Ordinary Lives !

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Citizenship for AllA talk by Simon Duffy and Gary Bourlet

at H&SA Conference, 21st November 2013

We know what we aim at. But we’re not always sure how to talk about it.!!

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Ordinary lives is nice and simple - but is it also a bit boring or empty?!!

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Citizenship sounds good - but is it a bit too fancy or foreign?

what does citizenship mean?1. Purpose - meaning

2. Freedom - control

3. Money - independence

4. Home - belonging

5. Help - involvement

6. Life - contribution

7. Love - connection

can we make ordinary interesting?

No. 1 ourselves - personal change, courage and integrity!

No. 2 community - local control, diversity and innovation !

No. 3 politics - fairness, rights and democracy

We’re not very far down the road!

big challenges ahead of us3

1. The UK is the third most unequal developed country

2. High rates of low paid employment 3. Consumption not contribution 4. Time for citizenship and family

eroded

citizenship has been lost

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Are we living as citizens?1. Purpose - Am I living a life of real purpose?

2. Freedom - Am I living with integrity - doing what’s right?

3. Money - Is money my servant or my master?

4. Home - Am I creating a home for myself and others?

5. Help - Do I let others lead, contribute and support me?

6. Life - Am I really listening to and helping others?

7. Love - Am I guided by love or by phoney goals?

citizenship must be ordinary

Ordinary life is becoming all too ordinary. We don’t want to be employees; we don’t want to be service users; we don’t want to be customers. We are human beings, wonderfully diverse, and individual. And we are each others equals: worthy of respect and dignity. It’s not the time to be ordinary, it’s time to be extraordinary.

Pericles

One's sense of honour is the only thing that does not grow old, and the last pleasure,

when one is worn out by age, is not, as the poet said, making money, but having the respect

of one's fellow men.

• Founder of KeyRing

• Champion of plain English and easy read

• Genius behind marketing of self-directed support

• Introduced Small Sparks project to UK

• Introduced Manavodaya to UK

• A real citizen and a champion of other people’s citizenship

Carl Poll 1950-2013

1. The UK is the 2nd most centralised welfare state in the world

2. Local government controls little & is under-valued

3. Facing biggest cuts in funding & power

4. Forced into bureaucratic tendering and commissioning that erode communities

our communities are under attack

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The biggest percentage cut in funding was for English Local government.

60% of real local government expenditure is for social care.

Central government creams funding from local government

community is where citizenship happens

1. Purpose - it’s where purposes find meaning

2. Freedom - it’s where we can be free

3. Money - it’s where real wealth is made

4. Home - it’s where we belong

5. Help - it’s where we are known and valued

6. Life - it’s where we can make a difference

7. Love - it’s where we can find love and give love

is this ordinary?

Bigger is not more beautiful. We will only discover and share our gifts at the level of community.

Wards 40 %

Average Population 1,700

Over 65 376 22.1%

15 and under 308 18.1%

People seriously misusing drugs or alcohol 14 0.8%

People with limiting long-term illness 383 22.5%

Children SEN statements 7 0.4%

People in homes in private ownership (incl. rental) 1,365 80.3%

People in poor health 181 10.6%

Deaths in a year 20 1.2%

Crimes 88 5.2%

‘Looked After Children’ 2 0.1%

People entitled to social care 78 4.6%

Working age people on benefits 177 10.4%

1. The UK has more debt per person than any other country.

2. Politicians are using shame and stigma to win power.

3. Cuts have been targeted on the most disadvantaged.

4. Only swing voters matter.

democracy is breaking down

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The real cause of the crisis was a collapse in banks who had invested in an enormous unsustainable housing bubble.

We are seeing politicians pick on disabled people and use government officials to prime negative headlines.

The government has targeted cuts that fall hardest on those with the greatest needs - people with severe disabilities.

The cuts fall on people with disabilities and people in poverty far harder than they fall on any other groups.

What went wrong?

We fell asleep. We forgot that they don’t take care of us, we take care of each other. We forgot that it’s the rich who need the poor, not the poor who need the rich. We forgot that politicians work for us, we don’t work for them. We forgot that government doesn’t innovate, people do. We forgot that government doesn’t create wealth, people do. We forgot that government doesn’t know best, people do. We forgot about citizenship, we forgot about families, we forgot about community. We confused good with big. We confused achievement with wealth. We confused love with control. We forgot that the welfare state was made by us, that it belongs to us and it needs to work for us. It’s time to wake up.

It’s time to wake up

1. Work together

2. Get political

3. Support advocacy

3suggestions

• For too long we’ve relied on government for leadership

• We’ve relied on government for funding

• We’ve relied on government for advocacy

Please support development

of People First England

Gary Bourlet• Self-advocate since 1982

• Founder of People First Movement in the UK 1984

• First person with a learning disability who was a TV presenter

• First worker for People First London, after stepping down as President

• Worked for different groups across the country

• Now organising the creation of People First England

• One national voice for people with learning disabilities

• An umbrella organisation to representing all self-advocacy groups, not just those called People First.

• Support to develop new local groups and restart groups that have folded - good financial advice

• A way of becoming more self-sufficient, finding different sources of funding, helping people share support

• Capacity-building support and advice

• Run by and for people with learning disabilities.

• Connect internationally - this is an international movement

• In a strong position to campaign - and direct action

Why we need People First England

United we stand,

divided we fall

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