By not having disabled access from aveley though belhus chase run by woodland trust, disabled and elderly people are forced to risk their lives by going in fast driven country roads in wheelchairs or scooters to be able to walk their dogs or to just visit the country park. Just this week an elderly woman with her dog was almost hit.

SEND children are being denied their human right to an education appropriate to their needs due to lack of suitable schools places

On a hot day like this, I can cross the road, jump in the sea without a seconds thought.  I don't need to plan weeks in advance, hire expensive equipment and be at a specific place at a certain time. Who actually wants this? It takes the whole fun out of it. I can't believe I live in a town populated of almost 90 thousand people and no permanent disability access to the sea!  Hastings has always been about inclusivity, and being able to take a dip on a sweltering day like today is a very basic human right. There has already been great interest in this idea from many people in the Hastings area and people have come forward to say it has always been a dream to go in the sea whenever they want. With your help we can make these dreams a reality.

Seems like there isn't enough understanding off what hip dysplasia is and how it effects people that have it day to day lives. After going years and years off being told that I had nothing wrong to then being told I have bilateral double hip dysplasia and having one pao and having to have another one done aswell I went from being told nothing wrong to I actually have a problem with my hips it took so long when it could have been helped earlier on if it was understood more

Skem Men-Aces is one of the most highly decorated disability football teams in the country and deserves some recognition within it's hometown by way of a permanent sign on one of our many roundabouts. Most advertising signs, on our roundabouts, are empty and it would be great to see one turned permanently into a "Home of The Skem Men-Aces" sign. Skem Men-Aces is a real jewel in the crown of the wonderful things this town has to offer and it would be a fitting tribute to such an incredible club that has even won the Queens Award for voluntary services.

Current medical data from a significant NHS England study shows that diabetics, especially Type 1 diabetes which is not directly related to obesity, are at significantly increased risk of dying from Covid 19 (more than 3 times higher than a non-diabetic for Type 1, and more than 2 times higher for Type 2). The risk is such that the leading diabetes charity Diabetes UK is calling for the government to ensure employers either continue to furlough diabetics or allow them to work from home even with the easing of lockdown restrictions. This plea has been ignored, and so thousands of diabetics will be forced back to work and to a massively increased risk of death. It is a blatant disregard for their own official medical data and for human life. My husband is a Type 1 diabetic and has been for over thirty years, very rarely missing a days work and contributing hugely to his workplace - I do not want to see him sent to his death because the government refuse to acknowledge the facts and put appropriate shielding advice in place.

