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Special Needs and Caregivers |
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Are you special?Why do we ask?
In May 2006 a meeting took place at Hujjat Imambargah Stanmore, that was attended by members from Jamaats in the UK. The objective was to discuss the needs of people with special needs and caregivers and to build on and support the existing work carried out by volunteers in this area. A full report on the findings is available at www.coej.org . Following this a presentation was made at the World Federation Triennial Conference 2006 and a report on the global issue of disability within our communities was published. Delegates received the information well and all recommendations can be found in the report which is available online at www.world-federation.org .
A person with special needs is defined in the Disability Discrimination Act as “someone with a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term impact on their ability to carry out day-to-day activities.”
Please take two minutes to complete our questionnaire
The scope of this definition is potentially wide ranging and not always obvious. At present we do not have any written or statistical evidence of the barriers people with special needs face within our Jamaats, but we know they do exist. And if we know they exist imagine the impact they have on community life - religious education, Hajj, marriage, sports, Muharram programs to name a few.
How can you help?
Whether you have a special need addressed in the community or not, everyone has the potential to be special to their fellow brother or sister. The best and most effective way is awareness and understanding, not sympathy. People with special needs are fully capable of living their own independent life. We just need to ensure we do not discriminate against them by making our support and services inaccessible.
How about 2 minutes of your time? In order to assess the specific needs in our Jamaats we need to identify what kind of special needs we have within our community, what skills and expertise we can offer and what level of awareness the community has. Please fill out the form which is available here.
Whether it is to implement some of the CoEJ report’s recommendations, fundraising, sharing some advice, training or just continuing your voluntary duties to include furthering the needs of those with special needs, your time is appreciated.
Who are we?
Our team is called the SPecial needs Access Network, or SPAN for short. We are part of the Health Improvement Board (HIB) of The Council of European Jamaats (CoEJ). We recognise that the UK social care system, while not always perfect, is in place to cater for the requirements of those with special needs; We do not want to duplicate or do their job. Our job is to ensure that everyone has equal access to all aspects of our community. We need to make sure that the infrastructure is in place for our future generations to benefit. Think of us as a special interest group.
Our objective can be summarised as follows:
1. Identify access issues within the community and respond to them
2. Raise awareness of issues surrounding equal opportunities for all.
SPAN have a strict policy on confidentiality. No information given to us will be given or discussed outside the SPAN group unless express authorisation is given. CoEJ are fully committed to making change happen.
So are you special?
Interested? If you need further information or this article in another format such as large print or Braille please contact us at
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