Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sarah Green on May 20, 2010 at 17:23

Hello. My name is Sarah Green. I work as a Legal Officer (detention monitoring) for the Mental Disability Advocacy Center (http://www.mdac.info/) an NGO based in Budapest, Hungary, although I work from the UK. I would like to make contact with persons with disabilities, DPOs, and NGOs in the Council of Europe region working (or wanting to) on Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities related issues, particularly those focussing on independent living, monitoring psychiatric and social care institutions and ex/service user participation in monitoring activities.

Permalink Reply by Laurence Whybrow-Gardiner on May 20, 2010 at 23:43

Hello,

My name is Larry Gardiner. I work as a citizen advocate through the Advocacy Rights Hub based in Liverpool, England. Until recently I lived in the Netherlands where I was involved with Humanitas which is Europe's largest humanist humanitarian NGO and I previously lived in South Africa working on violence mitigation and capacity building projects during the transition from apartheid to democracy. I would like to make contact with people with disabilities across Europe especially with individuals and groups dealing with mental health issues, autism spectrum disorders, independent living and social care. You can find me here http://www.trusteenet.org.uk/user/1cheerfulman or here http://uk.linkedin.com/in/larrygardiner

Permalink Reply by Sarah Green on May 21, 2010 at 9:30

Hello Larry,
I hope I am one of those you want to meet with - although I work with an organisation based in Hungary - the Mental Disability Advocacy Center - I work from the UK. I am currently working on a detention monitoring project but keen to ensure it is situated within the CRPD normative framework and of course independent/community living.

Permalink Reply by Laurence Whybrow-Gardiner on May 21, 2010 at 9:39

Hi Sarah,

I am currently involved as a lay advocate in situations like this in the UK and have previous experience in other places too. I am currently representing individuals detained and medicated against their will in UK mental health institutions and I am specialising in working with people who have been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders. At present I am in contact with a number of families affected in this way; where the failure to respond appropriately to the effects of autism has resulted in high arousal, anxiety, distressed behaviours and physical harm. Schools and social care organisations have routinely arranged for the individuals affected to be detained and medicated because they don't know how to cope. Advocacy for this group of people is an emerging field with few agreed parameters. Most of the institutions I come into contact with are resistant to the interventions attempted by citizen advocates. Most of the statutory framework for mental health advocacy is bureacratic, slow and ineffective. I live and work in Liverpool. Whereabouts in UK are you based?

Permalink Reply by Danny Antrobus on May 21, 2010 at 8:09

Hi. I'm Danny Antrobus, one of the mentors on this project. I work for South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau (SYFAB), an organisation providing advice and information on fundraising to voluntary and community organisations in South Yorkshire in the UK.

I'm interested in connecting with people who advise and support civil society organisations, NGOs, community organisations and activists. Particularly those involved in information and advice about funding and fundraising. Equally, i'm hoping to link up with people who raise funds for their own organisations and activities - I'm keen to learn more about your experiences of raising money for social action work across Europe, and share what I know about fundraising in the UK.

Permalink Reply by Foster Evans on June 1, 2010 at 8:53

My name is Foster Evans. I am a Capricorn and also director of EVH - supporting social employers. EVH provides HR and other people related support to 180 social employers in Scotland, mainly community, housing and voluntary organisations. Our ambition is to help member employers we work with to achieve the best. Like, Danny Antrobus, I am one of the mentors on this programme and would be delighted to help anyone with a working with people or collaborative working problem.

Permalink Reply by Lorraine Boyd on June 9, 2010 at 10:30

HI my name is Lorraine Boyd and I work for NICVA (Northern Ireland council for Voluntary Action) based in Belfast NICVA is a member organisations for voluntary and community sector throughout Northern Ireland. I co ordinate a policy project called Vital Links which aims to develop the links within civil society between local government departments, local government officials political parties, political institutions, elected members and the voluntary and community sector.

