Mike Hedges AM welcomes £149,946 for new National Lottery funded research project  

Mike Hedges AM welcomes £149,946 for new National Lottery funded research project

Mike Hedges AM was pleased to attend the launch by Barod, a Community Interest Company, of a project called the Bridge which is working in partnership for the next two years with Carmarthenshire People First, My Life My Choice (an Oxford organisation), People First Dorset and Social Firms , “The project is called The Bridge because it aims to bridge the gap between the current situation where too many people with learning difficulties are working for free and their organisations struggle for funding, to a future where individuals and organisations are well paid for their work”.

People with learning difficulties across the UK have developed highly desirable skills through their involvement in self-advocacy and are engaged in high level policy and service design work. However it is rare to be able to secure well paid work that uses these skills, and many groups struggle to find funding.

Five years ago, a small group of people with and without learning difficulties founded Barod Community Interest Company to create their own jobs and run their own business. Recently, Barod benefited from business growth support from Social Firms Wales, funded by Social Business Wales, leading to the idea of the two organisations combining forces for a research project to support and work alongside a small number of self-advocacy organisations who were looking to create paid work for members or generate income for the organisation. Thanks to this funding from the National Lottery Fund, via DRILL (Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning), over the next two years these five organisations will be working together to build a brighter future for people with learning difficulties and for self-advocacy organisations.