Northern Ireland is to hold its first Learning Disability Pride Day. And the organisers hope it will inspire other learning disability pride days around the UK.
The organisers plan to hold the event in Carrickfergus on 27 May next year. They expect it to be a march with posters and banners. It is due to start at Carrickfergus Health Centre and finish at Carrickfergus Castle, where there will be a concert in the grounds.
Carrickfergus Castle: destination for the Learning Disability Pride Day celebrations
The organisers are Carrickfergus Senior Gateway Club. The organisation hosts a variety of activities for its 100 members, who have conditions ranging from autism to Down’s syndrome.
Club leader Thomas Haighton decided to organise the event because he went to Belfast’s Disability Pride Day in 2014. He thought the event celebrated people with physical rather than learning disabilities.
Why not focus on learning disability?
Day care worker Mr Haighton, 32, said: “Given that in Northern Ireland there’s over 33,000 people with a learning disability we thought, ‘Why not focus on learning disability?’”
Mr Haighton says he searched online for learning disability pride days held elsewhere in the UK. He did not find any and believes his could be the first in the country.
Mr Haighton is hoping that other parts of the UK will follow Northern Ireland and start their own learning disability pride days. He said: “That would be the dream (to have the event rolled out across the UK).”
Celebrating their contribution
Mr Haighton said the day will focus on celebrating the contribution of people with learning disabilities to life in Northern Ireland.
The Gateway Club received £5,000 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Celebrate programme to stage the event.
The Gateway Club is affiliated to Mencap and Mr Haighton said the charity is keen to work with his group to ensure the day is a success.
“The ideal thing would be that this day is going to be a great success and then become an annual event,” he said.
He added that he wanted to see thousands of people with learning disabilities turn up to support the occasion. He also wanted to see carers, families and anyone who supports people with learning disabilities. It could show they are proud of the people with learning disabilities and their contributions to society.
For more information on the Gateway Club’s activities, visit www.carrickdistrictseniorgateway.org.
The Gateway Club’s Facebook page is here.
Published: 1 November 2016
