The article includes feedback on the success of the Every Vote Counts campaign, interviews with our Chief Executive and one of our young voters, and exclusively reveals the number of people with learning disabilities who exercised their democratic rights in the 2010 general election.

Is it higher than the 16% who voted in 2005? Take a look at the article for yourselves!

James Robinson, Communications Project Assistant

Both articles are worth checking out. The first is titled: Call to encourage voters with learning difficulties, the second: Voters with learning disabilities ‘disenfranchised’.

James Dodd, web editor.

To give you an idea – and to acknowledge the various people, sites and organisations that have linked through to us – I have compiled a modest roundup of recent coverage we have received.

Blog-wise, we got some nice exposure on the Redbridge Community Forums website, with a concise summary of our campaign. In addition, independent candidate for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, Gareth Allen, also mentioned us in his blog, which is a superb example of the Every Vote Counts ethos being taken onboard by decision-makers.

We got decent-sized news stories on both the Yoodo and CCWA websites, with the latter focusing on the ‘disenfranchisement’ of voters with learning disabilities.

Finally, fellow charitable organisation HFT gave Making Democracy Accessible a nod in its online national news roundup.

A great spread of coverage that I think reflects a well-received campaign.

James Dodd, web editor.

“I expected to get a nice but deflective letter back, telling us the usual drivel about wanting to come but being busy,” says Wayne, “So when they accepted, I was quite impressed! When they arrived, we all sat down together and shared our experiences of living in Harrogate. The guys all took turns to raise their concerns around rubbish collections and anti-social behaviour in the estate – the latter being something common to many housing estates and something which can sometimes be intimidating for people with learning disabilities. They don’t like having to walk past large groups of kids hanging around street corners.”

They basically shared their frustrations about why people can’t all live together and be happy. The councillors were both really friendly and couldn’t do enough to be accommodating. Once they’d returned to their work place, they emailed us to reiterate their enjoyment of the experience and to ask us to continue to raise any concerns in the future.

“Since then, all of the guys have become more interested in voting. Previously, we’ve supported them to go to polling stations and stuff, but it seemed like they were just going through the motions,” adds Wayne, “Now, after seeing politics in action for themselves and using the Every Vote Counts pack, they act really keen – they want to have a voice.”