Mencap gets ready for its own Euro event...

Europe in Action, the annual conference of Inclusion Europe, the European Association of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families, is one of the biggest conferences in Europe for people with a learning disability – or intellectual disability - as it is also referred to.

Entitled ‘Growing up with an intellectual disability’, over 200 delegates from Inclusion Europe’s 67 member organisations from as far as Russia in the east to Cyprus in the south will explore the impact of learning disability on the lives of individuals and families.

Looking forward to next week’s conference, Paschal McKeown, Mencap in Northern Ireland’s head of external relations and communities said, “Mencap was one of the founders of the learning disability Inclusion movement in the 1960’s and a founder member of Inclusion Europe in 1989, so to bring this major event to the UK for the first time is a considerable honour.

“We hope that the discussions that will take place will inform and influence policy and practice across Europe and the best thing about it is that people with a learning disability and their families will be at the heart of it.” Pascahl McKeown

Maureen Piggot, president of Inclusion Europe, and a former Mencap in Northern Ireland director said, “Europe in Action is always an exciting, meaningful and diverse event because it attracts people from across Europe with different experiences of life to discuss policies and practices that can improve the quality of life for people with a learning disability and their families. It will be a great couple of days,” she said.

Europe in Action 2014 is the 12th Europe in Action conference to take place. Last year it was held in Ljubljana, in Slovenia and next year it will take place in Italy. This year’s two day conference has 30 diverse sessions for delegates to take part in that explore the impact of learning disability on the lives of individuals and families from three different perspectives: children and young people, family life and community life. Delegates will be attending from Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic , Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Norway, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Maureen Piggot, president of Inclusion Europe, Jan Tregelles, chief executive of Mencap and Colette Fitzgerald, head of the European Commission Office in Northern Ireland will address the opening pleanary session.

Europe in Action speakers will include:

• Senada Halilčević from Bosnia-Herzegovina, who spent seven years in an institution who now plays a leading role in advocacy internationally as the chair of the European Platform of Self-Advocates
• Diane Richler internationally acclaimed Canadian speaker, one of the global learning disability rights leaders who played a critical role in securing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• George Hosking, the founder of the WAVE Trust in England, who has been influential in the UK in making the case for a strategic approach to promoting emotional health and strong relationship bonds from infancy
• Jeanne Nicklas-Faust from Germany, who will talk about the transformative power of having the right support at the right time
• Aimee Richardson from Dublin, the voice of ‘Punky’, the main character in a popular animated children’s programme who has Down’s syndrome. Punky’s producer, Gerard O’Rourke of Geronimo productions, will also be speaking with Aimee, who has Down’s syndrome
• Ciara Evans, Mencap’s campaign’s assistant in England and Belfast self-advocate Barbara Norris will talk about how they are contributing to changing people’s prejudices using the media to good effect
• Myra Berloff, director of the Massachusetts Office on Disability, the state’s primary disability rights advisor who works to ensure the full and equal participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of Massachusetts life.

For more information on speakers and their sessions see the conference programme at www.europeinaction.org

Europe in Action 2014 is funded with the support of the PROGRESS Programme of the European Union and will take place at the Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast from 15-17 May.