moving forward I would like to continue to keep you informed of issues facing learning disabled people and invite you to comment and contribute to LDE’s response.
If you are already an LDE member, please do let me know – so I can start to better understand how LDE and the Community Catalysts’ family intersect. Please also get in touch more generally if any of this is of interest or you have any comments or reflections.
Thank you
Angela Catley angela.catley@communitycatalysts.co.uk