Difference not disability
Sussex Community Foundation has funded a number of Sussex charities doing very positive work around disability, such as Brighton-based Stay Up Late’s Gig Buddy scheme which matches people with learning disabilities with music fans who can support them to go to gigs and Asperger’s Voice in Burgess Hill, where people with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism support each other to develop skills in self-advocacy.
Another such group is Just Different, a small Walberton charity launched in 2008 by its founder, Toby Hewson, a young man with cerebral palsy. The group, which has received five grants worth a total of £13,459 from Sussex Community Foundation since 2010, creates positive social attitudes towards disability and difference among children and young people. They do this through the delivery of interactive, thought-provoking, educational and inspirational workshops that are written, created and delivered by adults with disabilities. When visiting schools, Toby observed that children and young people responded to his physical difference with imagination and curiosity. They viewed his wheelchair and speech synthesizer (communicator) with fascination, learning that they are simply tools to assist him with his active life. “We believe that real change is possible in the way that people view those with disabilities and difference. Children engage with our presenters with open-minded enthusiasm, free from the preconceived ideas that some adults hold,” says Toby, pictured here with the new High Sheriff of West Sussex, Mark Spofforth, when he visited the group recently.
For more information about Just Different, visit www.justdifferent.org
The next deadline for grant applications to Sussex Community Foundation is Friday 15th July. www.sussexgiving.org.uk/apply