Meeting MP

Hi readers, it’s Kerry and Emily, hoping to have given you an update on the meeting scheduled last week with MP Liam Conlan and our friends Amy and Marshall from Speakup. Unfortunately, Liam had an urgent transport issue he had to attend, so our meeting was moved to today, when this goes to print. If you don’t know why we’re meeting Liam, check out last week’s article, in the Echo or on the PFD website.  

We’ll update you on that next week. Today we’re discussing news, as we’ve been talking about where’s the easiest, most reliable place to find the latest news. I, Kerry, ask my support workers to read the news to me, usually from my phone. We both have read the news online, but it’s difficult to read articles with so many pop ups, and it’s expensive to subscribe.

United Response sometimes share news items in Easy Read, which they do well. Sometimes we don’t receive the articles until a week or so after a news event, by which time it’s ‘old news’. While that’s still better than not knowing, it’s good to know what’s going on in the news now, not be a week behind! 

We both do occasionally watch the news headlines on tv or check the BBC website. We’ll then click on articles that look interesting. Neither of us find it easy to read articles or watch images of war and see people suffering. It’s too depressing, especially when we think many wars could be prevented if leaders weren’t so greedy for power or respected each other’s different religions.

With us both having busy lives, we don’t watch the news as much as we used to, just enough to know what’s going on, and it goes without saying, we love the Echo for local news!

The writers of the Our View column are supported in their editing by People First Dorset - a charity led and run by people with learning disabilities with support from staff