Over a period of 6 months in 2013 young people from Barnardo’s Rochdale Project worked with artist Graham Marsden to look at the barriers that disabled young people face in everyday life. These include ‘lack of choice and control’, ‘being overprotected by people’ and ‘lack of trust’.
Jack Barnes from Heywood, one of the young people involved, says “I personally think as a young person who has been involved with this project everyone should be treated equally and given every possible chance in life.”
To illustrate this the group, who meet at Matthew Moss Youth Centre in Castleton, worked with Graham to create colourful and thought-provoking pop up banners as a way of sparking debate. These will be taken round to parents, young people, schools and other professionals in the hope that the tools they have created can influence attitudes.
Disabled young people are very clear about what their everyday lives should include. Having a resource created by disabled and non-disabled young people to share with family, friends and professionals has enabled people to gain a greater insight into the things that matter most in life, the barriers faced and the ways in which these can be addressed.