Get Involved

In this section you will find information about current EDCM campaigns, and how you can get involved. There is also information about resources that will help you make a difference in your local area.

Why should you campaign?

Supporters of EDCM write to their elected representatives and decision makers for rights and resources for disabled children and their families. The decision makers have been appointed to provide services or support to local residents. They are judged on their performance in meeting local people's needs, therefore it is crucial they hear from local people. Get involved in campaigning to ensure that your voice is heard and to ensure that disabled children and their families receive the rights and resources that they are entitled to.

Basic Information
Before you take action, it's helpful to know who to contact. Here is a brief summary of who's responsible for what. You can find out more in Making Disabled Children Matter Locally 2010.

• Local authority: local short break services, transition services, local education facilities, transport - including blue badges, local decisions about housing allocation, local leisure facilities including parks and playgrounds, whether you are entitled to DLA, carers allowance etc
• Primary Care Trust: local hospital and doctor surgeries, equipment such as wheelchairs, community nursing, palliative care, and short breaks services for children with complex health needs
• Local Councillor: elected by the local community, they are your voice in your local authority or "council", and can raise your concerns about any local issues.
• MP: You can contact your MP about anything you are concerned about as they are your representative in Parliament but they can also raise concerns on your behalf to the Local Authority or your PCT.

Get Campaigning in your local area

• Short breaks and Eligibility Criteria
  Since 2007, there has been a lot of investment in short breaks. We now want to find out how local authorities are planning their short breaks services and if they have eligibility criteria.
• Charters
  EDCM has produced local authority, Primary Care Trust (PCT), and Joint Charters that ask local areas to sign up and make a clear commitment to improve services for disabled children and their families.
• Constituency Pledge
  The Constituency Pledge is a series of five commitments that EDCM is asking MPs to pledge their support to.
• What's your story?
  Help people understand more about what life is like for disabled children, young people, and their families. At the moment we are particularly interested in finding out whether there have been any funding cuts or reductions for disabled children's services in your local area.

What's happened in previous campaigns?
EDCM has run many successful campaigns. For example, over 1000 supporters emailed their local MP in November 2010 to ask for a funding commitment for disabled children's services.  As a result of this, the Government has invested £800million over the next four years for short breaks for disabled children.  You can find out a bit more about this and some of our other campaigns here. 

Campaigning Resources
There are a number of resources that have been produced by the sector that can help you campaign in your local area. For example, EDCM has recently published Making Disabled Children Matter Locally 2010 - a guide to influencing local decision makers for rights and resources for disabled children. You can find out more about campaigning guides and factsheets here.

Young Campaigners
If you're a Young Campaigner you should take a look at our campaigning section aimed at young people! You can see how other Young Campaigners have been campaigning and be inspired to get involved yourself. Find out more here.