πŸ“’ Caerphilly People First at the Caerphilly Hustings πŸ—³οΈ

Monday was an exciting and important day for Caerphilly People First! πŸŽ‰ We were delighted to be invited to take part in the Caerphilly hustings as part of Learning Disability Wales’s Ready to Vote project. πŸ™Œ The event took place at Y Banc in Caerphilly town centre πŸ›οΈ and brought together politicians from four political parties: Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives, the Green Party, and the Liberal Democrats. It was expertly chaired by our very own Ffion Poole, who did a fantastic job guiding the discussion πŸ‘βœ¨

Our members played a key role in the hustings by asking thoughtful and important questions to the candidates hoping to be elected to the Senedd on Thursday 7th May πŸ—³οΈ. The topics raised included:

🦷 Access to NHS dentists
🚌 Free bus passes for people with learning disabilities
πŸŽ“ Support for people with learning disabilities in schools and colleges

Other attendees also asked questions about housing 🏠 and jobs πŸ’Ό, making sure a wide range of important issues were discussed. It was great to hear directly from each candidate and learn their views on the issues that matter most to our members πŸ’¬. Events like this help make sure that people with learning disabilities have a voice and can make informed choices. We encourage everyone to take part in the election on Thursday 7th May πŸ—³οΈ β€” your voice matters, so make sure it’s heard! πŸ’ͺπŸ—£οΈ

Meeting about Benefits Reform

Yesterday afternoon, Ffion, Nat, Gethin, and Amy joined an online meeting with other People First groups across Wales. The meeting was run by All Wales People First and was about Benefits Reform.

We talked about:
Changes to benefits money from the government
The Access to Work scheme that helps disabled people in jobs
Getting good jobs and being treated fairly
Health and safety at work

What is Access to Work? Access to Work helps pay for things like:
Travel to work
Job coaches or support workers
Special equipment or changes at work

We also talked about:
Making benefits easier and fairer
Getting faster help from Access to Work
Helping people move from volunteering to paid jobs

And organisations like the Equality and Human Rights Commission which:
Makes sure disabled people are treated fairly
Protects people’s rights
Helps stop discrimination

The government should:
Give money to these organisations
Listen to disabled people’s voices
Follow equality laws

We also spoke about Health and Safety at work:
Some people need changes to help them stay safe
Staff should get health and safety training
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) checks if workplaces are safe

Next steps:
Kelly will fill out the consultation form from All Wales People First. This means our group’s voice will be heard and shared!

Job Vacancies

We’d like to tell you about two new jobs which we are advertising.Β  ThereΒ are two vacancies available on our ‘Experts Through Experience’ project, one for a Project Worker (24 hours per week), and one for a Co-Worker (6 hours per week).Β  If anyone is interested in applying for these vacancies, you can email us at: caerphillypf@hotmail.co.ukΒ for job adverts and application forms.