THE DISABILITY UNION P BY DAN WHITE
Dan White has discovered an outlet for his political voice, a union that exists to affect change for the disabled community
olitical silence: the one thing you would not expect in the disabled community, but it is there. In 2016, new conditions were put into place for charities. Grants from central government departments came with a price. The price being that charities were not able to use the grants for “activity intended to influence - or attempt to influence - parliament, government or political parties”. This amounted to a virtual gagging clause for charities who applied, desperate for funds to survive and assist. The only silver lining was that charities who used privately-raised funds to campaign could be as political as they like, however, these were often smaller charities with little voice. I am fiercely political in my work. As a parent with a hidden disability who is caring for a 14-year-old child with a physical disability, I fail to see how anyone in a similar situation cannot be politically driven. I see both sides of the spectrum as a carer and a disabled person. To see charities locked into this impasse of frustrated silence infuriates me and no doubt the hard-working and caring people within. Having a political voice is imperative to me; working deep within the disabled and care community it is the zeal running through my veins as I witness the apparent state-sanctioned desperation of many. In these times I often turn people to the charity sector, but the charity will is blunted, and so help is not as effective as it should be. I needed to find something that lets these frustrated people vent their fury and let it go. Something that would fight for what is right for both groups collectively.
I needed to find a union, one that would be unafraid to ask the questions and rattle the locks for disabled people and carers, a rare beast indeed
What was needed was to have someone fighting back at the equipment manufacturers’ horrendous prices and the cruel legislators of unfair laws, a counterpoint to the great but limited charities’ spirit. For me, I needed to channel my political frustration into something other than a wellmeaning charity. I needed to find a union, one that would be unafraid to ask the questions and rattle the locks for disabled people and carers, a rare beast indeed. I needed, for my own mental health’s sake, to be able to unload my angst at the ableism of the system and have someone tell me to channel it productively with like-minded disabled people and carers.
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posabilitymagazine.co.uk
...this union simply wants to change the status quo through words and positive and peaceful activism
