Breaking down the walls - institutionalisation and what we must avoid

We will show the film ‘Breaking down the walls’ and give a brief description of the Strathmartine Hospital History alongside the history of learning disability. Then we will have a Q&A / discussion session exploring the history, where we are now, and what does the future hold for people with a learning disability in this country.

Speaker biographies

[[[image-0 small right]]]Andrew Bright has 25 years’ experience of working to promote advocacy and rights. Andrew believes that having a learning disability doesn’t stop you from what you want to achieve in life rather it encourages you to do more and make that difference. He is passionate about advocacy from his many years in the early 90’s developing the People First movement in the south of England and the need for people to be user involved in their organisations.

Andrew currently brings his experiences and knowledge to two roles within Thera. He works as a Service Quality Director for Thera North and Learning & Development Project Partner for Thera Trust. In both his roles he uses his lived experience of having a learning disability to act as a leader to ensure that the voices of people we support are heard and represented through the support we provide people including the development of various project enabling people to have better days for better life’s.

When Andrew has a free moment he also contributes as a guest lecturer at University of Huddersfield delivering sessions to learning disabilities nursing students on topics from Person Centred Planning to Direct Payments.

A big achievement over the last few years is Andrew passing his NVQ level 2 in Customer Care and NVQ level 3 in Management.

[[[image-1 small right]]]Sharon Shortland is a Fundraiser (in the main) who has worked in the voluntary sector for 14 years and is currently working for Thera Trust. Formerly a project manager at British Rail and Railtrack, she brings those skills to projects that she is involved in at Thera. She is a trustee and secretary for The Margaret Dobson Trust, a grant maker that also works in the field of Learning Disability.