Mike
Hedges AM was pleased to attend the launch by Barod, a Community Interest
Company, of a project called the Bridge which is working in partnership for the
next two years with Carmarthenshire People First, My Life My Choice (an Oxford
organisation), People First Dorset and Social Firms , “The project is called The
Bridge because it aims to bridge the gap between the current situation where
too many people with learning difficulties are working for free and their
organisations struggle for funding, to a future where individuals and organisations
are well paid for their work”.
People with learning difficulties across the UK
have developed highly desirable skills through their involvement in
self-advocacy and are engaged in high level policy and service design work.
However it is rare to be able to secure well paid work that uses these skills,
and many groups struggle to find funding.
Five years ago, a small group of people with and
without learning difficulties founded Barod Community Interest Company to
create their own jobs and run their own business. Recently, Barod benefited
from business growth support from Social Firms Wales, funded by Social Business
Wales, leading to the idea of the two organisations combining forces for a
research project to support and work alongside a small number of self-advocacy
organisations who were looking to create paid work for members or generate
income for the organisation. Thanks to this funding from the National Lottery
Fund, via DRILL (Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning), over the next two years
these five organisations will be working together to build a brighter future
for people with learning difficulties and for self-advocacy organisations.
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