On Friday night I attended DIS:Play, an immersive collection of interactive performances by a group of young disabled creatives, held at Contact Theatre. GMCDP project worker Gemma has been working with this group of young people for several months now and I felt so grateful to have the opportunity to see all their hard work come to life.
The Disabled People's Archive team have put together a small exhibition of material relating to DAN (Disabled People’s Direct Action Network) which is currently on display at Manchester Central Library.
Siobhan O’Connor, outreach worker at Archives+, suggested the Disabled People's Archive collaborate with her and Eugenie, the conservator, in producing a small exhibition to coincide with the airing of ‘Then Barbara Met Alan’ on BBC 2 (21 March 2022). The exhibition highlights photographs, newspaper reports and other artefacts relating to DAN.
One of our executive committee members, Dennis, gave a short talk at the RMT (The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) disabled members’ conference last Friday.
The union's disabled members’ conference moves to different towns every year and they like to connect with local disabled people's organisations. There were around 25 people there.
The Young Creatives Project is a collaboration project with GMCDP, Archives+ and Contact. It gives time for young disabled people to share lived experiences, research the history of disabled protest and develop creative skills.
We are seeking a judicial review of how the DWP use a computer algorithm to pick disabled people to be investigated for fraud, because we think it is unfair.
The stages of a judicial review process are:
It is with deepest regret that GMCDP has learnt of the sad passing of Mike Marrow (47).
Mike was a valued and key member of the Young Disabled People's Forum and the related drama group throughout the 1990s, into 2000 and beyond. Mike will be remembered as an exceptionally kind man, who despite facing his own injustices, was thoughtful and compassionate towards others. Mike never forgot to send a card to mark a special occasion, or to express a kindness to others facing adversity.
Join us and Greater Manchester Disabled People's Panel online on Monday 7th February from 4.30-5.30pm for a conversation between Mayor Andy Burnham and disabled people in Greater Manchester.
Last year we hosted a hustings for the candidates of the GM Mayoral elections. At the hustings, each of the candidates promised that if they were successful they would return to talk to disabled people about their future plans.
As work begains cataloguing items in the Dsiabled People's Archived, housed at Manchester Central LIbrary, you can view items from the collection on the archive's accessible website at disabledpeoplesarchive.com
Items from this treasure trove of photographs, objects, documents, film and music from disabled people’s history have also been unveiled on an accessible website developed over the winter/spring of 2020-21, and funded by the National Lottery Covid Emergency Fund.
On Saturday 4th December GMCDP was part of an event at the People's History Museum to celebrate the International Day of Disabled People and to promote the Disabled People's Archive and the forthcoming "Nothing About Us Without Us" exhibition on the history of disabled people's activism in the UK.
There were stalls from the Archive, the Community Curators of the exhibition, Manchester DPAC, and a group of disabled students from Liverpool University who are seeking to set up a coalition-type DPO in Liverpool.
Last week we hosted a successful event about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRDP) and how people in the north west of England feel about whether their human rights under the convention are being met here in the UK in 2021.
Our event was one of many taking place as part of a project with other disabled people's organisations across the country to co-produce an England civil society shadow report.
