West Cheshire holds successful first Learning Disability Conference

Hundreds of people came together across two days at the first-ever Learning Disability Conference in West Cheshire to celebrate and champion those with learning disabilities.

This major conference was a partnership between the Learning Disabilities Partnership Board, Cheshire West and Chester Council and its in-house service Vivo Care Choices, local NHS partners and Cheshire Disabled People’s Panel.

After 140 people attended the first day of activities, 110 enjoyed a gala dinner in the evening and 120 were part of the second day, creating a vibrant atmosphere for everyone involved.

Across the two days, there were:

• welcome speeches from Adele, who accesses Vivo’s services, alongside Councillor Louise Gittins and Councillor Val Armstrong
• performances from the winners of Vivo’s Got Talent
• workshops where people discussed what mattered to them and how they’d like to enjoy their life to the full
• presentations from the likes of HomeKey+, North West Care Co-operatives, VoiceAbility and the Community Safety team about some of the existing support available
• talks from Peoples Choice Group, Chester Advocacy Group and Cheshire Disabled People’s Panel about work taking place to help people with learning disabilities have a strong voice.

The schedule for the event was chosen by a working group that included representatives from the Chester Advocacy Group to make sure it was for and by people with learning disabilities.

Councillor Val Armstrong, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, said: “After attending events elsewhere in the UK, people with learning disabilities in our communities wanted to host our very own Learning Disability Conference in west Cheshire.

“It’s fantastic that so many groups and organisations have been able to come together to organise this event and I’m delighted that it was such a big success.

“The event was completely sold out across the two days and that shows how much everyone was looking forward to celebrating and championing people with learning disabilities.

“It’s important we deliver services that meet the needs of the people we support and this was a great opportunity for local decision makers to listen to what matters most to people.

“We’ve taken away some really valuable information so we can make west Cheshire an even better place for people to live.

“Many of the people we support are already asking about when the next event is going to take place and this is definitely something we’ll be looking at so we can build on the momentum that the first-ever Learning Disability Conference in West Cheshire has created.”

Pictured - Vivo's Makaton Choir performed at the conference.