Posted 03.09.2021

Disability Equality North West, a Disabled People's Organisation (DPO) based in Lancashire, received DPO COVID-19 NET Emergency Fund for a six month Community Link Project, which has been a mixture of researching the impact of the pandemic on disabled people and sign-posting disabled people to support services within Disability Equality or to other agencies.

General feedback from disabled people during the pandemic was that we were one of only a few (if any) where there was a ‘real’ person at the end of the phone and the ‘added value’ is that disabled people (in the main) are providing services and supporting disabled people. Peer support is a bedrock of all DPO’s and should be celebrated and valued more widely.

The wealth of experience and knowledge is (or should be) invaluable to statutory services and the way services are regulated and planned, that are accessible and fit for purpose.

Disabled people and their authentic voices should be central to all strategic and operational plans across the board with in health, criminal justice, private sectors and local authorities.

Read more from Disability Equality North West