We want to focus our campaigning work on 5 key priorities – campaigns where we can have an impact and in areas that are important to disabled people across our region.
We want to make sure that our campaigns reflect what is most important to Disabled people in the North East. You can fill our our Campaigns Survey here to help us understand these issues,, and to let us know if you would like to bee involved. Fill in the survey here.
You can access an Easy Read version here: Easy Read Difference NE Campaigns 2023-2024
Over the next 18 months, we will focus on 5 key priorities:
Accessible Cities
It is not acceptable that our urban environments still present so many barriers for disabled people, and that we are still excluded from public places because of poor planning and design.
Therefore, we will:
- Continue to raise access and inclusion with local planners.
- Demand improvements in the key areas of accessible toilets, transport and parking, building access and accessible information.
Health and Wellbeing
The North East is one of the worst performing regions of the UK for health inequalities. Disabled people experience large gaps in quality of care and health outcomes.
Difference will:
- Campaign for more compliance by health and care providers of the Accessible Information Standard.
- Continue to support campaigning work by regional self-advocacy groups to improve the experiences of disabled people in Assessment and Treatment Units.
- Work with partners in the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System to highlight inequalities and promote greater access and inclusion for disabled people.
Employment
A significant disability employment gap persists, even at a time when there are huge skills shortages in the labour market. Working with disabled people, we have an in-depth picture of the barriers that prevent people from getting work and progressing in their chosen career. We now want to focus on how we engage employers in making the changes that are needed.
We will therefore:
- Establish a working group to take forward the actions arising from our Disability at Work Summit and follow-up planning meetings.
- Develop a resource hub for employers and a campaign to encourage take-up.
Climate Action and Climate Justice
Disabled people are among those most affected by climate change, and yet we continue to be excluded from many areas of policy and practice development.
Difference will:
Promote inclusive approaches to climate knowledge, climate action and climate justice.
Working as partners in the regional ‘Going Green Together’ network, we will involve disabled activists through our Disabled Climate Action Forum (DCAF).
DCAF aims to address these overlapping issues by:
- Demanding a space at the table for Disabled decision-makers in climate action and policy.
- Exploring in depth, what the barriers are to participation in climate action for Disabled people.
- Making information accessible.
- Developing ways of engaging in inclusive and accessible action.
Disability Poverty
Following a decade of austerity, changes to disability benefits, the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, disabled people are under financial pressures like never before.
Difference will:
- Contribute to national campaigns to reduce hardship for disabled people, through our membership of the Disability Poverty Campaign Group and the Disability Benefits Consortium.
- Work with local partners to promote awareness of support and advice available to help disabled people in our region to cope financially.