Rare Historical Photos

Some amazing and thought provoking photographs are featured in this slide presentation that gives a snapshot of history (mainly from an American perspective).

Click here to see the photos

Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day - 7 October 2013

I thought I would share and raise awareness for Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN), this is their very first awareness day, so quite a momentous occasion. My sister and many other suffer with this condition which is commonly known as suicides disease.

Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) occurs most often in people over age 50, although it can occur at any age, including infancy. The incidence of new cases is approximately 12 per 100,000 people per year; the disorder is more common in women than in men.

Please visit http://www.tna.org.uk/ for more information

Dyslexia Awareness Week - Monday 14th October to Sunday 20th October 2013

The theme for this year’s Dyslexia Awareness Week is ‘Beyond Words’

The aim of the week is to debunk the myth that dyslexia is just a difficulty with reading and spelling. The Dyslexia Association want to highlight the other difficulties dyslexic people face such as poor short term memory, maths difficulties, poor organisational skills but also the strengths that it can bring!

For more information about dyslexia and The Dyslexia Association, please see www.dyslexia.uk.net or call theconfidential helpline: 0115 924 6888.

The Dyslexia Association provides a wide range of services and support for dyslexic people of all ages, their families, their educators, their employers and the wider community.  The services include:

Confidential Helpline, Advice Service, Consultancy Service, Dyslexia Screening, Dyslexia Assessment, Workplace Needs Assessment, One-To-One Specialist Tuition, Assistive Technology Training, Coping Strategies/Job Coaching, Dyslexia Awareness Training.

Religion in England and Wales

It's always good to know your facts.

That's why this Office for National Statistics video is useful as it gives a nice snapshot about people in England and Wales from 2011.

“My Guide” Volunteers needed

My Sight Nottingham is looking for people who want to make a difference to the lives of blind and partially sighted people in Nottinghamshire and they are now recruiting volunteers to spend a few hours a week with service users for up to six months.

Read more

BBC Gay Archive

In 1967, homosexuality was partially decriminalised in England and Wales. Since then, terms like 'clause 28', 'the age of consent' and 'civil partnerships' have become part of the political language in the fight for gay rights.

In this collection, the BBC chart the story so far for gay and lesbian equality in the UK. Many of the programmes reflect the language common at the time when they were first broadcast and illustrate the changing attitudes towards homosexuality in the last 50 years.

Read more

Choice Unlimited

18th October 2013,Nottingham

Choice Unlimited is a UK wide roadshow on independent living. Aimed at disabled people, older people and carers, Choice Unlimited showcases the diverse information, services, products, ideas and innovation that are available to support independent living.

Read more

Proud to be Gay!

20th November 2013, Arnold

This one-day course is for workers from any organisation with little or no knowledge about Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual issues who want to learn more.

Read more

Ganesh Chaturthi

When: 09 September 2013
Where: Maharashtra

Ganesh Chaturthi - 'Ganesh Chaturthi', is a festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha, one of the most revered Gods in the Hindu pantheon. Widely celebrated in India, especially in Maharashtra, on account of Lord Ganesha's divine visit to the earthly realm in the month of Bhadra, falling in August/September, this festival sees huge advance preparation. Also known as 'Ganesh Jayanti', this popular festival ends with immersion of Lord Ganesha's idol in rivers and lakes amidst full rejoicing.

Rosh Hashana

Rosh Hashana / ראש השנה

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: ראש השנה), (literally "head of the year"), is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holidays or Yamim Noraim ("Days of Awe"), celebrated ten days before Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah is observed on the first two days of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. It is described in the Torah as יום תרועה (Yom Teru'ah, a day of sounding [the Shofar]).

Women on bank notes: is the Bank of England finally listening?

The new Bank of England governor appears more willing than his predecessor to consider keeping a woman on banknotes.

Campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez explains what is at stake...

Read more

Assistance dogs - a guide for all businesses

The duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove barriers for disabled people
Assistance dogs - a guide for all businesses (new for June 2013)

Guidance has been produced to help businesses understand what they can do to comply with their legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 and encourage businesses to welcome registered Assistance dogs accompanied by their disabled owner onto their premises.

Read more

Government ‘Disability Confident Campaign’

Through the Disability Confident campaign, the government is working with employers to remove barriers, increase understanding and ensure that disabled people have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.

The campaign includes posters, case studies and templates.

Click here for announcement

Click here for details

Living with poverty in Africa and England

Josephine Mudzingwa Siziba moved to North Shields in Tyneside as a refugee 13 years ago.