The Vital Links project is all about creating the kinds of relationships between government and civil society that you would expect to find in a normal democratic society. The project aims to Increase the understanding and flow of information will encourage positive relationships and partnerships. As the institutions of the state develop closer links to citizens through voluntary and community organisations, there is the potential that more effective evidence-based policy solutions will be developed to help tackle the social problems such as poverty and inequality which undermine the stability of society Encouraging better relationships between the two will also result in citizens feeling they have more of a say in the policies that impact on their lives and so develop a vested interest in ensuring that the institutions develop in a stable and democratic manner.

I would be intrested in anyone who would have similar experiences of this type of engagement, difficulites and success thay have encountered.

Permalink Reply by Sue Cohen on June 9, 2010 at 10:37

Hi
I'm Sue Cohen Chief Executive of the Single Parent Action Network, supporting the empowerment of single parent families and self-help groups from many different backgrounds and cultures living in poverty and disadvantaged situations in the UK. SPAN was set up under the Third European Poverty Programme in 1990 and since that time has been involved in many national and transnational partnerships to combat poverty and discrimination.
We are looking for partners to network with on different themes including empowerment and participation in community decision-making to combat poverty and discrimination, welfare reform, vulnerable employment, and multi-ethnic involvement in improving communities.

Permalink Reply by Triin Pokk on June 9, 2010 at 10:38

Hello!
Triin Pokk,
Board Member of Ideals Matter, an organization for people all around the world who wish to inspire others and develop goodness in themselves through educating on topics that are ultimately positive for the society.
MAinly we focus on issues related to health, society, cultures and ENVIRONMENT.(http://www.idealsmatter.com/idea/index.php)
I am also a sexual educator and freelance trainer and designer.

Permalink Reply by Betty Wilke on June 9, 2010 at 10:49

Hello, my name is Betty Wilke, I am also one of the mentors on this project. I work for German Red Cross, Germany’s largest humanitarian organization. Our mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. Vulnerable people are those who are at greatest risk from situations that threaten their survival, or their capacity to live with an acceptable level of social and economic security and human dignity.
German Red Cross comprises 20 member societies of the federal states with about 400,000 active volunteers. As officer for volunteer work I contribute to improve, to sustain and to develop the volunteer work as well as I consult and support member societies. I also represent interests concerning volunteer work to the national politics.

One constant motivation in my professional career is to enable, to empower and to inspire people concerning their personal and/ or professional targets, goals and missions. Supporting commitment and ownership of stakeholders of our society is also a constant principal in my work.

I have specific expertises concerning following fields of practice: volunteer-management, training, communication, teambuilding, organisational development, moderation, coaching and human resources development.

I am curious to know what questions you deal with and how you and I can benefit the new social networks.

I’m looking forward to meeting you here today and the next weeks for a beneficial and useful exchange!

Permalink Reply by Agnieszka Zowczak on June 9, 2010 at 10:50

Hello. My name is Agnieszka Zowczak. I have been working in Polish network of NGOs - MAZOWIA Federation since 2006, first as project coordinator and since 2007 as director. MAZOWIA is a membership-based organization working for development of III sector in central part of Poland - Mazowsze Province. MAZOWIA supports its members, monitors local government's actions and activities, creates the lobby and representatives of non-governmental organizations to the public sector. 1st of June 2010 I started to work in The Stefan Batory Foundation as a coordinator of Equal Opportunities program. The program supports organizations that work to provide equal access to education for school children and youth from small towns and low income families.

Permalink Reply by Marcela Wasilewska on June 9, 2010 at 11:09

Hi, my name is Marcela Wasilewska. I've been working (full time) in the Polish Third Sector since March 2006. I am now working for the Federation Centrum Szpitalna - an 'infrastructural' (providing support to other NGOs) organisation based in Warsaw, Poland. In general, we have two main fields of activity: helping people establishing an NGO/ assisting new NGOs etc. and providing NGOs with information on the European Union: its policies, initiatives and most of all - its funds. I am coordinating our activities in this last field. I have experience in managing long-term projects and in cooperation with EU and Polish authorities (on national, regional and local levels).

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