Waltham Forest Disability Resource Centre

Waltham Forest Disability Resource Centre

The Waltham Forest Disability Resource Centre (WFDRC) is a user-led centre in Leytonstone where disabled people can learn new skills, gain independence and healthy living, and join in with others in their Community. Patchworktogether spoke to Peri Stanley, the manager of WFDRC, about what the centre means for its users.


 

 

“Before I worked at the WFDRC, I had always been managed by disabled people… I saw the way that a few adaptations, for example equipment or perhaps a PA enabled people to use their talents to make an enormous difference”.

Employers could benefit from making such adaptations, allowing the talents of people with disabilities to flourish and prove a huge asset to their companies.

About the WFDRC

When the WFDRC was established 30 years ago, it was one of the first organisations run by and for disabled people.

At the time, the majority of people with disabilities faced extreme limitations when it came to employment and opportunities. They were often placed in day centres where the activities provided were simply dictated by others. The WFDRC provided an alternative: led by its users, it formed a space where people had the freedom to choose exactly what they wanted to do.The WFDRC’s service users constitute much of its management committee and body of employees, maintaining its user-led approach to this day.

 

What the WFDRC means for its users

The WFDRC means users get to choose what they want to do and when, whether it be an exercise class, a needlework session or a choir. However, at the core of the WFDRC’s mission is the creation of a supportive social network. “When you face barriers to inclusion and employment”, says Peri, “you are at huge risk of becoming isolated and lonely”, something many of the population will have gained an insight to during the recent lockdown.

By providing aspace for people with disabilities to form their own social support network in which they feel valued, the WFDRC allows them to then go out into the community with greater self-confidence. “We don’t want the DRC to be the be-all-end-all for its users’ lives,” says Peri. Instead, the DRC offers a foundation for people to build on, enabling them to lead more independent and fulfilling lives.

Unfortunately, the lack of state funding for the centre means that users pay out of their own pockets and resources can be limited.

 

The effect of coronavirus

Despite the coronavirus pandemic and consequent temporary closure of the WFDRC, the community it fosters perseveres. With regular phone calls, yoga and Zumba classes on zoom and the provision of art materials and worksheets, the WFDRC is maintaining its activities through lockdown. The needlecraft group which has continued to meet three times per week via zoom has been a lifeline for its members, many of whom are more isolated than ever as a result of the government’s shielding plan.

Peri also mentions that non-disabled people have also been joining in with a number of activities, able to reach a wider audience than usual through the WFDRC’s facebook page. This goes to show that “when you make things inclusive, there doesn’tneed to be any separation; people can enjoy things together”.

The fact that the WFDRC’s employees have been phoning to ask when they can return to work speaks for itself. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted more than ever the necessity of the connections and the support network that the DRC continues to create.

 

What message can employers take from the WFDRC’s mission?

The disability employment gap in the UK remains huge. “Before I worked at the WFDRC, I had always been managed by disabled people” says Peri, “I saw the way that a few adaptations, for example equipment or perhaps a PA enabled people to use their talents to make an enormous difference”. Employers could benefit from making such adaptations, allowing the talents of people with disabilities to flourish and prove a huge asset to their companies. With a bit of imagination, employers could think of ways that somebody who is different from them could benefit their company, even if they only worked one day a week.

Of course, adaptations do require funding, and when this is not provided and there is a choice between somebody who does need extra equipment or assistance, and someone who doesn’t, the thought of profit will come first. However, this means that employers could often be missing out hugely.

