Group’s plea to politicians

Members of the local Advisory Committee for national charity Enable (ACE) this week wrote to the Scottish Parliament members, asking to meet with them and pledge not to forget about them in mainstream debates affecting their lives.
Enable’s executive director of campaigns and external affairs Jan Savage said: “People who have learning disabilities across the Annan area too often face lifelong exclusion and lack of opportunity to be part of their community, through work, transport, access or welfare.
“That means that the voices of people who have learning disabilities are too often not heard by those who represent them.
“The issues that are affecting them are rarely debated and most politicians don’t understand how these things impact on people’s lives. That needs to change.”
Ms Savage says that people with learning disabilities have a lot to say about how issues and decisions on issues such as education and welfare reforms affect them.
She said: “That’s why we are calling on local MSPs to meet with our local representatives to discuss the issues affecting them and talk about how they can help to #bethechange for people with learning disabilities in the Annan area to ensure they are not forgotten constituents.”
ENABLE Annan ACE claim success in campaigning for Dumfries and Galloway Council, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Government and other agencies to write things in an easy to read language.
They have also been campaigning to improve education for children with learning disability.
ENABLE Annan ACE have presented several sessions together with Police Scotland to raise awareness of hate crime law and to let people know what they can do if they are a victim.
On Tuesday, the Annan Enable ACE group wrote to elected constituent and regional MSPs Oliver Mundell, Claudia Beamish, Rachel Hamilton, Emma Harper, Joan McAlpine, Colin Smyth, Paul Wheelhouse and Brian Whittle.