Direct Action for Independent Living, Birmingham, 14th September 2009
Birmingham DAN | 31.08.2009 22:13 | Health | Repression | Social Struggles | Birmingham
Disabled people in Birmingham are dying as a result of the lack of social support provision from Birmingham City Council. Join us on Monday 14th September and take action for the human rights that Birmingham City Council are denying us. THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW!
PLEASE FORWARD AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE:
The Disabled People's Direct Action Network (DAN) is once again taking action against Birmingham City Council (BCC) on Monday 14th September for the rights of disabled people in Birmingham and everywhere to life, liberty and the choice and control over our own lives that most
non-disabled people take for granted, but which we can be denied at the whim of a local authority.
BCC promised to work with DAN towards establishing genuine independent living for disabled people in Birmingham after our last action in March (see report at
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/425854.html ) won us a meeting with Peter Hay (Director of Health and Social Care) and other Council officials, but has not delivered on that promise, and 6 months later there has been no apparent change in BCC's treatment of disabled people.
Yesterday (30th August 2009), a disabled service user and DAN supporter, for whom members of Birmingham DAN had been advocating in the "social care" system, died in hospital in Birmingham following BCC's refusal, only a few weeks before, to provide him with any care or support to live independently.
Disabled people in Birmingham are still being refused assessments for direct payments to employ Personal Assistants (which is breaking the legal obligation of all Local Authorities under the 1990 Community Care Act), being told by social workers that they do not have any needs or being bullied by council officials into signing agreements they do not want to sign, simply to save the council money.
Other disabled people are still homeless, living in totally inaccessible housing, trapped against their will in nursing homes where they have no choice and control over their own lives, or living in total social isolation and disgustingly filthy conditions, not because of a lack of funding for accessible housing and social support services, but because of the absence of the political will to use council funding for those purposes.
How many more disabled people will have to die and how many more lives will be put at risk before BCC gives us our human rights?
The action on September 14th will start at 1pm and will be in Birmingham city centre. For further information contact Steve on 07931 421947 or
soulrebel@riseup.net or Tom on 07816 275985 or tomcomdan@hotmail.co.uk.
Please forward this message to as many disabled people (or anyone else who you think may be interested in taking part in the action) as possible.
FREE OUR PEOPLE!
The Disabled People's Direct Action Network (DAN) is once again taking action against Birmingham City Council (BCC) on Monday 14th September for the rights of disabled people in Birmingham and everywhere to life, liberty and the choice and control over our own lives that most
non-disabled people take for granted, but which we can be denied at the whim of a local authority.
BCC promised to work with DAN towards establishing genuine independent living for disabled people in Birmingham after our last action in March (see report at
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/425854.html ) won us a meeting with Peter Hay (Director of Health and Social Care) and other Council officials, but has not delivered on that promise, and 6 months later there has been no apparent change in BCC's treatment of disabled people. Yesterday (30th August 2009), a disabled service user and DAN supporter, for whom members of Birmingham DAN had been advocating in the "social care" system, died in hospital in Birmingham following BCC's refusal, only a few weeks before, to provide him with any care or support to live independently.
Disabled people in Birmingham are still being refused assessments for direct payments to employ Personal Assistants (which is breaking the legal obligation of all Local Authorities under the 1990 Community Care Act), being told by social workers that they do not have any needs or being bullied by council officials into signing agreements they do not want to sign, simply to save the council money.
Other disabled people are still homeless, living in totally inaccessible housing, trapped against their will in nursing homes where they have no choice and control over their own lives, or living in total social isolation and disgustingly filthy conditions, not because of a lack of funding for accessible housing and social support services, but because of the absence of the political will to use council funding for those purposes.
How many more disabled people will have to die and how many more lives will be put at risk before BCC gives us our human rights?
The action on September 14th will start at 1pm and will be in Birmingham city centre. For further information contact Steve on 07931 421947 or
soulrebel@riseup.net or Tom on 07816 275985 or tomcomdan@hotmail.co.uk. Please forward this message to as many disabled people (or anyone else who you think may be interested in taking part in the action) as possible.
FREE OUR PEOPLE!
Birmingham DAN
e-mail:
soulrebel@riseup.net
Homepage:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133873800840