All Tags
Accessibility Accessibility int he workplace Accessibility ramps Adaptive fashion Advocacy All Saints Alt text Assistive technology Autism Awareness Blog Bullying Burnout Business Businesses Cancer Candidates Captions Cerebral palsy Characters Charity Charity sector Chronic pain Closed captions Clothes Clothing Cognitive disabilities Communication Companies Company Company Corner Confidence Confucius Consultant Consultation Content designer Data talent Diagnosis Difference Digital transformation Disabilities Disability advocate Disability advocates Disability community Disability confident Disability inclusion Disability Policy Centre Disabled Disabled people Disabled People’s Direct Action Network Disabled-led Diverse Diversity Diversity and inclusion Diversity Recruitment Platform Domestic violence Dysfluency Education Employment opportunities Empowerment Ethnic minorities Fashion Fashion industry Feedback Flexible work Freelance Game Gaming Gareth Walkom Garment technologist Gastrointestinal conditions Gender Guide dog Healthcare HR Hybrid working Inclusion Inclusivity India Inspiration Intellectual capabilities Interviews Invisible disabilities Invisible disability Istituto Marangoni Jack Wills Job descriptions Job interviews Job opportunities Learning disability Leeds Leeds trinity university Legislation LGBTQ+ Long-term health condition Long-term health conditions Maya angelou Meta Metaverse Migrants Motivation Musculoskeletal conditions Neurodivergence Neurodivergent Neurodiversity consultant Neurodiversity space Neurotype Neurotypes New Delhi Non-profit Partially sighted People Phase Eight Phone calls Physical disabilities Pirate video games Policy Poverty Presentations Primark Public speaking Puneet Singh Singhal Race Raising awareness Registered blind Remote work Rights School Scope Self-employed Self-employment Senior staff Sexuality Shaw trust Shaw trust power 100 list Sign language Social mobility Social-emotional learning Social-emotional learning platform Software Speaking situation Speech differences Speech disabilities Speech impediment Spotlight series Spotlight stories Ssstart Staff Stammer Stammering Stories Stuttering Sweaty Betty Tech industry Tech talent TEDx Tesco Think tank Underrepresentation Unhidden Unhidden Clothing Universities Vanessa Castañeda Gill Victoria Beckham Video game Violence Virtual reality VR Web accessibility Women Work environment Work from home Working conditions Working from home Youth Access to work Accessibility in the workplace Accessibility test Accessible work Acting Adhd Adjustments Administrative Adrian lord Advice Advocacy and campaigns Allparty parliamentary group for inclusive entrepreneurship American civil rights movement Android Anglonorman App Artificial intelligence Bad grammar Barriers to work Bbc Benefits Blind persons act Blue badge Blue badge service specialists Care Career Carer Celtic languages Center on everyday lives of families Ceo Cfs Chloe tear Chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic health condition Chronic illness Community Community story Community, community story, founder, feature, accessible work, disability employment gap, making a difference Companies house Compressed hours Computer science Computers Coronavirus Councils Covid19 Crystal mark standard Deaf Demo Design Dialects Dictionary Digital accessibility Disability Disability discrimination act Disability employment gap Disability rights movement Disability services Disabled peoples direct action network Disabled persons employment act Easy read Email address Employers Employment English English speakers Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship Epilepsy Equality Equality act Equality and diversity Equality of access Esources, disability, disability services, support services, community story, features, adjustments, social support network Eugenics Facebook Feature Features Fibromyalgia First world war Flexi Flexible working Flexitime Flextime Founder Francesco cirillo Freelancing French Gcses Gdpr General data protection regulation Good Good grammar Google Government policy Government support Graduate Graduates Grammar Grammar schools Health Health condition Health conditions Hearing impairment History History of language Holistic Ico Impact Imposter syndrome Inclusive entrepreneur network Inequalities Inequality Information commissioners office Information governance Instagram Internet Jacqueline winstanley Language Latin Law Learning difficulties Lexicographers Limited company Local councils Local government Making a difference Marketing strategy Mecfs Medical conditions Medical model of disability Medical vs social models of disability Medicines Mental health Middle english Mindfulness Mlm Mobility issues Multilevel marketing National league of the blind Neurodiversity Niya Normans Old english Old french Onboarding and retention Online Out of work Oxbridge Parent Passwords Patchwork hub Payment details Planning Planning for work Podcasts Pomodoro Preposition Private schools Psychiatric Psychiatry Punctuation React Reasonable adjustments Recruitment Remote working Resources Resources and support Rest Retinopathy of prematurity Sales Scam Search engine Second world war Shell shock Slang Social Cipher Social interactions Social media Social model of disability Social support network Socialising Spelling Spoken language Spotlight stories Standard english Startup State schools Student Students Studying Suffragette movement Support Support services Syntactician Syntax Technology The Disability Policy Centre The elderly Then barbara met alan Trafalgar square Turkish United nations Universal inclusion University University of arts london University of cambridge University of hertfordshire University of hull University of leeds University of oxford Victoria Jenkins Visual impairment War Ways of working West germanic dialects William shakespeare Windsor consultations WithVR Wordpress Work structure Workforce recruitment Working environment Workplace barriers World war one World war two Young carer

Cookies

By continuing to use this website you are agreeing to the use of cookies. For further details, review our Cookie Policy.

Change Settings