Jill's Posts - Creative Cafe

Creative Cafe's 5th and last birthday week on Ning as we transfer to Facebook

2012-11-06T04:21:12.000Z

After 5 years with Creative Cafe here on Ning rising costs and falling advertising revenue mean we are moving to Facebook instead. You can join the Facebook group HERE.

For the last few months I have been gradually transferring the networks 5000 members photos over to Facebook and there are now 102 members albums on there with 1000 photos left to go. From the start Creative Cafe has been a free resource place for members to display their art, photography, music, crafts, videos and write blogs and that continues on our Facebook group so please join us on Facebook before we close down here.

Third 1000 of our member photos transfered to new Facebook group

2012-10-03T19:23:44.000Z

Join us on the new Facebook group HERE and you can see your photos from the third thousand that I've managed to transfer over. Some of the photos won't load but a lot have been moved sucessfully and there are now 76 members albums on the new Facebook group. I will now carry on and start moving the fourth thousand photos and once all 5000 photos have been moved we will be closing this site. Remember once we close you will lose access to your profile pages and blog posts and videos and photos you have uploaded so anything you want to save now is the time to copy your material over onto our Facebook group. Once again here is the link for you to join the new Facebook Creative Cafe group : GO HERE.

Second 1000 of our member photos transfered to new Facebook group

2012-09-06T16:30:00.000Z

Join us on the new Facebook group HERE and you can see your photos from the second thousand that I've managed to transfer over. Some of the photos won't load but a lot have been moved sucessfully and there are now 55 members albums on the new Facebook group. I will now carry on and start moving the third thousand photos and once all 5000 photos have been moved we will be closing this site. Remember once we close you will lose access to your profile pages and blog posts and videos and photos you have uploaded so anything you want to save now is the time to copy your material over ontop our Facebook group. Once again here is the link for you to join the new Facebook Creative Cafe group : GO HERE.

First 1000 of our member photos transfered to new Facebook group

2012-08-02T15:44:13.000Z

I've now managed to transfer the first 1000 of our members photos on this Creative Cafe Ning site to our new Creative Cafe Facebook group HERE.

That means there are now over 30 albums with your names on in the new Facebook group. We now have 50 members in the new Facebook group so if you havn't already please join up HERE

If you are one of the members who has an album up you can add tags and links to your photos if you want them to be seen more widely.

I did leave out photos mainly of people and pets as I think these definitly need descriptions and there were a couple of members whose photos would not load up but apart from that most all the 1000 are loaded. It was a real trip down memory lane for me to look at all the old photos again and I must say they are excellent quality and well worth the time it has taken. This month I will now be going on to transfer the next 1000 photos and will write again to let you know when they are ready.

Although we will be sorry to lose Creative Cafe on Ning for financial reasons it looks like the resource for members to display your art, photography, music, crafts, videos and write blogs for which Creative Cafe has become known will be able to continue for you on our Facebook group now and into the future.

We now have a Creative Cafe Facebook group for you to join

2012-06-26T21:30:00.000Z

This evening I have started a Creative Cafe group on Facebook. You can join it HERE

I am hoping you will all join up and transfer your photos and videos and use the files facility for your blog posts. I am hoping we may be able to transfer everything over to Facebook and close this Ning site which is too expensive to keep going down. But both this site and the new facebook group will run together for the moment so we can see how things work out. If any members want help loading their photos and videos up onto Facebook then I am willing to lend a hand. Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions.

Lost computer equipment caused by government playing cat and mouse with disabled peoples rights.

2012-04-01T00:45:30.000Z

This is how the government playing cat and mouse with disabled people and our essential benefits and services has also led to a serious shortage of some computer…

Message from the Invisible: scrap the Welfare Reform Bill! Sat 28th London

2012-01-26T02:37:30.000Z

On Saturday 28th January in central London, a brave group of disabled, sick and elderly people are going to engage in a daring and disruptive act of civil disobedience, and they’ve asked for our support. Meet at 11.30am at Holborn tube station with a charged Oyster card, ready to travel to a secret location.Britain isn’t perfect. But our welfare state offers something that everyone can be proud of. It’s a comforting thought that if tomorrow you lost your job, your home or even a limb, society would be there to help you through it.At least until now. The government’s Welfare Reform Bill is just weeks away from becoming law and is the biggest threat the welfare state has faced in its history.

The Bill will take vital lifelines from the most vulnerable people in society. Right now, 500,000 families stand to lose their homes. Others will become imprisoned in them. Half a million will lose their disability allowance, including disabled children. People with terminal illnesses will be forced into work, and 3.2 million will be put through cruel tests that are pushing some to take their own lives. Millions of people – pensioners, low waged workers, the disabled, sick and unemployed – will fall deeper into poverty.

The government’s excuse for all this? The deficit, of course. Yet it continues to turn a blind eye to the £25 billion in tax dodged by corporations and rich individuals every year, a sum greater than the projected savings of the entire Welfare Reform Bill. Vodafone’s brand new £2bn tax dodge alone could pay for all of the cuts to Disability Living Allowance, which affects 500,000 people.

Cameron, Osborne, Clegg and Co. are choosing to inflict suffering on sick and disabled people rather than tackle rich tax dodgers, because they think the poor and vulnerable are invisible – that they won’t or can’t make a fuss – and the rest of us don’t care.

On Saturday 28th January, let’s show them that they’re wrong. A brave group of disabled, sick and elderly people are going to engage in a hugely daring and disruptive act of civil disobedience, and they’ve asked for our support.

Meet at 11.30am at Holborn tube station with a charged Oyster card, ready to travel to a secret location. The government are going to discover that the vulnerable can be very visible indeed, and that the rest of us do care.

The Lords have already shot down some of the government’s most damaging proposals. Our aim now is to shame the government into withdrawing the bill completely and instead create a welfare system that protects us all. Let’s make sure everyone knows that Cameron would rather make millions of sick and disabled people’s lives a misery than collect the tax from his millionaire mates.

See you at Holborn. For further access information contact mail@dpac.uk.net

***Accessibility information for Saturday’s action on the Welfare Reform Bill***

The protest will involve being outside for at least an hour and being able to travel either by bus, taxi (this can be funded), or on foot/wheeling a reasonable distance from Holborn Tube station.

If you want to come to this protest and would like more information, email mail@dpac.uk.net with basic access support needed: e.g. do you need anyone to help push your chair, do you need to be guided from the tube, do you need a ‘buddy’ to help.

There will be activists with British Sign Language, although they may not be available all of the time, so please let us know if you need any BSL support and we will try to provide this.

Please send your mobile number to mail@dpac.uk.net in case we need to text you.

For anyone with access needs please email for further details to mail@dpac.uk.net

http://www.dpac.uk.net/2012/01/ukuncut-joint-protest-against-wrb/

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-12-31T16:39:14.000Z

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-16374017

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." -Albert Einstein

2011-12-23T13:30:00.000Z

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
-Albert Einstein

This is my ecard to all our members on Creative Cafe and to all disabled people in Brighton Disabled People Against Cuts and our other groups in solidarity and to our allies. And to our enemies I say stop judging and treating us like we are fish who cannot climb trees! And stop making us disabled people take the blame and the cuts for the money men who made the mess.

Happy Holidays

Latest News from Disability Arts Online

2011-11-28T10:00:00.000Z

Disability Arts Online	Listings newsletter

DAO National Disability Arts Bulletin Welcome to the latest edition of the DAO bulletin. This is a free service promoting details of the most recent events and jobs / opportunities within the disability arts field. For more events and jobs / opportunities, please go directly to the listings pages on the DAO website Don't forget that as well as receiving the bulletin, you can also follow us on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/kkks5e and Twitter at http://twitter.com/disabilityarts Best wishes, Colin Hambrook (DAO Editor) If you would like to add details of your events, opportunities or jobs, please post your listings via the online form National events listings: Learning Disability Today, London 29/11/2011 Learning Disability Today is about extending choice and control for people with learning disabilities. * Visited by over 3,000 people it’s the largest event for the learning disability community in the UK. Helping the Wounded: disability and the military 01/12/2011 A special event at the Hunterian Museum, London where we discuss the nature of modern war injuries, and what the future holds for the new generation of disabled ex-servicemen and women IN - Defying Definitions - Disability Arts in Mainstream Galleries Symposium 01/12/2011 - 02/12/2011 DASH (Disability Arts in Shropshire), in partnership with The New Art Gallery Walsall, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Oriel Davies Gallery present Defying Definitions, A Disability Arts Symposium Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd December 2011 at Arena Theatre, Digital Inclusion for Disabled People in the 21st Century Museum, Archive and Library 01/12/2011 The 2011 UK Jodi Awards seminar, will take place at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea The Representation of Disabled People in an Age of Austerity 03/12/2011 A celebration of the ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’ with invited speakers and public discussion National jobs listings: Public Art Commission Location: Perth and Kinross \| Closing date: 9 January 2012 Remuneration: £4,000 to include all travel, materials, installation costs, contact time with local community and pupils and maintenance of the work if required in first year. Term: Jan 2012 – June 2012 (dates flexible) Call for artist to on Blairgowrie Community Campus Public Art Project 2012 Signdance Theatre International seek actors Location: South East \| Closing date: 15 February 2012 Remuneration: Contact Signdance for salary details A leading disability arts company, based in the south-east seek actors for auditions for two London shows in 2012 Northern Ballet seek Dance Education Officer Location: Leeds \| Closing date: 21 November 2012 Remuneration: £18-20,000 pa pro rata. Fixed term contract for 6 months from January - June 2012. We are looking for a Dance Education Officer to work in our busy Learning department, delivering dance workshops and classes in Leeds, Yorkshire and UK touring venues. Working with children, young people and adults with and without disabilities in schools National opportunity and workshop listings: Shape Training Courses! 09/11/2011 - 23/12/2011 Book a training course at Shape Training, London, before 23rd December 2011 and receive 10% off London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) offer an Art Enterprise Diploma 28/10/2011 - 28/01/2012 Art Enterprise Diploma; delivered via InterActive - an online interactive learning platform DAO: The New Voices Project, London 22/10/2011 - 07/12/2011 DAO is looking for deaf or disabled people, keen to develop arts writing skills and experience. In partnership with writers development agency New Writing South, DAO intends to develop a group of five writers from London. The Art House: Artists in the Community Training Course 19/10/2011 - 08/12/2011 Do you want to deliver community projects and workshops, but are unclear about how to get started? The Art House, in Wakefield, offer a training course which will give you all you need to start your own practice with the community. Volunteer / Internship at The Art House 17/10/2011 - 31/12/2011 The Art House is looking for dedicated volunteers who can provide support and help deliver our diverse programme of activities for artists and participants in Wakefield.
www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk

Disability Arts Online

Listings newsletter

DAO National Disability Arts Bulletin

Welcome to the latest edition of the DAO bulletin. This is a free service promoting details of the most recent events and jobs / opportunities within the disability arts field.

For more events and jobs / opportunities, please go directly to the listings pages on the DAO website

Don't forget that as well as receiving the bulletin, you can also follow us on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/kkks5e and Twitter at http://twitter.com/disabilityarts

Best wishes, Colin Hambrook (DAO Editor)

If you would like to add details of your events, opportunities or jobs, please post your listings via the online form

National events listings:

Learning Disability Today, London

29/11/2011

Learning Disability Today is about extending choice and control for people with learning disabilities. * Visited by over 3,000 people it’s the largest event for the learning disability community in the UK.

Helping the Wounded: disability and the military

01/12/2011

A special event at the Hunterian Museum, London where we discuss the nature of modern war injuries, and what the future holds for the new generation of disabled ex-servicemen and women

IN - Defying Definitions - Disability Arts in Mainstream Galleries Symposium

01/12/2011 - 02/12/2011

DASH (Disability Arts in Shropshire), in partnership with The New Art Gallery Walsall, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Oriel Davies Gallery present Defying Definitions, A Disability Arts Symposium Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd December 2011 at Arena Theatre,

Digital Inclusion for Disabled People in the 21st Century Museum, Archive and Library

01/12/2011

The 2011 UK Jodi Awards seminar, will take place at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea

The Representation of Disabled People in an Age of Austerity

03/12/2011

A celebration of the ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’ with invited speakers and public discussion

National jobs listings:

Public Art Commission

Location: Perth and Kinross | Closing date: 9 January 2012

Remuneration: £4,000 to include all travel, materials, installation costs, contact time with local community and pupils and maintenance of the work if required in first year. Term: Jan 2012 – June 2012 (dates flexible)

Call for artist to on Blairgowrie Community Campus Public Art Project 2012

Signdance Theatre International seek actors

Location: South East | Closing date: 15 February 2012

Remuneration: Contact Signdance for salary details

A leading disability arts company, based in the south-east seek actors for auditions for two London shows in 2012

Northern Ballet seek Dance Education Officer

Location: Leeds | Closing date: 21 November 2012

Remuneration: £18-20,000 pa pro rata. Fixed term contract for 6 months from January - June 2012.

We are looking for a Dance Education Officer to work in our busy Learning department, delivering dance workshops and classes in Leeds, Yorkshire and UK touring venues. Working with children, young people and adults with and without disabilities in schools

National opportunity and workshop listings:

Shape Training Courses!

09/11/2011 - 23/12/2011

Book a training course at Shape Training, London, before 23rd December 2011 and receive 10% off

London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) offer an Art Enterprise Diploma

28/10/2011 - 28/01/2012

Art Enterprise Diploma; delivered via InterActive - an online interactive learning platform

DAO: The New Voices Project, London

22/10/2011 - 07/12/2011

DAO is looking for deaf or disabled people, keen to develop arts writing skills and experience. In partnership with writers development agency New Writing South, DAO intends to develop a group of five writers from London.

The Art House: Artists in the Community Training Course

19/10/2011 - 08/12/2011

Do you want to deliver community projects and workshops, but are unclear about how to get started? The Art House, in Wakefield, offer a training course which will give you all you need to start your own practice with the community.

Volunteer / Internship at The Art House

17/10/2011 - 31/12/2011

The Art House is looking for dedicated volunteers who can provide support and help deliver our diverse programme of activities for artists and participants in Wakefield.

www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk

In our 4th birthday week please use Easyfundraising free to help our Don't Let Disability Mean Inequality Fund

2011-11-06T23:30:00.000Z

Amazing that it is our 4th year open on Creative Cafe this week.!

The time has flown by again but times have also changed. In previous years we could afford to run challenges and award prizes to our members. This was because we gained enough revenue from adverts on the site to cover our costs and have some left over for prizes. But since the recession advert revenue has dropped considerably while costs have gone up. And there are other demands on our Don't Let Disability Mean Inequality Fund including 2 appeals in cases of extreme hardship brought on by the cuts so far. People have been generous and donated funds when they can but I have been looking for other sustainable ways we can raise funds besides adverts. I have been testing out the following scheme called Easyfundraising here in the UK and would like to ask you to sign up and help with this please. It costs you nothing but once you are signed up everytime you shop online in places like Amazon and E bay they donate a bit to the fund. There are also funds donated if you sign up for various emails and use their search engine instead of google. I have found it surprising how the funds raised are beginning to add up and if you our lovely members can be persuaded to help with this we should be able to secure our site costs for another year and keep the fund going for good causes and hopefully even some prizes again in the future! Here is the letter the site have written to send round about joining up:

I'm helping Creative Cafe - Don't Let Disability Mean Inequality Fund to raise money whenever I shop online - could you do the same?

It's very simple - just visit http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/creativecafe/ to register and shop with over 2000 well known retailers like Amazon, E bay and many more. Whenever I buy something, the retailer makes a donation to Creative Cafe - Don't Let Disability Mean Inequality Fund. They've helped other causes raise over £2,000,000 so it really does work.

I'd be really grateful if you could use easyfundraising too. It won't cost you a penny extra to shop through easyfundraising and you can save money with special offers and voucher codes.

Plus, if you register before 19th November 2011 you'll automatically receive one entry into a FREE PRIZE DRAW to win an £350 to spend with Habitat.

So please make a difference to Creative Cafe - Don't Let Disability Mean Inequality Fund and take a look at easyfundraising today - http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/creativecafe/

Thanks

You can also donate to our Don't Let Disability Mean Inequality Fund via paypal HERE

URGENT APPEAL for widow of man left to die on only 12p a day in UK

2011-10-20T17:56:19.000Z

Please read the terrible story below from Black Triangle Peter has now died and his widow has been left without funeral costs and faces homelessness. An urgent appeal has now been started to help her. Please donate and help the Laurel Appeal if you can HERE

Dying man ‘has only 12p a day to eat’

A terminally ill man has been living off 12p a day for food after being refused benefits.

Peter Duut, a Dutch national who lives inHaverhill, has worked long hours as a carpenter in theUKfor the past two-and-a-half years.

When he became term-inally ill with cancer in April he tried to claim benefits, only to be told that he does not qualify.

Peter and his wife Laurel have since been unable to afford enough food, and are battling with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to give them enough money to live off.

Laurelsaid: “Peter was advised to top the amount of Jobseeker’s Allowance up with Income Support. Being ill myself I was unable to advise Peter and to my horror realised that he had a payment of £55 pounds per week for both of us to live on and pay our bills with in our rental property.

“He was then told that he had failed his Habitual Residency test and that he had no right to reside in the UK, even though he had been paying all of his national insurance stamps and taxes.”

The pair tried appealing to the DWP and called on MP Matthew Hancock for help, but have yet to have their financial situation resolved.

After paying their bills, the couple are left with just 12p each day for food. Peter now weighs 9st 2lbs (58kg).

Laurelsaid: “He looks like a person who had been released from a prison of war camp and is unable to walk far due to frailty and breathlessness.

“He has developed stomach problems due to not eating regularly and very small amounts for such long periods of time and having no money for food.”

The DWP states that Dutch nationals can receive benefits only if they are active in the labour market, but Peter has widespread cancer and has been told by a doctor that he cannot work.

Laurelsaid: “I do know that the legal system is a cold system, yet where does one draw the line on torture and inhumane treatment or even right to life?”

Matthew Hancock MP said: “The case of Mr and Mrs Duut is difficult and complicated. I deal with many such cases, and am working to try to support the Duuts to find a solution.”

A spokesman for the DWP said: “We understand that this must be a difficult time for Mr and Mrs Duut and we are working with them to ensure they get the benefits they may be entitled to, such as Disability Living Allowance.”

Haverhill Weekly News

Black Triangle have been informed that Peter passed away on October13^th, before this article was published and that Laurel, his widow is having difficulties being accepted for a funeral grant and claiming benefits herself, with it looking like she may loose the house they shared.

We have been approached by several people who have pledged a contribution to help Laurel through these difficult times and if anybody else wishes to make a donation to Laurel, they can do it via the link below to the Don’t let Disability Mean Inequality fund, with every penny donated via this link with a note put on the payment that it’s for Laurel being passed on to her.

The Don’t Let Disability Mean Inequality fund operate via a full transparency policy with accounts of all donations being available to any interested parties.

Click HERE to make a contribution to Laurel, Peters wife.

Make Art to Fight Benefit Cuts Maudsley Hospital London Mon 24th October

2011-10-18T16:02:33.000Z

Make Art to Fight Benefit Cuts

The Mental Health Resistance Network is setting up a Protest Arts project.

We will be making art to be shown in art galleries and in the streets. The art will be in any form participants want: drama, visual, sounds, poetry, and anything else you can think of; it can be made individually and/or collectively and anyone can participate, you don't have to be an artist.

The first meeting will be on Monday 24th October from 2.00pm - 4.00pm in the Art Room in the Maudsley Hospital

Address:

The Art Room

Community Link Centre

Maudsley Hospital

Denmark Hill

London

SE5 8AZ

Please come along and take part in this exciting project. It is our chance to make public statements about what we think and feel about what is happening to us.

p.s.Please display this notice widely.

Hope to see you on Monday.

The Mental Health Resistance Network

URGENT appeal to save a disabled woman from homelessness.

2011-10-15T23:37:52.000Z

Read about this URGENT appeal to save a disabled woman from homelessness here.

DONATE HERE.

Receipts and accounts for donations recieved available on…

Our Brighton protest leaflet for Friday 30th Sept Action Against ATOS:

2011-09-29T20:36:32.000Z

Our protest leaflet for Friday 30th September Against ATOS:…

Happy 60th Birthday to our Creative Cafe trustee and member Azzami Bell

2011-09-17T23:49:22.000Z

Just wanted to say Happy 60th Birthday to our Creative Cafe helpful trustee and member Azzami Bell and here is my favourite picture of his for you to admire. For all those of you abroad who don't know Dr Who that is a Dalek in the picture!…

So Creative Cafe looks lighter but is it any better?!

2011-09-13T21:14:02.000Z

Following my blog post last week HERE on Is our dark colour scheme putting members off writing blogs posts on Creative Cafe? quite a few members commented and sent messages saying they found the white on dark text difficult and the dark colour scheme may well have been putting members off writing their blogs. So I have been gradually lightening the site back up again. I say gradually because I still find the Design Studio quite confusing and can only do the changes a bit at a time. I used to be quite familiar with the old ways of changing the site around and found it easy to do each month but this newish way seems more confusing to me.

Anyway you can all try out the newish Design Studio on your own pages and see what you think? Just click customize under your profile pictures and it will open up the Design Studio at the top of the page. You can try out various changes before publishing although I found this option quite confusing as well! My creative juices seem to have gone more into a drive on disability politics than on colour schemes these days. I think the political insecurity and attacks on our essential services and benefits are having a negative effect on my ability to be imaginative with colour schemes on a regular basis!

Anyway have a look and see what you think. Is going back to a lighter scheme any better? If anyone would like to design a scheme on their own page which we could adopt on the Main page for a month that would be interesting? Looking forward to hearing your comments.

Is our dark colour scheme putting members off writing blogs posts on Creative Cafe?

2011-09-09T15:09:25.000Z

Is it my imagination or is the new dark colour( or color if you are in the US!) scheme we have since the beginning of September on Creative Cafe be putting members off writing blog posts? The only evidence I have for this is that usually I see new blog posts up on Creative Cafe at least every few days and usually more often but at the moment I see there have been no new blog posts for at least a week. Is this just coincidence or could the dark colours be psychologically turning members off writing their blog posts?

There is a lot about the psychology of colour on the internet. Here for example is a site which looks at 'Color Theory in Web Design':

http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/a-look-into-color-theory-in-web-design/

It says we have an emotional response to colours and that:

"When choosing colors for your designs, be deliberate; don’t use colors without purpose. Instead, use colors that are appropriate for your target audience, the message that the client wants you to convey, and the overall feeling you want the user to experience on your site.

Warm colors will bring about sunny emotions and are wisely used on sites that want to call to mind a feeling of happiness and joy. As a case in point, yellow became a popular color in web design in 2009 when the global economy wasn’t doing very well and companies wanted their customers to feel sunny and comfortable on their site.

Cool colors are best used on professional and clean-cut sites to achieve a cool corporate look. Cool colors stir up emotions of authority, establishment, and trust. For example, cool shades of blue are used in many banking sites. It wouldn’t be wise to use cool colors on a site about an upbeat topic because users will get the wrong impression."

Well we are certainly not a corporate business site! And I would rather our members felt sunny and happy! So are these dark colours putting us off being creative on Creative Cafe and writing fewer blog posts than usual? So far those who commented said they like the dark colour scheme but I am really quite worried about the drop in the number of blog posts. What do you think? Should we change the colour scheme back to what they call warm sunny colours next month?

Dark and Moody Creative Cafe Main Page for September

2011-08-30T09:06:02.000Z

Well I felt a bit bored just putting up the same old same old change of Side Picture for the new month of September. I felt like the whole look of the site needed a revamp! And so I decided to mess around in the Design Studio and found a new theme, new fonts, new dark and moody colour scheme for the Main Page of Creative Cafe for the coming month at least. So I'm interested to know what you think of our new dark moody look?!

I also think we need some new ideas on the site to encourage members old and new to participate and contribute more often this autumn. What do you want to see in the way of competitions and challenges? What would persuade you to share your latest news, opinions, creations and talents down here on Creative Cafe with us all? I know we all have a lot of calls on our time but any blogs you contribute on Creative Cafe also automatically go through onto our Twtter and Facebook accounts and are seen by a lot of people. You can also share around and promote your art, photography, music, and videos to a wide audience and share everything you do round to all the members if you want.

In the past we had more discussions. If you want to see more of these again why not start some? Creative Cafe is really a free resource that offers a lot of opportunities to show off your creativity so don't let these resources go to waste. At the moment we only have enough money to pay our site fees until July 2012 and the adverts are no longer paying our way. I have been busy on organising local disability politics and do not have as much time to spend on Creative Cafe. So things really depend on how much you, our wonderful members, want to keep this network lively and active.

I look forward to hearing your comments on our future path for the rest of 2011 and beyond.

Brighton Disabled People Against Cuts meeting this Friday 26th August 6.30pm at Phoenix Community Centre

2011-08-25T20:11:02.000Z

Brighton Disabled People Against Cut Group Meeting

Time	26 August · 18:30 - 21:00

Location	Phoenix Community Centre, Phoenix Place

Created by:	Jill Goble

More info	This meeting this Friday evening is for disabled people and allies in the area. This venue is accessible with a disabled toilet. More information about this venue with directions is at this link : http://www.bhfederation.org.uk/accessible-city-guide/public-buildings-a-community-centres/brighton/item/364-phoenix-community-centre.html Liberation Lemonade and Broken But Not Beaten Biscuits will be available for refreshments again! For information about Disabled People Against Cuts and what we are about see the Main DPAC website at http://www.dpac.uk.net/about/ and join our Brighton Disabled People Against Cuts Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/BrightonDisabledPeopleAgainstCuts?ap=1 Please invite anyone you know who may be interested in attending this meeting. I will be outside the Hall from about 6.15pm and last time we found it was quite busy due to parents and children coming out of the previous meeting. Any queries contact Jill Goble on jillgoble@googlemail.com

How to get sent to prison in the UK 2011 short guide .

2011-08-18T00:35:11.000Z

I heard that if you want to get sent to prison in the UK 2011 to avoid the crippling food heating and other bills it costs to live in society these days a quick way is to go on a riot. Look out for any looting going on in your nearest trainer or TV shop and mingle. You don't have to do any looting yourself. Just hang around the area and make sure the police arrest you. That should be enough to get you 6 months rent and food free either in a prison or possibly in a local Premium Inn because of the overspill. Yes that is the latest news on Twitter. They are putting up the overspill prisoners in Premium Inns. I am not sure if you get a full English breakfast in the Premium Inn instead of just Porridge but you never know your luck.

If you want a longer break from paying bills and being harassed by the DWP, Jobcentre and ATOS etc than six months there are ways to get there but you have to be creative. A couple of very imaginative boys managed to bag themselves 4 years in prison for inciting a riot ,that didn't happen, on Facebook. Perhaps you could manage the same or even longer by inciting a fire that doesn't happen for example. Use your imagination and the sky is the limit. If you want to think a very long sentence then last time I looked arson is still treason and the most serious on the statute books so try to incite to take out at least an oppressive ATOS building along your way to your new free rent and food life. That would make things easier for us disabled people who are being harrassed intimidated and oppressed by this government and ATOS and since it is impossible for us to go on any riots ourselves really we need your help. We are limited by our various impairments to watch from the freedom of starving and freezing to death because this government have stopped our disability benefits. Oh for a warm cell and a free meal in a prison but no we are yet again excluded and discriminated against in society and cannot even be sent to prison to save our lives...

A few more words of advice on how to get sent to prison in the UK in what is left of 2011. Do not try it if you are a banker or a billionaire or a politician because then the odds are very much against you ever being sent to prison whatever terrible things you do...

Big Wonders of a Small World: Miniature Masterpieces of the Little People Project

2011-08-06T03:51:09.000Z

This project really caught my eye! The Little People Project appeals to me a lot. Read all about it in the following article:

The next time you’re out and about in the city, be sure to tread lightly: You may step on someone! Or a whole crowd of someones going about their daily lives - just on a much smaller scale.

There are tiny worlds sprouting up in sidewalk cracks and sewer grates, in puddles and yesterday’s trash. It’s a small world after all, as the song goes, and for London-based street artist Slinkachu, this is both literal and figurative: He’s a small-scale installation artist, setting up miniatures on the streets which he then photographs and later “abandons” to the world at large (pun intended). And he’s been leaving his little people on the streets for awhile now - since 2006, when he started installing his aptly titled “Little People Project” all over the UK capital. “At first the main draw in working very small is that it was quicker and cheaper to be able to produce and leave something on the street,” the artist explained, speaking with MutualArt.com. “As I explored the idea I became a lot more fascinated with the connotations that the scale could imply.” The two-part process of the project - from the installation to the photography - perfectly encapsulates the thrills (and perils!) of life in a modern metropolis. “There are different levels to the work and different messages, for me at least. The initial street work hopefully inspires people to think about the overlooked and unseen world around them,” the artist explains, “[while] the photography can hopefully tell more of a story and make people think about their place in the world, particularly in a large city.” And indeed, Slinkachu’s little people continue to make a big impact on the streets of cities across the globe, including London, Amsterdam and Athens.

See More:

http://www.mutualart.com/OpenArticle/Big-Wonders-of-a-Small-World--Miniature-/17FFA7262EA9026A

Latest Disability Arts Online Newsletter

2011-07-31T21:29:26.000Z

Disability Arts Online	Listings newsletter

DAO National Disability Arts Bulletin Welcome to the latest edition of the DAO bulletin. This is a free service promoting details of the most recent events and jobs / opportunities within the disability arts field. Don't forget that as well as receiving the bulletin, you can also follow us on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/kkks5e and Twitter at http://twitter.com/disabilityarts Best wishes, Colin Hambrook (DAO Editor) National events listings: Re-framing disability: portraits from the Royal College of Physicians 27/07/2011 - 29/09/2011 Re-framing disability explores a group of rare portraits from the 17th to the 19th centuries, held by the Royal College of Physicians. at Shape, London Artwalk 2011 - July 27/07/2011 Take a walk on the wild side and experience Wakefield's alternative night out! CKP by arrangement with Beyond Compere presents LAURENCE CLARK: HEALTH HAZARD! 03/08/2011 - 28/08/2011 What links Stephen Hawking, cardboard tube fights, Shane MacGowan, private health insurance, George Washington, Mussolini, a religious cult, the Queen, global Armageddon and the NHS? Find out at Underbelly, Edinburgh Movers Theatre Company present 'Visitor' 03/08/2011 - 06/08/2011 Fantastic new installation based performance by Speakeasy Theatre Company. Visitor, suitable for disabled and non-disabled children and adults - at Snibston Discovery Museum, Coalville, Leicestershire Changing: Perceptions 22/08/2011 A discussion on creating inclusive theatre. Scottish playwrights, directors and actors will explore how inclusive theatre is developing and challenging perceptions. Can our perceptions be changed in one moment? How do we generate those moments? National jobs listings: Acting roles within new play Location: Central London \| Closing date: 28 July 2011 Remuneration: £400 a week Four paid roles within play being performed November DaDaFest International 2012 Open to Artists Proposals Location: Liverpool \| Closing date: 1 August 2011 DaDa welcomes proposals for DaDaFest InterNational 2012 from artists and groups working within the disability and deaf arts sectors, and those whose work relates to the themes of the festival. Heart n Soul seek Communications Assistant Location: London \| Closing date: 3 August 2011 Remuneration: £20,000 pro rata (£10,000 for 2.5 days per week) Talented and dynamic Communications Assistant (0.5) to assist in delivering ambitious communications plans. Performance maker Location: East Midlands \| Closing date: 6 August 2011 Remuneration: £500 artist fee Commission for new work-in-progress performance by d/Deaf or disabled artists Heart n Soul seek Administrator Location: London \| Closing date: 10 August 2011 Remuneration: Salary £24,000 (full-time) Award winning creative producing company Heart n Soul is looking for an experienced and dynamic Administrator (full-time). National opportunity and workshop listings: Half Moon and Futureversity Present: Make a play in a week! 25/07/2011 - 29/07/2011 Puppetry Play: A five day course for young people ages 11 – 15 with physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities at Half Moon, London E1 Drama and Design workshops for people with Learning Disabilities 25/07/2011 - 05/08/2011 The workshops are designed to allow you to explore the journey you are making into becoming a young adult. AXIS Dance Company and Dandelion Dancetheater present The Dislocation Express 24/07/2011 - 30/07/2011 Come aboard "The Dislocation Express" Traveling performances by AXIS Dance Company and Dandelion Dancetheater, Berkeley, Ca DIY 8: professional development by artists for artists. Apply now! 20/07/2011 - 01/08/2011 New 1st August deadline for applications. Pete Edwards' project for DIY 8 is 'The Invisible Obstacle Course: a game of strategy and unfamiliar territory at University of Lancaster. Graeae Theatre Company - Play Lab Call Out 19/07/2011 - 09/09/2011 Play Lab is a Platform for Project Research and Development
www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk

Disability Arts Online

Listings newsletter

DAO National Disability Arts Bulletin

Welcome to the latest edition of the DAO bulletin. This is a free service promoting details of the most recent events and jobs / opportunities within the disability arts field.

Don't forget that as well as receiving the bulletin, you can also follow us on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/kkks5e and Twitter at http://twitter.com/disabilityarts

Best wishes, Colin Hambrook (DAO Editor)

National events listings:

Re-framing disability: portraits from the Royal College of Physicians

27/07/2011 - 29/09/2011

Re-framing disability explores a group of rare portraits from the 17th to the 19th centuries, held by the Royal College of Physicians. at Shape, London

Artwalk 2011 - July

27/07/2011

Take a walk on the wild side and experience Wakefield's alternative night out!

CKP by arrangement with Beyond Compere presents LAURENCE CLARK: HEALTH HAZARD!

03/08/2011 - 28/08/2011

What links Stephen Hawking, cardboard tube fights, Shane MacGowan, private health insurance, George Washington, Mussolini, a religious cult, the Queen, global Armageddon and the NHS? Find out at Underbelly, Edinburgh

Movers Theatre Company present 'Visitor'

03/08/2011 - 06/08/2011

Fantastic new installation based performance by Speakeasy Theatre Company. Visitor, suitable for disabled and non-disabled children and adults - at Snibston Discovery Museum, Coalville, Leicestershire

Changing: Perceptions

22/08/2011

A discussion on creating inclusive theatre. Scottish playwrights, directors and actors will explore how inclusive theatre is developing and challenging perceptions. Can our perceptions be changed in one moment? How do we generate those moments?

National jobs listings:

Acting roles within new play

Location: Central London | Closing date: 28 July 2011

Remuneration: £400 a week

Four paid roles within play being performed November

DaDaFest International 2012 Open to Artists Proposals

Location: Liverpool | Closing date: 1 August 2011

DaDa welcomes proposals for DaDaFest InterNational 2012 from artists and groups working within the disability and deaf arts sectors, and those whose work relates to the themes of the festival.

Heart n Soul seek Communications Assistant

Location: London | Closing date: 3 August 2011

Remuneration: £20,000 pro rata (£10,000 for 2.5 days per week)

Talented and dynamic Communications Assistant (0.5) to assist in delivering ambitious communications plans.

Performance maker

Location: East Midlands | Closing date: 6 August 2011

Remuneration: £500 artist fee

Commission for new work-in-progress performance by d/Deaf or disabled artists

Heart n Soul seek Administrator

Location: London | Closing date: 10 August 2011

Remuneration: Salary £24,000 (full-time)

Award winning creative producing company Heart n Soul is looking for an experienced and dynamic Administrator (full-time).

National opportunity and workshop listings:

Half Moon and Futureversity Present: Make a play in a week!

25/07/2011 - 29/07/2011

Puppetry Play: A five day course for young people ages 11 – 15 with physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities at Half Moon, London E1

Drama and Design workshops for people with Learning Disabilities

25/07/2011 - 05/08/2011

The workshops are designed to allow you to explore the journey you are making into becoming a young adult.

AXIS Dance Company and Dandelion Dancetheater present The Dislocation Express

24/07/2011 - 30/07/2011

Come aboard "The Dislocation Express" Traveling performances by AXIS Dance Company and Dandelion Dancetheater, Berkeley, Ca

DIY 8: professional development by artists for artists. Apply now!

20/07/2011 - 01/08/2011

New 1st August deadline for applications. Pete Edwards' project for DIY 8 is 'The Invisible Obstacle Course: a game of strategy and unfamiliar territory at University of Lancaster.

Graeae Theatre Company - Play Lab Call Out

19/07/2011 - 09/09/2011

Play Lab is a Platform for Project Research and Development

www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk

Mad Pride Gig London at the Grosvener SW9 8 until Late TONIGHT! Saturday 30th July.

2011-07-30T02:30:00.000Z

Hi Folk,

Just a reminder of the gig coming up this Saturday 30th July in South London.

VALERIE & HER WEEK OF WONDERS- Featuring JOWE HEAD / SON OF PSYCHO YOGI / ONE TRUE DOG / DAVE RUSSELL / CATHY FLOWER / ANAKZEUS

On Saturday 30th July - there is a wonderful gig in South London. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders features Jowe Head (ex Swell Maps) and songwriter Catherine Gerbrands - and their performances are always surprising and intriguing.

About ANAKZEUS, Dave Skull writes: ANAKZEUS bring dimension, dream and drama- through the medium of one hypnotic snare, an underworld / underwater resounding bass, two explosive guitars and chanting vocals ranging from throat singing to humming bird arias. There will be acoustic solo sets from Chris Yogi - songwriter with PSYCHO YOGI and Mad Pride stalwart Dave Russell whose folksy rendition of Pretty Vacant has become a firm favourite (a Mad Standard?). Poets and Performers like Cathy Flower and Zolan Quobble complement this multi-course feast. Much more info is in the attached poster and press releases.

THE GROSVENOR
17Sidney Rd SW9 OTP
SATURDAY 30TH JULY
8 until LATE
£5 /£2 Concessions

THE GROSVENOR is close by to Stockwell tube station and Brixton Tube and BR stations. A number of buses stop close by including night buses.

Please come along if you can possibly get there! The next Mad Pride gig after this will be in October, when the legendary Edgar Broughton, we hear, will appear at a Mad Pride extravaganza. Out Demons Out. Oh my word yes.

This is another in a series of fundraisers to assist survivors to fight the cuts to welfare benefits and services. And by all accounts the Mental Health Resistance Network has made amazing progress along the road to Judicial Review. They hope that a high court judge will agree that the Government should not have tried to cut the numbers getting IB, ESA and DLA without properly taking into account the impact on people.

Many thanks for all the contributions and the support for the gigs and campaigns so far. About £700 has been raised.

We must continue to protest, demonstrate and continue to get the message across to politicians that the Work Capability Assessments are not suitable for assessing our ability to hold down a job. An email to your local MP could not hurt. But we can also take time off to come along to festive gigs like this.

Hope to see you there,
yours in solidarity
madpridemark

Brighton Disabled People Against Cuts meeting this Friday 22nd 6.30pm at Phoenix Community Centre & group news

2011-07-20T15:00:00.000Z

I am pleased to let you know that the next meeting of our Brighton Disabled People Against Cuts group will be this coming Friday 22nd July at the Phoenix Community Centre, Phoenix Place, Brighton starting from 6.30pm.

This is an accessible venue with a disabled toilet. More information about this venue and directions can be found on the Federation for Disabled People Accessibility Guide here:
http://www.bhfederation.org.uk/accessible-city-guide/public-buildings-a-community-centres/brighton/item/364-phoenix-community-centre.html

If you are on Facebook you can sign up to attend this event here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128272957260656
Our Facebook Brighton Disabled People Against Cuts group is here:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/BrightonDisabledPeopleAgainstCuts?ap=1
We do not currently have an email group or a website but you can see what we are about on the Main Disabled People Against Cuts site at

http://www.dpac.uk.net/about/
Please email me on jillgoble@googlemail.com if you have any queries.

In May we attended the CPS Union Public Meeting on Welfare: An Alternative Vision and were pleased to hear Linda Burnip a founder of Disabled People Against Cuts make a speech highlighting the threats cuts are making to the lives of disabled people. Our first BDPAC meeting followed but started late and we only had about 40 minutes. Maz who chaired the meeting decided to abandon the agenda in favour of a general discussion among the 25 people who attended. This raised a number of issues including the role of wheelchairs in protests, those with invisible impairments and without mobility impairments being just as much disabled people and hit by the cuts as those who do use wheelchairs and the way some disabled people are being badly neglected by the cuts. This includes the Elaine McDonald case where the courts are said to be putting prisoners rights as more important than the rights of disabled people: http://www.dpac.uk.net/2011/07/elaine-mcdonald-case-court-puts-prisoners-before-the-disabled/

We did not have time to cover issues on the agenda like fundraising, adopting a constitution or plans for future actions but have continued to communicate online via our Facebook group. Some of our members on there have been successful in protesting against a proposal to remove disabled parking spaces in Brighton and some of us have been joining in online protests against ATOS and government cuts. Some of us managed to join in with the 30th June strike action by public sector workers even though for many disabled people the march from the Level to Hove Town Hall was too much to undertake. In this instance it was possible for some of us to attend the rally after the march.

As far as having another Brighton Disabled People Against Cuts meeting has been concerned this has been delayed due to the lack of affordable venues in Brighton which are accessible with a disabled toilet. The King and Queen pub was suggested to us as the meeting room has a lift and is free but there is not a public disabled toilet and while it was suggested disabled people in wheelchairs could be taken to a wider than average staff toilet as long as someone took the key back afterwards we do not think this is suitable. We have been in discussions with a Green Councillor who has been looking at the equality issues. If other groups against the cuts can meet in free upstairs rooms from which we are excluded then a free meeting venue should be available to us. Discussions are ongoing but having delayed a meeting in June and then again one for 15th July ,because it seems these matters take a long time, we have now booked up for the Phoenix on Friday. The Hall hire fees for this meeting are being donated by us from our Don't Let Disability Mean Inequality fundraising. If you would like to help by donating to the fund please go to the donate page HERE. Liberation Lemonade and Broken but Not Beaten Biscuits are being provided for refreshments!

We do not yet have a proposed agenda for next Friday's meeting but it has been suggested we include discussing affiliating BDPAC with Brighton Stop the Cuts group, discussing our proposed constitution which has been copied from the Disabled People Against Cuts constitution, fundraising, discussing what we can do to join in with the Brighton Benefits Campaign protest the next day and plans for future actions. If there is anything you want included in the agenda please let me know.Thanks to Holly Smith for agreeing to chair the meeting next week and to her and Peter Knight for doing us a leaflet which will be available later as well. I hope we will have more time at this meeting next week for everyone to introduce themselves and their groups and we will all be able to get to know each other better as well.

So hope to see you on Friday at our meeting and please spread the word to any other disabled people and allies who you know who may be interested.

Solidarity

Jill Goble

Volunteer Admin Brighton Disabled People Against Cuts.

Put UP Accessibility and Disabled Toilet Information about your Venues RANT

2011-07-12T20:28:59.000Z

Put UP Accessibility and Disabled Toilet Information about your Venues RANT

It isn't so much to ask is it? I've been looking for accessible venues with a disabled toilet all over Brighton to find somewhere suitable for our next Brighton Disabled People Against Cuts meeting and not many sites do put up accessibility or disabled toilet information. Facebook events are just as bad. People put up the venues but do not say whether they are accessible or not.

Even when the info is up it doesn't describe how people in a wheelchair can negotiate the entrance and how far it is to the meeting rooms. For someone like me this information makes all the difference. I can walk a short distance so if the venue is a short distance from pavement/parking to where I can sit down I may not need the wheelchair. But if the venue is along a lot of corridors and up lifts and ramps I may not only need the wheelchair but also an assistant to push me because I only have the strength to push myself a short way. I do not go out very often but when I do I need to have a plan about how I'm going to get where I'm going and back. Why make us have to hunt around all over the place for accessibility information when you can easily include this on your websites and event listings?

In the old days I could go anywhere and never gave these accessibility issues a thought and now I see that is coming back to haunt me because most people who do not have mobility impairments do not think about these things either and THEY DO NOT PUT UP ACCESSIBILITY and DISABLED TOILET INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR VENUES.

Not only am I saying put this information up I am saying it should become a legal requirement! The social model of disability says those of us with a wide range of impairments are being excluded from and are disabled by society and this is one of the ways this inequality is happening. I do not want to have to chase around trying to find out if a venue is accessible with disabled toilets every time I look at one. I want this information clearly displayed on every website and event and listing. And to be honest heavy fines should be imposed if it is not because people are not providing this information voluntarily and this is a nuisance.

Some places which say they are accessible like hotels involve long journeys round the back and up service lifts and all kinds of inconvenience. These should not be allowed to describe themselves as accessible. In fact there could be a grading of levels of accessibility from the worst of obstacle courses to excellent with incentives if venues improve. Take this example of the problems faced at the Hotel Russell in London by two Broken of Britain organisers staying there for a meeting

http://thebrokenofbritain.blogspot.com/2011/06/two-girls-one-wheelchair-21st-century.html Their experience was an exhausting nightmare. That is not what we expect from a place calling itself accessible.

In Brighton where I live there is some help available in the form of an Accessible City Guide produced by the Federation of Disabled People which gives accessibility information on a range of venues in the town: http://www.bhfederation.org.uk/accessible-city-guide.html but why should I have to go to a seperate site to check when this information should be readily available anyway?

If you think I am making a fuss about nothing then I ask you to try a couple of tests. First tie either your legs or your arms or both together and then test out how you would manage?! Second imagine that we disabled people who use wheelchairs have taken over the architecture and have designed buildings with low ceilings on the grounds we only need low ceilings and this saves a lot of space. Now imagine you want to go out but cannot easily find out which venues will allow you to fit in and which won't because they have too low ceilings for you. Sorry I know you really want to go to that concert or club night but no it is being held in a low ceiling venue so you can't fit in! Ridiculous you say? Well that is what we disabled people who use wheelchairs face all the time when you hold your meetings and events in inaccessible venues without disabled toilets. The least you can do is tell us when we are excluded and when we can be included. So I say:

Put UP Accessibility and Disabled Toilet Information about your Venues and Don't Let Disability Mean Inequality!

End of Rant. For the moment...!

Our Creative Cafe July Side Picture is Flowers in the Wood by our network member Shaun Buckley

2011-07-01T19:01:32.000Z

This picture called Flowers in the Wood is by our Creative Cafe member Shaun Buckley and I have put it up as our July Backdrop Side picture thinking how it looks very summery and pretty for this time of year.

We have decided to carry on with this Ning platform when our payment plan runs out this month despite still having some problems with missing notifications and regrets about the music player they took away from us last year. The reason for carrying on is that I just don't have the time to move this network to another platform at the moment but we are going to be paying month by month rather than for the whole year this time and will be monitoring the situation closely.

We are no longer getting enough revenue in advertising to cover our costs and I do appeal to you our lovely members to consider helping with our funding by making a donation to info@creativecafe.org.uk on Paypal. Your donations can always be rewarded with links and adverts on the Main page showing you are one of our sponsors. Please write to info@creativecafe.org.uk so we can work out the arrangements together.

Finally thanks to all our active members for your continued creative and inspiring contributions to Creative Cafe. Please keep up the good work.

Disabled People Against Cuts condemns Davies’ Comments

2011-06-27T00:51:05.000Z

DPAC condemns the outrageous comments made by Phillip Davies Conservative MP for Shipley, Yorkshire.

Davies announced that disabled people should be paid less than minimum wage. He claimed disabled people are considered less productive than non disabled people. Davies was condemned by Disability organizations, MPs and others for his thoughtless comments.

His comments come at a time of rising unemployment, a time when disabled people through the Work Capability Assessment are being moved from Incapacity Benefit to being declared ‘fit for work’ by the maligned Atos group. Atos has already been subject to several investigations on its practices. Davies who has made previous comments suggesting disabled people are ‘scroungers’ now claims that disabled people should be paid less than £5.93 per hour. From scroungers to slave labour!

For years disabled people have argued that employers’ attitudes that perceive disabled people as less productive, regardless of qualification level or previous experience are issues that need tackling through education. The recent changes to Access to Work and the increased levels in the contributions from employers for adjustments have also had a knock-on effect on disabled people getting work. Disabled people are those most likely to be long-term unemployed NOT due to impairment but to ignorance of the very kind an elected MP feels no qualms about displaying. Even our enemy media outlet the Daily Mail condemns Davies.

Davies’ comments set disabled peoples’ opportunities back 20 years. It is the type of prejudice that we would expect from MPs given the raft of misunderstandings around disability that we have endured since the coalition came to power. The irony is that disabled people regardless of qualification are often paid less than their non-disabled colleagues. This is not because of productivity but because employers feel they can get away with it. In 2009 disabled people were paid a gross average of £11.08 compared to £12.30 for non disabled employees (Labour Force Survey 2009). DPAC suspects the differences are wider. These are the issues MPs should be discussing NOT reducing disabled workers wages further.

Davies fails to recognise that disabled people have the right to be paid a living wage, a fair wage, and a wage appropriate to skills and qualifications – and it seems all MPs fail to recognise the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities- a convention setting up disabled peoples’ rights as equal to those of non-disabled people. No one should be considered a second class citizen because they happen to be disabled, nor should they be paid less for the same work.

Tell Davies what you think of his idea by signing the petition at the link below

Take action link: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AgjLO/zlRm/CxM4

—————Debbie Jolly

http://www.dpac.uk.net/2011/06/dpac-condemns-davies%E2%80%99-comments/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+uk%2FBHMU+(DPAC)

Unusual Art by Livio De Marchi

2011-06-25T02:55:42.000Z

Have a look at this Unusual Art site with some very interesting unusual pictures and story of the artist Livio De Marchi

http://flatrock.org.nz/topics/society_culture/livio_de_marchi.htm

Disability Politics Very Bad Right Now.But Disabled People Being Creative Still Cheers me up!

2011-06-17T02:44:32.000Z

This stunning photo by our member Paola cheers me up! I am full of anger. I am disabled and the current political machine is against us. We are facing cuts to all our essential benefits and services and like many other disabled people in the UK today I am having to fight for even our basic essential rights. We are also being told that the only way to contribute to society is to be in full time paid employment. Everyone who isn't is going to be called names like scrounger and scum and workshy and a useless eater and a burden by this government and in the media and even by our own neighbours. The welfare state which our grandparents fought so hard for is being destroyed.
We protest and we campaign and yet still we see the injustice and have to face the losses. And it looks very bleak to me so I can get depressed. Then I log on to Creative Cafe and I see that our members many of whom are also disabled people have been creative and wonderful again. There is always something one or more of our members has contributed to the site that cheers me up.
This stunning photo by Paola is one that has cheered me up tonight. Thankyou to Paola and our other Creative Cafe members for being so creative and inspiring. You make our political fight against the cuts even more urgent. The cuts risk losing this wonderful creatvity and we must carry on fighting not just for the basics in benefits and services but also the creativity and inspiration in disabled people and others to be encouraged rather than cut and lost like the politicians are doing now.