Young Person’s Project
Our Voice is Being Heard Project news from ALLFIE’s Armineh Soorenian, ‘Our Voice’ Project Leader ALLFIE has received the funding to create the ‘Our Voice’ project, so that Disabled Young people can have a say on what matters to them. This project addresses the isolation and intersectional exclusion experienced by Disabled Young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. At ALLFIE, we feel that during the pandemic, Disabled Young people’s voices have not been heard. As a result, support for their Independent Living needs, and control over what support remains has worsened. This is why we applied to the DPO COVID-19 Emergency Fund, organised by National Emergencies Trust (NET), to start a COVID-19 national participation project for Disabled Young people. What is ‘Our Voice’ project? We have recruited 11 Disabled Young people, aged between 16 and 25. The participants meet with members of the ALLFIE team via Zoom for about 90 minutes every few weeks, to have conversations and share their experiences. We have also used the time for training, introducing the social model of disability and the importance of using the right terminology when talking about disability. We felt it was significant for the participants to be aware of their rights and increase their knowledge about disability politics, so that they can participate meaningfully in the future discussions and own the Our Voice meetings going forward.
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Image: Armineh Soorenian, 'Our Voice' project leader
Inclusive Education, Independent Living and Intersectionality Over the past few months, the Disabled Young people have shared their experiences of inclusive education, Independent Living and intersectionality during the pandemic, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on their lives. The Young people have been involved in co-facilitating the discussions with ALLFIE staff and have brought their perspectives to the conversations. We intend to collect plenty of evidence and information on Disabled Young people’s experiences and the narratives will then
