Cash boost for disabled people's groups

With the economy hurting, small disabled people’s bodies are in pain, especially if they lack the clout to fundraise. But, as Sunil Peck reports, help is at hand

It’s rare these days for the Government to announce a policy that doesn’t provoke outrage among disabled people, so the Minister for Disabled People, Maria Miller, could be forgiven for thinking she’s made a breakthrough by receiving a welcome for her launch of a scheme worth £3m over four years to promote the growth and strengthening of user-led organisations.

The scheme will be over­seen by Rich Watts, Director of Policy and Development at the Essex Coalition of Disabled People (ECDP). He will be seconded to the Office for Disability Issues for half a week each week.

Under him will be 12 regional ambassadors  responsible for promoting user-led organisations and spreading good practice.

Commenting on his new post, Rich Watts said: “Lead­ing this programme is a great opportunity to raise the profile of disabled people’s user-led organisa­tions and to sustain and share the successes they achieve, including providing the support that disabled people really need.

“Working with a team of ambassadors, we will share our skills and experience with other organisations, as well as learn from them and pass on their knowledge, to ensure that disabled people are heard at every level.”

Rich Watts certainly has a job on his hands because, as the minister admits, there are areas of the country where, unlike Essex, user-led organisations either don’t exist or lack the ability to provide peer support .

Speaking to Disability Now, Maria Miller said: “We’re trying to move to a situation with personal budgets and the right to control ... Having strong and robust and well-organised user-led organis­ations is critical.

“Disparate provision is a strength and a weakness. It’s a strength because we can take the expertise of those in areas with more developed centres for independent living, like the Vassall Centre in Bristol, which provides an amazing resource by provid­ing access for people to see different types of wheelchairs, equipment to support them in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom and expertise to go with it. Elsewhere, that’s not something which has been thought of.”

Typical project-funding bids will not be more than £10,000. Higher bids will be considered but no organisation will receive more than £30,000 in total during the four-year scheme.

One example of how a user-led organisation might benefit from the fund, according to the minister, would be to help them set up schemes similar to that run by the Vassall Centre, which sells to the local authority a service that lets people try out equipment.

“Another example of how the money could be used would be to train staff in user-led organisations to improve the services they offer or to provide new services. I’m thinking of an independent living centre in West Sussex, that identified a market and now has a thriving service with a very well developed database of personal assistants.”

Some disabled people have suggested that the scheme is simply an attempt by the Government to appease those angered by welfare cuts. Maria Miller of course denies this and says the move is consistent with the Government’s aim of promoting choice and independence.

It remains to be seen if £3 million is enough to boost user-led organisations. One area hoping to benefit is the North East, where the provision of peer support currently lags behind that in areas like Essex and Bristol.

Gordon Pybus, the Chair of Darlington Association on Disability, is keen to bid for funding and is cautiously optimistic that the level of peer support in areas like his can be raised. As he puts it, “Lots of people might say that this is too little too late. But we’d sooner have something than nothing. The money is never too little if it’s focussed right. It’s true that people have been losing their benefit money under this Government, but we’ve helped a lot of people to appeal and to get their rights and if we weren’t doing that, who would be?”