FINALIST 2023
The members created The Unborn a film based upon the poem they wrote from the perspective of an unborn child with Down Syndrome.
This is not a statement against a woman’s right to choose, quite the opposite.
Our members want expecting mothers to understand their choices fully because they feel that there isn’t enough information about what Down Syndrome is. Their message is simple “Down syndrome isn’t something to be afraid of”.
The law separates people with disabilities to those without, allowing a foetus with disabilities to be terminated up until the day of birth, our members have felt personally attacked by this law.
One member asked, “is there a cure for Down Syndrome, will I ever get better and normal?” This law has an effect on the disabled community outside the womb too. We came up with the hashtag #EqualInsideAndOut to promote that idea.
We believe there’s an alternative, we believe there’s room for nuance and a revised version of the law that represents disability in 2022 not disability as it was sixty years ago.
The law could do better for people with disabilities and better for expectant mothers and this is our members way of asking the Government to try, to at least try.
People First Keighley & Craven is a Self-Advocacy Registered Charity based in Keighley run by and for people with learning disabilities and/or autism. We support people across the Bradford & Craven Districts but our campaigns reach far past our home in Yorkshire. We advocate for a better world for all those with learning disabilities and/or autism no matter where they live. We are a true Disabled Person’s Organisation.
The organisation was formed in 2004 and became a registered charity in April 2008. It began small and focused on the social needs of our community of learning disabled and autistic people. It has grown a lot since then but the heart remains the same. We continue those social nights because they have proven time and again that they are the first step to advocacy.
We also firmly believe in the power of our community coming together and making happy memories. Our members run the organisation and they make their choices democratically even down to the location of the monthly social night.
We believe in choice, equality, co-design, and co-production and we ensure those values are at the forefront of everything we do.
Our work is based upon the principles of the Social Model of Disability and we use our campaigns to educate others that it is an inaccessible world and an under educated society that disables people and create barriers for individuals to live and achieve the lives they want, need and deserve.
We align with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
