Monthly Archives: August 2012

Disability activists use social media to put care cuts on the political agenda

Disability activists use social media to put care cuts on the political agenda

Success of Twitter-driven approach put down to ability to engage many campaigners confined to their homes
Behind the Paralympics, the reality for disabled people in Britain 2012

 

Many disabled people who might otherwise have been unable to be heard have become engaged by campaigns on Twitter.

While there are fears that traditional methods of disability activism are on the wane, a new campaigning spirit is been forged using the social media revolution.

The past 18 months have seen the first flowerings of a new network of activist groups and a shared, inclusive approach that has thrust their engaging campaigning style into the public eye.

Galvanised by the government’s draconian welfare reform agenda, the new activism arguably is helping to renew a disability movement thought by some to have lost its way in recent years.

The staggering Twitter-driven success of the “We Are Spartacus” campaign in January announced the emergence of this new wave. This carefully planned viral campaign steered by a tiny band of activists almost single-handedly put the previously arcane issue of cuts in disability living allowance on the public agenda.

Revealed: Growing number of elderly dying alone with no relatives

  • The number of elderly people dying alone in Wales with no relatives has been highlighted in figures obtained by WalesOnline.
  • By Brendan Hughes, WalesOnline
  • Aug 21 2012

 

The Eleanor Rigby statue in Liverpool

The Eleanor Rigby statue in Liverpool

Older people’s charity Age Cymru warned that as Wales’ population aged, the problem of loneliness was growing, with older men most at risk of isolation.

Figures from Welsh health boards show almost £400,000 was spent over the past four years on holding funerals for patients with no traceable relatives – a problem the Beatles sang about in their 1966 hit Eleanor Rigby.

More than 620 funerals have been paid for by health authorities in Wales between 2008-09 and 2011-12 for patients who have died with no next of kin.

Kirklees families to benefit from free childcare up to age of 14

A local authority in West Yorkshire has announced plans to trial free childcare for parents of children up to the age of 14.

By Mathew Little, Monday 20 August 2012


A local authority in West YKirklees council is offering free childcare for children up to the age of 14.

Kirklees Council, which covers areas including Huddersfield and Dewsbury, is to trial the scheme for families on jobseeker’s allowance.

Up to 25 hours free childcare during term time will be made available for children up to the age of 14 from eligible families. The families of children with special educational needs or a disability will be entitled to take part in the initiative until their children turn 18.

Mehboob Khan, leader of Kirklees Council, said the scheme would be one of the council’s flagship programmes for supporting families.

“Evidence suggests that children who attend high-quality childcare settings are better prepared for starting school and perform better as they move through the education system,” he said.