Bright Futures Oldham, 2007

Oldham Council pledges support for disabled children

Oldham Council has pledged equal rights and opportunities for every disabled child in the Borough, by signing the Every Disabled Child Matters (EDCM) Charter.

As many as one in five families in Oldham have a disabled child, and the Local Authority has the responsibility for making sure that education and social care services are accessible and delivered to families with disabled children.

The Charter sets Oldham several key tasks that aim to provide families with disabled children with more help and support, putting them in control of the support and services they receive. It includes commitments to establish a key worker service to work with families who need support from more than one agency, to ensure all staff have the necessary training to work with disabled children, and to involve disabled children and their families in planning and delivering services. The Council has pledged to achieve these commitments by January 2008.

For further information please read the full press release

EDCM Local Authority Charter

English Local Authorities can get involved in the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign by signing up to the EDCM Local Authority Charter. The Charter, produced with the support of Children Now magazine, encourages local authorities to commit to providing a range of services for disabled children and their families by January 2008, and also to addressing the needs of disabled children in their strategic planning and local area agreements.

63 English Local Authorities are currently signed up to the charter. These include six of the areas covered by the Parent Support Project - Ealing, Lambeth, Lincolnshire, Oldham, Poole and Staffordshire. We are delighted that Oldham Local Authority has committed to the charter, as it represents an important step in championing the rights of both disabled children and their families. We encourage parents in the remaining four areas covered by the PSP project to contact their local authority to sign the charter, and push for its successful implementation within their area.

For information on how to contact your Councillor to support the EDCM campaign please visit the EDCM website.

Thank you for all your ongoing efforts, and good luck with your constructive campaigning!

Oldham Evening Chronicle coverage

On Friday 8 June 2007, the Oldham Evening Chronicle reported on OSCA being picked by TreeHouse to campaign for better educational support for children with autism.

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