Triumph over cuts tragedy

Disabled peple don’t always feel we have the option of taking part in street protest. But this doesn’t have to mean that voices go unheard. Online activist Emma Crees reflects on the momentum gained by her web-based protest, One Month Before Heartbreak

News of the planned benefit cuts has been very worrying to me and many other disabled people. As a wheelchair-user I’d not felt able to go to any of the protests – it would be difficult for me to get there, I might not be safe there and I’d probably need someone with me but don’t have a care package. I’d been hearing the same thing from many other people. That they were scared of what would happen, that they wanted to protest but for whatever reason being disabled meant they couldn’t. I’d heard stories of disabled protesters like Jody McIntyre and was glad people were getting out there but I wanted something I could do. I also knew many people who couldn’t protest but could write and were willing to share their stories. Putting the two together as an online protest seemed like a good idea.

It was called One Month Before Heartbreak because it took place a month before the consultation on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) ended on Valentine’s Day. Re-shaping DLA could change lives for the worse and I wanted a name that would make people take notice.

I’d hoped we might get 20 people contributing. We had more than 150 contributions from as far afield as Canada, the US and Australia. The event was meant to last three days. Posts went onto the site every 30 minutes for those three days. Contributions kept coming in. Videos and raps. Poems, short stories and images. And many, many stories of what being disabled means. How DLA makes a difference and what removing it could mean. Some stories were funny, others touching. Some very upsetting – a video of a woman showing just how she has to live. We have two collections of “one line” stories that people sent via twitter. In some cases it was the only way people could contribute.

We had some successes too. Our campaign was mentioned by The Guardian a few times. A radio interview for one contributor. Support from several big disability sites. Many e-mails and comments of support – including from people who said, “I’m not disabled but you’ve made me realise just how important this is”.

In some ways, the best things that came out of One Month Before Heartbreak were the things I didn’t expect. The fact that friendships were made. One young carer feeling like he’d been heard for the first time in a long time. The people who said it made them realise they weren’t alone and that they could make a difference. Although I originally came up with the idea as a protest against planned cuts, the sense of community and support which has come through it is probably its biggest triumph.