It’s official!

Disability Nottinghamshire has been recognised officially as a user-led organisation by Nottinghamshire County Council in a presentation by the Chairman of the Council.

We are very proud of our acheivements in being recognised as a user-led organisation but acknowledge that it does not stop here. We want to engage with as many individuals, their carers, families and friends in the future to make sure their voices are being heard and to shape our services to meet local needs. 

Each local authority area in England is required by the Department of Health to have a user-led organisation to consult, engage and involve. The initiative has come as part of the Putting People First agenda and the transformation of adult social care. There are 21 points which an organisation must meet in order to be classified user-led under the Department of Health’s criteria. Some of these include:  

• – Has a minimum of 75% of the management board drawn from the organisation’s constituency e.g. has a physical disability, learning or mental health difficulties or sensory impairment.
• – Works from a social model of disability
• – Provides support to enable people to exercise choice and control 

These are some of the ways in which users are involved at Disability Nottinghamshire: 

• – Volunteering
• – Decision making
• – Fundraising
• – Consultation and engagement
• – Publicity, marketing and events
• – Work placements and routes to employment
• – Training, skills and education
• – Personal development

And some reasons why people have become involved: 

• – Giving something back to the local community or society
• – Raising concerns with the way in which they are receiving a particular service
• – Influencing, shaping and contributing to the way services are provided
• – Challenging and scrutinising the services, structure and policy of private or public organisations

To find out more about becoming involved, please see our volunteering page.