DAVID WILLIAMS SIGNS UP TO THE ‘EVERY DISABLED CHILD MATTRSS CONSTITUENCY PLEDGE’

David Williams, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Crewe and Nantwich, has expressed his support for ‘Every Disabled Child Matters’ campaign and added his name to the growing ‘Constituency Pledge’.

David said, “There are around 770,000 disabled children aged under 16 in the UK and the number is growing, particularly for children with complex health needs and those diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders. They and their families are one of society’s most vulnerable and marginalised groups. Of the 770,000 disabled children, only about 6% receive any form of regular specialist support.”

The ‘Every Disabled Child Matters’ campaign is being organised by a consortium of four of the leading organisations working with disabled children and their families : ‘Contact a Family’, ‘The Council for Disabled Children’, ‘Mencap’ and ‘The Special Educational Consortium’

The campaign is asking both Central and Local Government to

- Give disabled children and their families new rights to the services and support they need to lead ordinary lives.

- Invest in new resources to make sure these rights can become a reality. This will be achieved through funding to sustain, embed and build on ‘Aiming High for Disabled Children’.

- Give disabled children and their families a new level of priority, and work with them to improve the services they receive.

David said, “The Labour Government is committed to raising the priority of the needs of disabled children, and the needs of children in general. The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, only last week announced a series of new measures to support trainee teachers who want to work with severely disabled children. I support the aims of ‘Every Disabled Child Matters’ and urge the Government to continue the work that is being done to address the needs of disabled children and their families.”

David added, “There are a number of organisations in Crewe and Nantwich that work with disabled children and do amazing work, usually manned by volunteers and usually on very limited resources. I would urge Cheshire East Council to look closely at how they could support the good work being done by these organisations by way of grants, free use of premises, access to specialist advice and support etc.”