Although seen as rich by her family in Africa, she and her husband live on the Meadow Well estate, one of the most deprived in Britain

Watch this BBC video

Source BBC News website 22nd May 2013

Young people 'prefer to read on screen'

Young people are now much more likely to prefer to read on a computer screen rather than a printed book or magazine, according to a UK survey.
Read more

Source BBC News website 16th May 2013

Talk: A film that challenges misconceptions about disability.

'Talk' is an award-winning 12 minute film which challenges misconceptions about disability in an entertaining way.

Part 1

Part 2

Notable dates

A list of Notable Dates and Links to Guides:

04 January 2013	World Braille Day
February	LGBT History Month
10 February 2013	Chinese New Year
20 February 2013	World Day of Social Justice
8 March 2013	International Women's Day
10 March 2013	Mother's Day
7 April 2013	Holocaust Memorial Day
21 May 2013	World Day for Cultural Diversity Dialogue & Development
June 2013	Gypsy, Romany & Travellers History Month
1-7 June 2013	Volunteers Week
10-16 June 2013	Carers Week
16 June 2013	Father's Day
22 July 2013	Parents' Day
24-28 September 2013	National Worklife Week
October 2013	Black History Month
1 October 2013	Older People's Day
7 October 2013	National Grandparent's Day
10 October 2013	World Homeless Day
10 October 2013	World Mental Health Day
22-28 October 2013	European Health & Safety Week
16 November 2013	International Day of Tolerance
20 November 2013	Transgender Day of Remembrance/Awareness
20 November 2013	Universal Children's Day
18-24 November 2013	Inter Faith Week
November 2013	Anti-Bullying Week
03 December 2013	International Day of Disability
10 December 2013	Human Rights Day

Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion (2013). Notable dates. www.enei.org.uk.. Retrieved 15th May 2013, from http://www.enei.org.uk/pages/diversity-dates-and-guides.html

Vicious

Does Vicious mark the end of gay TV characters being invisible?

New sitcom Vicious features a camp gay couple as leads. It may feel like a throwback, but it shows how far TV has come, from John Inman's flouncing character in Are You Being Served? and presenters using 'gay' as an insult

Vicious stars Frances de la Tour, Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi and Iwan Rheon. Photograph: Patrick Redmond

Click here...

Government strategy on ‘Social Justice Outcomes’

On 13 March 2012 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published ‘Social Justice: transforming lives’. It explains the Government’s plans for giving individuals and families facing multiple disadvantages the support and tools they need to turn their lives around.

The Government’s ‘Social Justice Outcomes Framework’ was published in October 2012. It explains what the government wants to achieve and how it will measure success.

On 24 April 2013 the Government published ‘Social justice: transforming lives – one year on’. This progress report looks at how social justice principles influence service delivery at national and local level, in government and across the private and voluntary sectors.

The strategy includes action to:

• help troubled families turn their lives around
• improve mental health
• reduce child poverty and make sure that children are properly supported so that they complete their education
• make work pay, and help people to find and stay in work
• help people recover and become independent if things have gone wrong
• work with the voluntary, public and private sectors to deal more effectively with complex problems

Click here for ‘Social Justice: transforming lives. One year on’ (pdf)

Africa Day

You are invited to to Africa Day Celebrations at the Marriot Hotel, Northampton, on Saturday 25th May 2013.

Disability in Time and Place

‘Disability in Time and Place’ tells the story of disabled people’s lives through the history of thousands of buildings.

All the content has been translated into British Sign Language.

It's an excellent resource and is a nice way to find out about Disability History in an engaging and thought provoking way. Well worth a look.

Click here for link

The Equality Act Made Simple

Welcome to our Equality and Diversity Blog , which we are calling ED Quarter's Blog. We hope you find it useful.

Let's start off with a handy link.

The Equality Act - an easy to read document that explains what the Act is and what it does.

The new Equality Act took lots of separate laws and made one law. The intention was to make things easier to understand.

This law includes everyone; disabled people, older people, people with different religions, people from different communities, people with different coloured skin, plus lots of other groups of people.

Deaf Awareness Week

6th -12th May 2013

Deaf Awareness Week is a unique campaign in that so many different organisations participate, each able to promote their own work within the broad spectrum of deafness.

Deafness - some facts

•  1 in 6 people in the UK are deaf or hard of hearing 
•  More than 45,000 children in the UK are deaf
•  About 2 million people in the UK have hearing aids
•  Nearly 3.7 million people of working age have hearing loss, 
•  135,000 of them are severely or profoundly deaf

What is Normal?

This is the sort of question we like to ask: What is normal?

According to the dictionary normal is "conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected:"

Normal seems to be something that we judge others by - a standard measurement.

"Her behaviour isn't normal?"
"He doesn't look normal."

Maybe you strive not to be normal - or cannot bare the thought of not being normal.

What you think is normal is probably quite different to what I think normal is - but does that make me a bad person?

What do you think is normal?