News
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Join us for Christmas Carols & more, at Dorchester Baptist Church!
If you would like to do some carol singing, listen to the choir and Christmas readings, see the puppets and have a cup of tea, pop along on Sunday 10th December to this all inclusive service!
Lockdown experiences
Here’s a film our members made about how the pandemic affected their lives, what they found hardest and how People First Dorset supported them through this time.
People with learning disabilities are equal members of society
The pandemic has been terrible for many and people with learning disabilities are one group that has been especially hard hit.
Take a look at the BMJ Opinion article Katrina Scior from University College London co-wrote with their STORM expert advisors Celia Brown, Adrian Brown, Harry Roche and Paul Davies, by clicking on the button below.
COVID-19 Vaccination
We're pleased to say that the government roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine is going strong and that a number of our members have already received their first injection.
Emily, one of our members, received her first jab last week and has shared her vaccination experience with us via video interview.
If you're feeling unsure or anxious about having the vaccine, take a look at the video to see Emily's story and hopefully this will help.
Co-designed resource packs from project in collaboration with People First Dorset.
Co-production in action
The team at People First Dorset and several members, alongside Professor Melanie Nind of the University of Southampton, have been collaborating on a project around personalisation and self-build social care.
While we had hoped for creative workshops at the People First Dorset offices, fuelled by tea and biscuits, the global pandemic meant that all our partnership work has happened at a distance.
We all worked hard to find the best way to communicate and work together online.
Thankfully it worked!
Read the full article on page 3 of the University of Southampton Centre for Research in Inclusion Newsletter by clicking on the button below.
James & Heidi got married!
The big day finally happened on 4 July 2020 and didn't the bride and groom look fantastic!
Many congratulations from all at People First Dorset to the new Mr & Mrs Carter - we all wish you the very best for your life together in Coventry as husband and wife.
We were pleased to see you've also become social media stars - with a twitter post about your wedding getting almost 50,000 likes:
https://twitter.com/sallyephillips/status/1279436447506890755?s=20
We hope to see you in Dorset again soon.
It's almost time for James & Heidi's wedding!
A HUGE congratulations to James Carter and Heidi Crowther who will be getting married on 4 July. James, who is on our Management Committee at People First Dorset, will be moving to Coventry, to live with Heidi.
They were recently interviewed for BBC News, you can see their fantastic interview here: https://www.facebook.com/330920523745212/posts/1254879251349330/?vh=e&d=n
Thank you James for all your fantastic contributions to our work at People First Dorset. We wish you and Heidi the happiest wedding day and life together, and look forward to seeing you when you visit Dorset.
We are going to miss you loads!
BMJ Article
Please do read this article, published in the British Medical Journal (July 2019) written by our members Emily, Kerry and William with support from staff at People First Dorset.
It highlights their thoughts on the abuse at Whorlton Hall, as documented in the Panorama programme.https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00059qb/sign/panorama-undercover-hospital-abuse-scandal
Please note these are the personal views of our members, and we applaud the British Medical Journal for sharing their opinions.
World Down Syndrome Day 2020
Hear Management Committee member Jack talk about inclusive participation at People First Dorset at the 2020 World Down Syndrome Day Virtual Conference. Jack was due to deliver this presentation at the United Nations in New York, until it had to be cancelled. The good news is that the conference still took place online. Watch our video here and see more on the Down Syndrome International Blog page.
We’ve made lots of films about some of the work we do at People First Dorset.
Find our videos on the YouTube website and search for ‘People First Dorset’.
What do you think of our music video about the barriers that people with learning disabilities face? Do watch our Glitter Ball video, and see how our members organised the Ball.
Dorset Echo Column
We are delighted to support two of our members Emily and William, to write a weekly column in our local newspaper, the Dorset Echo.
As far as we know, they are the only people with learning disabilities in the UK to write regularly in any newspaper. Each week they choose a topic to write about, which are incredibly varied. Recent past columns have included Brexit, asparagus, plastic, affordable housing, acts of kindness, weather, stains, respect and manners, speeding, losing things and cooking disasters!
You can find their column in the letters page each Tuesday of the Dorset Echo (Weymouth edition) or online here:
