Over 100 Enjoy 25th Anniversary Celebration
Over 100 people gathered at Chilworth Manor last night to celebrate SCIL’s 25th Anniversary. Staff, Management Committee and Members, both past and present gathered for an evening of nostalgia and entertainment as well as plenty of food and drink.
Robert Droy, the compere for the evening, kicked off the show with a video tracing the history of SCIL through photos and videos.
There were also exclusive performances from Natasha Wood and Laurence Clark.
The evening ended with a disco playing music from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s.
Congratulations to Clare Bunstone who won a holiday for 6 people to stay at a top hotel in Dorset in our Anniversary free prize draw.
More photos on our Facebook page.
Freedom Drive Finalises Its Demands
On 16 Sep 09, 3 delegates from SCIL will join more than 400 Freedom Drivers from more than 20 countries as they march through Strasbourg to the EU Parliament. Regardless of their impairment, they are unified by one goal: Independent Living.
They will hand over the following demands to the President of the EU Parliament.
1. We call on the European Community to ensure that Independent Living is central in the disability policies of the European Union, as expressed in the EU Disability Strategy, the Disability Action Plan and Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol.
2. We encourage the European Community to continue to assist the development of community-based services to achieve de-institutionalization across Europe.
3. We call for the implementation of our human right to a personal assistance service, fundamental to guarantee the enjoyment of Independent Living.
4. We call for the opportunity to equally enjoy the right to freedom of movement with the portability of personal assistance services.
5. We call for an earmarking of 5% of EU development funding to go to the development of Independent Living programs in developing countries.
6. We call on the European Community to fully ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to sign and ratify its Optional Protocol and for its articles to be implemented in EU legislation and policy. Incumbent in this is the application of pressure by the Institutions and representatives on member states to transpose the convention into law domestically as soon as possible
7. We call for a disability specific directive to uphold and protect the full rights and entitlements of people with disabilities across Europe.
8. Disabled people and our organisations must be decisively involved at all levels of policy-making including planning, producing and implementation.
Whilst in Strasbourg, the Freedom Drive participants will be meeting with many MEPs who have an interest in this area to look at how we can all work together to ensure these demands are taken seriously.
You can read more about the Freedom Drive on our blog over the coming weeks.
Invite to SCIL’s 25th Anniversary Celebration
SCIL can finally reveal that we will be marking our 25th anniversary in style with a Gala Evening at Chilworth Manor on the 6th November and we want our members and Disabled People from around the country to join us. The event will be a chance for Disabled People to come together to celebrate our survival as an organisation as well as our achievements over the last 25 years.
During the evening, there will be comedy provided by two of the top Disabled comedians in the country, Laurence Clark and Natasha Wood, a birthday toast from Ian Loynes, SCIL’s chief executive as well as an audio visual presentation of the history of SCIL. With a welcome drink on arrival and complimentary snacks on offer, it promises to be a great night.
Tickets are only £10 each if you are waged or £5 if you are unwaged. If you need to bring a PA to the event, tickets for a PA are only £5. Tickets are on sale now and we need to know final numbers by October 1st so reserve your tickets now by phoning 023 8033 0982 or email info@southamptoncil.co.uk and we will send you a booking form.
We really want as many members to attend as possible so if you’re keen to come but may need some support to arrange it then let us know.
SCIL’s 25th Anniversary Stall Hits The Road
As plans for our anniversary celebrations gather pace, SCIL is hitting the road this summer touring some of the fun events that are being held around Southampton and beyond.
We have a bright new display stall which has already got people talking when we premiered it at the Mayfield Nursery Spring Fair at the beginning of May. Thanks to everyone who came to chat to us.
Below is a list of other places we’ll be over the coming months
Please come and visit us on our stall on:
Tuesday 2 June from 11am to 3pm—DotComUnity.co.uk Open day, Novotel, 1 West Quay Road, Southampton, SO15 1RA
Saturday 6 June from 9.30am to 6pm —HMS Collingwood Open Day, Newgate Lane, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 1AS
Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 June from 10am to 5.30pm—Southampton Kite Festival, Lordshill Sports Ground, 5 Acre Fields, Redbridge Lane, Southampton
Saturday 18 July from 12 noon to 9pm—Art Asia, Southampton Mela Festival, Hoglands Park, Southampton
Saturday 1 August from 12noon to 6pm —K2 Festival, Hoglands Park, Southampton
Stay tuned for more 25th Anniversary news coming soon
Get Ready for SCIL’s 25th Anniversary
On the 6th November 2009 Southampton Centre for Independent Living celebrates its 25th Birthday.
The early 1980’s were momentous times for Disabled People in the UK with the formation of the first organisations which were run and controlled by Disabled People.
Southampton CIL developed quickly; enabling Disabled People to collectively gain empowerment and for the first time become a political force to be reckoned with.
Ever since, we have sought to support those who wanted a lifestyle that would enable them to attain or restore choice and control over their lives.
SCIL is at the early stages of planning events and activities to celebrate this milestone and we want all Disabled People in Southampton & Hampshire to celebrate our collective achievements. More information will be published soon.
Merry Christmas from SCIL
We would like to wish all our blog readers a very Merry Christmas. Most of our hard working staff are taking a well earned break over Christmas, so SCIL will be closed between 25th December and 1st January.
An answerphone will be available during this time but if you need assistance urgently, you can call Hampshire Social Services Direct on 0845 600 45 55 or if you live in Southampton, please call 023 8023 3344.
SCIL and HCODP agree Closer Working Relationship
This post was written by Ian Loynes, SCIL’s Chief Executive.
At its joint AGM in September, SCIL and the Hampshire Coalition of Disabled People (HCODP) agreed the proposal that both organisations should work more closely together in the future. This article explains why we want to do this and what we hope to achieve.
SCIL & HCODP were formed separately, in 1984 & 1990 with different but linked aims. However (like many organisations) SCIL & HCODP have both found it difficult to attract resources, MC members and other volunteers. As a result, both organisations increasingly share people (for example, staff with one organisation are commonly MC members on the other). In addition, both organisations share many other things like: members, premises, personnel, funding sources, similar projects etc. We worried that this might lead to confusion, duplication, tension, burn-out or conflict which we wanted to avoid.
An initial joint meeting agreed the need to work more closely together, but felt a full merger would be inappropriate. Since then DAIN and DOVE have all agreed that the issues apply equally to them as well. Jointly we submitted a funding proposal to enable the appointment of a joint worker to take these ideas forward and to enable all the organisations to survive and thrive in the future.
What should we achieve by working closely together:
- Streamline our structures and core costs
- Reduce number of hats we all wear
- Investigate joint memberships and joint MCs
- Work together on joint funding
- Develop a common strategy
- Eliminate duplication to free up resources
- Be more effective as a result
However, there are a number of things we also want to avoid:
- Losing our individual identities
- Compromise funding opportunities
- Weaken governance of organisations
- Confuse personnel or line management
- Do anything that is not in the interests of our aims or the rights of Disabled People
- Weaken our democratic accountability to Disabled People
So, what do you think?…If you have any views or ideas, please email me on ian@southamptoncil.co.uk or phone or post your views to the usual address.
SCIL’s Annual Report 2006 – 2007
With SCIL’s AGM just around the corner, SCIL are pleased to release their annual report for 2006/2007. As you will see, it has been yet another rollercoaster of a year with some low points but also some real signs of optimism for the future.
We are just about to start phase 2 of our redevelopment of Unity 12. Once completed, we will have fully accessible conference room facilities, in addition to extra office space that will be let to like-minded organisations.
Anyway, I don’t want to reveal all the hidden gems you will find in the annual report. Give it a read, you might find it more interesting than you thought – just click the link below.
SCIL’s Annual Report 2006 - 2007
The above file is a PDF file so you will need Adobe Acrobat on your computer and it may take a few seconds to download.
New SCIL Chat Room and Message Board / Forum
SCIL has been working hard over the past couple of months to develop its presence on the Internet. Although we are very aware that some people do not have regular access to Internet, we feel that it is important that SCIL continues to promote itself as a leading voice within the Independent Living movement and the website is one way that we can do that.
It is also important that the SCIL website encourages interactivity with its readers and therefore we have recently launched 2 new developments:
SCIL has now its very own chat room for any issues relating to Independent Living, Direct Payments, Self Directed Support etc. Anyone can participate no matter where you live. We hope to host various events on there such as an online Direct Payments Peer Support Group. Other ideas would be welcome.
Also we might be able to use it to network over various campaign issues on a national basis. We will be shortly paying £15 per month for the chat room so it would be good to see if we can find some good uses for it. Anyway, you can try it out by clicking here
SCIL has also launched its own message board. This means that you don’t necessarily have to be online at the same time as other people. You can post your thoughts / comments / queries on the board and other users can reply at their leisure.
You can access the message boards by clicking here.
At the moment, we have a board for General Chat and News, Direct Payments, Campaigning and Travel and Transport. Other suggestions would be welcomed.
With all these developments, we are learning as we go along so please do let us know if you experience problems or need assistance. You can contact Robert on 023 8020 2639 or email Robert@southamptoncil.co.uk
A Quick Introduction
SCIL is an organisation run and controlled by Disabled People. We support Disabled People to live independently and campaign for an inclusive society which does not discriminate against Disabled People. We believe that Disabled People should have the same opportunities and quality of life that non-Disabled people take for granted.
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