The Electoral Commission website tells you everything you need to know and do to ensure nothing stops you from voting on the 6th May. To secure your vote you must be registered by 20 April. Make sure you have your say. James Dodd, web editor.

Plenty going on in the run up to the election. To start off, Su Sayer urged political parties to engage would-be voters with learning disabilities in a letter to The Independent. The Independent website also features an article called The boy in the corner: Why do children with special needs still get such a raw [...]

With Gordon Brown set to call the general election this morning our Every Vote Counts campaign is more vital than ever. Please get involved and send a letter to your MP to help make democracy accessible for all. There is a downloadable letter template available in the Campaigns section of our website. Just fill in [...]

We have been awarded funding to head up two Timebanking schemes in Manchester and Liverpool, bringing together disabled and non-disabled volunteers to share their time and skills on an equal footing. We have received £24,000 in funding from Trafford Council’s Innovation Fund and £19,000 from the Liverpool Making it Happen Partnership Board to set up [...]

Here is an excerpt from our press release about Making Democracy Accessible: Politicians must make democracy more accessible, says learning disability charity, United Response With a general election imminent, the national learning disability charity, United Response, is launching a set of guides – Making Democracy Accessible – to help politicians, party workers and public officials [...]

It’s never too early to start thinking about Christmas! Why not enter the 5K Santa Race on 6th December in Greenwich Park, London? Get dressed up, have fun and raise money for United Response! For more information and to sign up, visit http://www.unitedresponse.org.uk/support-us/santa-5k.htm or call us on 020 8268 5200.

As members of the Learning Disability Coalition, we have written a joint letter to the Guardian, which has been published. The letter is in response to the green paper on the future of social care funding, published last week, and calls for the specific needs of people with learning disabilities to be addressed as part [...]

Su Sayer, chief executive of United Response, says of the New Horizons consultation: “New Horizons, the Department of Health’s new consultation on mental health, is a bold and positive step towards reform of mental health services in the UK. Its collaborative approach is particularly welcome: by involving people with mental health needs, the NHS and [...]

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to take on a charity challenge? Ever thought it might be too much for you? It be easier and more fun than you think. Jaime recently took the bike ride from London to Paris challenge for United Response, raising a massive £1,300! He wrote a diary of his [...]

Commenting on Shaping the Future of Care Together, Su Sayer, Chief Executive of United Response, said: “There needs to be a proper public debate on the future of social care, which is why the publication of this green paper is so important. The demand for social care continues to rise, partly as a result of [...]

A photography exhibition opens today at Bankside Gallery in London. The exhibition is the result of a year long project, UR in the Picture. It examines photography as a creative medium through which people can express their feelings about living with mental illness: their hopes, their fears and their achievements. The project was carried out [...]

Thank you to everyone who attended our first ever charity golf day at Royal Wimbledon Golf Club on Thursday 18th June. We raised nearly £15,000 from the day and think it was such a success, we are considering doing it again next year. Please contact us if you are a golfer and would like to [...]

We have made a response to Valuing Employment Now: We warmly welcome the publication of Valuing Employment Now, the cross-government learning disability employment strategy. We particularly welcome the ambitious target of increasing employment levels to those of other disabled people by 2025, which implies an almost 5 fold increase in the proportion of people with [...]

Every Vote Counts! – the project United Response has been working on to help people with learning disabilities engage with the democratic procress has been featured in Community Care magazine. Read the article in full on Community Care’s website

With elections around the corner, we’ve launched the Every Vote Counts! website to make it easier for people with learning disabilities to use their vote and have their say. The website, www.everyvotecounts.org.uk has been built in consultation with people with learning disabilities. It is part of the three year Every Vote Counts! campaign launched by [...]

We’ve got 10 places for the adidas Women’s 5k Challenge 2009. The race will take place on 6th September in London’s Hyde Park. And we have 10 places to fill. To take part, you just need to pay £15 to the race organiser (£5 of that comes to us). And then pledge to raise £150 [...]

Two young people with learning disabilities are featured in today’s Youth special supplement in The Guardian. They explain that having a learning disability does not stop them from having a girlfriend or holding down a part-time job. You can read the full feature here They are both supported by United Response.

We have had a letter printed in Community Care magazine. The letter was a response to the recent healthcare reports. You can read the letter in full on our website.

If you fancy running a half marathon for United Response, we have a number of guaranteed places in the Royal Parks Half Marathon up for grabs. Over 12,500 people will gather together on 11th October 2009 to take part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon. They will race through four Royal Parks, taking in fantastic [...]

Crispian Besley, from Northamptonshire, is using his participation in historic motor racing as a novel way of raising funds and promoting awareness of the national learning disability charity United Response. The charity has a special significance to Crispian as they provided support for his younger brother, Dominic, for the last 15 years. Crispian said: “Dominic [...]