Campaign 4 Change

Campaign 4 Change is a self and peer advocacy group for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. Members campaign and raise awareness of different issues. They stand up for the rights of people with learning disabilities and autistic people on a national level, and work in partnership with other organisations

C4C are an inspiration to people with disabilities

Achieve together has partnered with Campaign 4 Change to help passionate and driven people with learning disabilities and or autism amplify their voice.

The group has campaigned on many important topics over the years. These include changing the language often used in social care, making sure all people are included in decision-making and self-advocacy (especially those who don’t have a voice), raising awareness of people’s experiences when not fully in control of their own lives and many, many more.

Removing the Cloak of Invisibility

Campaign 4 Change wants to enable all people to be included and listened to, no matter their level of ability. People with profound and multiple learning disabilities are the most vulnerable in society and in most cases cannot speak up for themselves.

Many assumptions are often made about people’s abilities and quality of life; however, Campaign 4 Change members Samir El-Ziftawy and Francesca Dunn are proving everyone wrong. They want to show that through removing barriers and with the right support, people are not only able to lead ordinary lives, but also contribute to society in a meaningful way. Samir and Frankie presented at various conferences their campaign to ‘Remove the Cloak of Invisibility’ from people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. The campaign asks people to include them in self-advocacy and decision making in creative and forward-thinking ways. Watch the sensory story ‘Mystical People’ by Frankie, Samir, and their friends:

Mystical people sensory story – YouTube

#MindYourLanguage

Campaign 4 Change is on a mission to make sure that the language used in social care is respectful to people who draw on support. Sometimes the language used by social care professionals is outdated and ‘othering’. Language can affect attitudes and therefore impact on the quality of life for people who receive support. The #MindYourLanguage campaign has been running for nearly six years. Recently, Campaign 4 Change created a short film to demonstrate some examples of language and actions that could indicate that people supported are not being treated as equals:

#MindYourLanguage (youtube.com)

Always in Lockdown

Sebastian Foreman, a member of Campaign 4 Change, led a campaign called ‘Always in Lockdown’. In this he compared the experiences of everyone during COVID lockdown to the experiences that some people with learning disabilities and autistic people have felt throughout their entire lives. It makes the experience relatable to everyone, and urges removal of barriers and restrictions in people’s lives. Sebastian was even invited to speak at an international conference organised by Inclusion Europe.

“As the restrictions imposed by the pandemic have been eased across the country and most people have slowly returned to normality, we would like to bring your attention to people who have been and will continue experiencing various restrictions during the whole of their lifetime due to barriers in society and lack of appropriate support. Now that most of the population have had a taste of not being free to do whatever they wished in their life, we hope that people will be more empathetic and pay more attention to the barriers that people with learning disabilities and autistic people face every day. The way communities came together during lockdown to help each other is the way we should continue acting every day. We are not asking for much, we just want to be seen, heard, and included like everyone else.”

#AlwaysInLockdown by Campaign 4 Change (youtube.com)

Involvement with organisations and politics

Campaign 4 Change often works in partnership with other organisations on different projects. One example is Campaign 4 Change member Mary Woodall, who is also a member of Learning Disability England Representative Body and a member of Care APPG Lived Experience Advisory Group. She takes every opportunity to speak directly to politicians about things that matter to people who receive social care support. Mary was part of a delegation that delivered My Vote My Voice petition to No 10 Downing Street. The petition urged the government to make elections more accessible for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.

The Wheel of Engagement

Achieve together’s Wheel of Engagement is a person-centred, holistic, and co-produced framework for supporting adults with learning disabilities and or autism. This framework focuses on supporting people in all areas that are important to have a good quality, meaningful and fulfilled life. A Wheel of Engagement podcast series discusses different themes every month. It features people with learning disabilities and autistic people from self-advocacy group Campaign 4 Change, co-production group Unity and their team members and peers. You can listen to or watch the podcasts here:

Wheel of Engagement Podcast – YouTube

Wheel of Engagement Podcast | Podcast on Spotify

Wheel of Engagement Podcast | Campaign 4 Change / Unity / Achieve together (podbean.com)

Wheel of Engagement Podcast on Amazon Music

Wheel of Engagement Podcast – Podcasts on Audible – Audible.co.uk

Check out Campaign 4 Change on social media below!