Dancing Giraffe

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Dancing Giraffe's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Dancing Giraffe is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett, MP

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles, MP

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

20 | DANCING GIRAFFE

Susan Pattrick, CEO

Philip Morant School

pupils performing

at the International

Day for Persons with

Disabilities in 2012

Essex-based Dancing Giraffe pride themselves on leading the

charge in transition from diversity and equality to inclusive

thinking in society and the community. The support,

information, products and services that they provide are all

focused on and grounded in removing the labels and terminology

that tend to cause discrimination in and of themselves. Susan

Pattrick, CEO, tells the

Review

that they believe the only

relevant label for anybody is to be human, and why a continued

philosophy of inclusion is so important to their work.

Many people have their own ideas about disability. Some people talk about the

medical model, others about the social model. We know for sure, however, that

changing attitudes rather than standardising models or metrics is of paramount

importance going forwards.

Fostering atmospheres of inclusion

We want to see inclusion in every aspect of life. Disabled people are resourceful

and adaptable, as shown by their ability to overcome the significant barriers that

life has placed in their way. They tend to embody the personality traits that people

are looking for in both business and society. To recognise this, however, people

need to see past the disability and look at the person.

Unfortunately, many disabled people do not have that support on a daily basis. We

want to provide the capacity for both individuals and grassroots organisations to

share and work together; they have to be aligned with common goals to improve

the quality of life in the community.

FACTS ABOUT

DANCING GIRAFFE

»CEO: Susan Pattrick

»Founded in 2011

»Based in Marks Tey, Essex

»Services: Disability and

inclusivity support, information

and services

»No. of volunteers: 25

»www.dancinggiraffe.com

Dancing Giraffe

21DANCING GIRAFFE |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019

Creating dedicated support

networks

By using our website alongside other

developed initiatives, we provide

opportunities for engagement and

useful and helpful information for

individuals both locally and across the

country. We also provide a telephone

support service for those people

who do not have or cannot access

acomputer.

If what someone is searching for is not

available, all they need to do is email

us; we’ll then do the research and

put the results up on our website for

everyone to access. This helps disabled

people and their communities find

the support they need. It also helps a

variety of businesses and organisations

to find links to other supporting bodies

who could help them in developing the

right atmosphere of inclusion.

We have been working on this

since 2011 and pride ourselves on

both the articles our team write

and the information that we hold

in our resource centre. Our team is

small, but incredibly capable and

staunchlyproactive.

We are driven by an ethos of

encouraging positivity and inclusion in

every aspect of life. We want to really

inspire disabled people to participate

in their communities. Although

some people that we engage with

are diagnosed with disability as they

grow older, we do find that many

of our service users are actually born

with their often-complex needs,

and this can prove to be an issue

forintegration.

New diagnoses and hidden

disabilities

One of the most significant challenges

for everyone working towards disability

support and awareness is that of

new diagnoses. When someone

who has previously been healthy

for decades acquires a disability, it

can be devastating and often prove

incredibly emotionally challenging for

the individual, their family and their

community. The frameworks and

infrastructure for support in these

cases do exist, but a new diagnosis is

a real obstacle in and of itself. This is

a very complex area; each and every

disabled person has a unique journey

through life, irrespective of the stage

at which it is identified or diagnosed.

Living with disability is a very personal

journey, and defined by one’s

personality as much as it is the quality

and availability of support.

A disability debate at

Anglia Ruskin University

We are driven

by an ethos of

encouraging

positivity and

inclusion in

every aspect

of life

“

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

22 | DANCING GIRAFFE

We also remind people that disability

can strike at any time, whether it’s

visible or not; concerns such as cancer,

diabetes, multiple sclerosis or mental

health issues are just some of the

many hidden disabilities that need

to be considered in day-to-day life.

These can present major challenges

for not only the disabled person

themselves, but also their support

network, who are usually relatives and

friends. As much as people do try, it

is rare to find a support network that

is actually perfectly established for

and tailored to an individual’s specific,

complexneeds.

One of our key aims at Dancing

Giraffe is to encourage involvement in

local community and ensure that our

service users do not feel isolated. We

need to remind people who may one

day be disabled about the potential

that those with disabilities have to

both contribute and add value to

communities and workplaces.

Fostering understanding

To counteract the challenges that

disabilities of all kinds present,

we need to build bridges of

understanding between the

organisations that help disabled

people. At Dancing Giraffe, we

endeavour to be that central vehicle

in the form of a “go-to” household

name and website. This will, in turn,

help government to get to the heart

of the community, enabling business

to promote services and allowing

educational services to link with

disabled people.

If we are to build these bridges,

however, the language used when

discussing disability must change. This

does not simply apply to issues of

labelling and division; we also need

to make the language itself simple

and concise, both in writing and

verbally. Additionally, we believe that

alternative means of communication

are extremely important – making

use of sign language and Braille for

those who can’t easily use a computer

should be second nature for all of us.

An inclusive, interconnected

future

We have a clear vision of our future

and the future of disabled access

across the country. We will strive to

bring stakeholders together and effect

change that leads to social inclusion for

disabled people and their communities.

To achieve this, we are working

hard to achieve our ultimate goal:

bridging the gap between business,

government, communities and

education, so all can access and

engage with every side of society in an

inclusive and respectful way.

We have a

clear vision of

our future and

the future of

disabled

access across

the country

“

Eddie Clampin before his

race in August 2018

The Parliamentary Review Publication, in which this article originally appeared, contained the following foreword from the prime minister.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister