2004
Communications Project
In January 2004 Liverpool Children's Fund and Liverpool Children's services employed four young people; John, Sarah, Liam and Richard through Merseyside Access to Play to carry out a participation project. The four young people were managed by North West Disability Arts Forum (NWDAF) and Liverpool Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) project, to plan events to promote the involvement of Disabled and Deaf children and young people in the decisions affecting their lives and to create opportunities to address inequality. Two events were held. The first to bring young people together from projects visited by the four employed young people to report back on the findings. Then any additional issues were added before the four young people presented the information to decision makers in Liverpool. The work took 3 months.
Issues from the young people included:
"I feel that adults think they know best when it comes to making decisions, in my opinion, 'they don't' all of the time. You can learn something new every day. Who says it can't be from a young person. Listen to our views and I assure you, you will learn something" Steph
"Free transport because my mom doesn't work and can't afford to take all 3 of us out" Craig
"We like our project and want it to continue. What will we do if the funding stops?" Annon
"I need some help getting to the projects. I like to travel with people from my school. I need people to listen to me when I've something on my mind. THE PROJECT I GO TO MAKES MY DAY BRIGHTER. Cally-Ann
"I like to go out with my friend to meet others and have fun so I need adults to understand that we don't always need them around. Matthew
"I need people to watch me and learn about the things I enjoy doing and help me to do more. I don't use words but I understand what people say" Adam
"I need people to be patient with me and to give me more time to do what I have to do". Daliah
"Someone to listen when I say my name" Joshua
To decision makers in Liverpool the four young people employed categorised the messages into 4 main sections:
- Communication and Safety
- Meeting other people
- Giving Support
- Listening
The Project and the findings are written in the Communications Project 2004 report.
Royal Visit
In Nov. 2004 Prince Edward visited NWDAF and 5 young people who had been part of our projects had the opportunity to meet him. Some of the young peoples work was on display.
