Claire Morgan 02/09/2024 Member StoriesNews

We haven’t done an update since February – time flies! 

I have had some good news though.  I have been asked to represent people with a learning disability on a Citizen Panel as part of the North Wales Together Transformation Project. I will be speaking up for people with a learning disability across north Wales.  It’s a paid job too.

I feel very proud to have been asked to do the job.  It’s two hours every month online.  I will represent the opinions of people with a learning disability around services in north Wales.

I feel very strongly that people with learning disabilities shouldn’t have to worry about whether their benefits will be cut, or whether the buses will run.  They have a difficult enough time already and it feels like they are being punished.  Councils should think about people with disabilities and learning disabilities when they are planning services.

Being offered the role has boosted my confidence.  I lost my confidence during Covid – it takes a long time to build it up again.  I hope this will open more doors for me.  I’d like to stand for the Community Council when a vacancy comes up too.

I’ve been carrying on with translating social media into Welsh for Roaring Mon, our local self-advocacy group.  It’s easy for me to do because I am a first language Welsh speaker.  Roaring Mon meets online regularly, but we could do with having more members. 

I enjoyed Elevenses with Gerraint on Friday last week – I thought I was very interesting. We were talking about holidays and the barriers people with a learning disability face when planning a holiday. I join Nightclub sometimes, but not always.  

I’ve been given some more responsibilities as a Peer Led Team Member with Innovate Trust’s Insight App. I have to make sure that people are behaving online and sort out any problems – I have been busy volunteering more often with Insight lately.