A total of £75,200 has been awarded to 6 Greater Manchester organisations to help change the narrative around disability by improving accessibility and inclusion for D/deaf and disabled people.
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the second year of Inclusion Grants to support D/deaf and disabled people. Thank you to everyone who completed an application form, we received 54 applications and the panel had to make to some difficult decisions on who to fund.
Funded by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, this programme is part of the implementation of the recommendations from The Greater Manchester Mental Wellbeing & Disability Report and aims to change the narrative around disability by improving accessibility and inclusion for D/deaf and disabled people.
The report showed that D/deaf and disabled people in Greater Manchester (especially those with diagnosed mental health conditions) are less happy, less satisfied with life, feel things are less worthwhile and are more anxious than hearing and non-disabled people.
This grant programme is one of the ways Greater Manchester aims to reduce that gap.
Funded organisations will deliver innovative pilot projects during 2024/25 to encourage, embed or increase good practice around one or more of the below priorities:
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Listening to D/deaf and disabled people and including them in the co-creation of services, policies, practices, events and activities.
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Joining up services so support is offered holistically, ensuring it is tailored to the need and preferences of the individual.
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Removing any ‘one size fits all’ approaches.
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Improving support for D/deaf and disabled people wanting to take on volunteering opportunities.
Who we funded:
£10,460
Bolton Deaf Society in collaboration with Endeavour are delivering ‘Include Us’ ‘Include Us’, a Deaf-inclusive domestic abuse support project. They will design and deliver Domestic Abuse Awareness workshops in BSL and engage with Deaf Action Edinburgh and SignHealth to work with qualified/experienced/NRCPD-registered BSL Interpreters across Greater Manchester to grow understanding of new domestic abuse vocabulary, grow capacity to converse in BSL using new signs relevant to different forms of abuse so they can support Deaf community reporting and support service take-up.
Deaf Rhinos
£11,500
Deaf Rhinos will deliver a project that aims to create to create a supportive and inclusive environment for d/Deaf individuals in Greater Manchester, to engage in volunteering opportunities through a tailored training and mentorship programme and to educate community organisations on creating inclusive volunteering environments. They will be delivering awareness workshops to raise awareness about the needs of d/Deaf volunteers and provide best practices for inclusivity, and sensitisation workshops for community organisations. Through these initiatives, they aim to transform the narrative around d/Deaf individuals in volunteer roles, fostering an inclusive and supportive community that recognises and values their contributions.
£11,200
DIY Theatre Company CIC are working with a film-maker to co-create four short films on effective communication, lived experience leadership, health and wellbeing and the social model of health. They will also work with drama worker and a graphic artist to co-create Training Resources and Creative Training Workshops that enable health professionals to explore these issues.
£13,040
Happy Smiles Training CIC are developing a service that offers range of inclusion and accessibility functions for purchase by the public and private sector including accessibility audits, Easy Read documents, and input into Equality Impact Assessments (EIA).
£15,000
LGBT Foundation are building on their 2023 pilot LGBTQ+ Neurodivergent Community Programme. They will share the impact of the pilot programme to inform best practice for service providers to LGBTQ+ people and/or neurodivergent people across Greater Manchester.
£14,000
Spectrum Gaming are creating a neuro-profiling tool for young neurodivergent people aged 10 and over. Developed and designed by neurodivergent people,, the funding will be used to review and pilot the tool. It will be reviewed by focus groups made up of neurodivergent young people, national expert Dr Ruth Moyes as well as wider group of professionals and people with lived experience. The full pilot will follow, with 30 neurodivergent young people.
