Press Release
31st October 2008
New pack helps schools tackle bullying of people with learning disabilities
Over the last year UR Consultants, a social enterprise set up by United Response and staffed by people with learning disabilities in the Trafford area of Greater Manchester, has been working with local schools to tackle the bullying of people with learning disabilities.
As a result, they have developed an exciting and interactive new curriculum-linked education pack to help teachers prepare lessons on the subject of bullying.
The pack was developed as a result of training UR Consultants delivered in schools. This face to face training included presentations, class discussions, games and short films, as well as members of the team sharing their own personal experiences of being bullied. All of these elements are represented in the pack.
A third of school children who took part in the training said they had not realised the extent of bullying experienced by people with learning disabilities before taking part in the project. A third also said that would take action and stand up for someone with a learning disability if they saw them being bullied in the future.
Ali Bishop worked with UR Consultants to develop the training and the curriculum-linked resource pack. She said:
"Bullying is not an easy subject to talk about, but unfortunately it is part of life for many people with learning disabilities and we're pleased that schools, like those in Greater Manchester, are supporting us in trying to tackle it.
"Many of the people we surveyed felt that bullying often occurs because of a lack of awareness among young people about what it means to have a learning disability. This pack aims to address this by giving pupils the opportunity to hear first hand the experiences of people with learning disabilities and the way bullying makes them feel.”
Copies of the pack can be purchased for £30. To find out more about the resource, the training or the project email ali.bishop@unitedresponse.org.uk
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For more information, please contact Sarah Bartlett or Jaime Gill in the United Response Press Office on020 8246 5237 or 020 8246 5122 or emailsarah.bartlett@unitedresponse.org.uk or jaime.gill@unitedresponse.org.uk
Notes to editors:
United Response is a national charity that works with people with learning disabilities or mental health needs - including some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
We provide everything from 24 hour care to a few hours of support a week. United Response is community based, working in many localities across England and Wales.
Our mission is to support people with learning disabilities or mental health needs to take control of their lives. We design our care and support around each person and work with them to achieve real inclusion, independence and citizenship for all. We support people across the whole spectrum of learning disability and mental health and have developed a range of specialisms in working with people with the most complex needs, particularly person-centred active support.
We are working towards a society where people with learning disabilities or mental health needs are equal participants and have access to the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.
We have won several awards for our pioneering work and for being a top employer. In 2007 alone, we were highly commended by the Charity Awards for our 'Good To Great' approach to providing support, while the Charity Times named us one of the best six charities to work for in the UK. We are experts in the development of accessible communications.
United Response was founded in 1973 by chief executive Su Sayer. We are a top 100 charity, supporting more than 1,500 people throughout the UK at any one time and employing more than 2,000 staff.