Because deaf and hard of hearing people rely on lip reading

Dear Prime Minister I believe that the #CoronaVirusBill presents a real and present danger to the lives of disabled people. The government’s plans for disabled children and adults during the crisis are effectively rolling back 30 years of progress for disabled people. The government’s plans are to: remove disabled people’s rights to social care change the duties to meet children’s educational requirements to a ‘reasonable endeavours’ duty attack the civil liberties of disabled people and erode their rights to support I am asking the government to work closely with disabled people’s organisations and families of disabled people to protect their human rights in a time of crisis. I implore you to fight for the hard fought rights of disabled children, young people and adults and their families and to amend the schedules in the Bill that remove social care and SEND duties and threaten the civil liberties of disabled people. To explain my reasons for writing to you, please see my understanding of negative social implications of the #CoronaVirusBill on the lives of disabled people and their families: Yours sincerely Maxine Pieri What does it mean for disabled adults? The Bill suspends every duty in the Care Act, 2014, including the duty to meet the eligible needs of disabled people (Section 18) and their carers (Section 20). Under the #CoronaVirus Bill, Local Authorities will only have to provide care ‘if they consider it necessary’ for the purposes of avoiding a breach of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). There is no human right to social care or positive obligation under the ECHR to meet care needs. Other changes set to be introduced through the #CoronaVirusBill will allow health bodies to delay carrying out an assessment for eligibility for NHS continuing care What does it mean for disabled children and young people? Duties for young people transitioning to adult social care have also been suspended. The Secretary of State for Education will have power to disapply the duty on schools and other institutions to admit a child to a school where they are named on an EHCP. The Secretary of State will be able to vary provisions of the act, such as the core duty to procure provision set out in an EHCP, so instead of being an absolute duty it becomes a ‘reasonable endeavours’ duty, creating a lesser entitlement for up to two years. What about the Mental Health Act? The power to recommend individuals be detained under the Mental Health Act will be implemented using one doctor’s opinion instead of two, making it easier for people to be detained. The proposed bill will temporarily allow the extension or removal of time limits in mental health legislation which means individuals might be released into the community early, or find themselves detained for longer. Under section 5, emergency detention for people already in hospital would extend from 72 hours to 120 hours, and nurses’ holding powers would extend from 6 to 12 hours. Under sections 135 and 136, police powers to detain a person found in need of immediate care at a “place of safety” will extend from 24 hours to 36 hours. Under section 35/36, the cap on how long someone can be held in hospital while awaiting a report (currently 12 weeks) will be lifted. What about the rights of disabled people? Local authorities will have a duty to uphold disabled people’s human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, BUT the threshold for a breach, in terms of not providing care and support is high, which means that disabled people will be left without care and support. Lack of care and support will have a significant impact on disabled people’s well-being, but may not be considered to reach the threshold for their human rights to have been breached – they will NOT have a right to care and support. Sources of information Watch @stevebroach, Public Law Barrister talk about the impact of the Bill here: https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/steve-broach-public-law-barrister-on-the-coronavirus-bills-implications-for-disabled-children/ Read this Twitter thread for more information: https://twitter.com/JamieBurton29/status/1240781535340568577 Statement from National User Survivor Network: https://www.nsun.org.uk/News/covid-19-and-human-rights Current hashtags: #CoronaVirusBill #CoronavirusBillUK

On 19th March you and your fellow councillors will be voting on whether to make potentially devastating cuts to the special educational needs budget, which will impact children across the borough. We are calling on you to vote against it. We believe these cuts will prevent schools from properly supporting children with special needs, such as autism, Down’s Syndrome and learning difficulties, and in doing so negatively impact the education of all children in the borough. If these cuts are made, you risk failing in your legal duty under the Children and Families Act 2014 to provide access to education for all children – making the proposals both unethical and likely unlawful. What's more, we believe these cuts are a false economy. Reducing support for children with special educational needs means many will struggle to cope in mainstream education, resulting them falling out of the system completely either through exclusion or school refusal. Parents will then be forced to seek alternative specialist provision, which will cost the council far more in the long run. The proposal is to make a 10% cut to vital top-up funding for children with special educational needs in mainstream schools, as well as cutting the annual budgets of special schools by 1.5%, the maximum allowed by law. Waltham Forest Council will also introduce an unsustainable two-tier system in which new children requiring support face an, as yet, undefined new process. Previous attempts to cut the budget were abandoned after families and schools voiced concerns about how cuts would harm children’s education. Many schools remain uneasy about the cuts, choosing either not to vote or to abstain from voting for them. You should also take note of the high level of community support against cutting the special needs education budget. This is exemplified by the fact that £3,000 for the purposes of taking legal action against the Council was raised through crowdfunding in a matter of days. Furthermore, Waltham Forest SEND Crisis, a grassroots campaign group formed by families, carers and professionals, now has over 300 members. A young person has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision to be made for them. This can include children with sight or hearing problems, Down's syndrome, learning difficulties, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, anxiety, depression, as well as children with a physical need requiring additional equipment and support. The extra support children with SEND require is vital to them being able to access an education. You and the other Waltham Forest Councillors must vote against these cuts on 19 March, as they will hurt the children you have a legal duty to support. We implore you to follow the lead of other UK Councils and push back to central government.

Yanni has pica, severe learning disability, nonverbal autism, extreme hyperactivity/ADHD. His parents have offered to offset the loss of the tree at a local community park, by replanting three trees. His little sister will no longer need to help monitor her older brother in the garden. https://www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/news/18178970.mothers-fight-keep-son-safe-removing-protected-tree/

Because of the detrimental impact the dysfunctional Special Needs System is having on families

We now have in excess of 80 club members with nowhere to socialise on our prior club days. Breaking friendships and social skills...please sign our petition and help keep us open