PrinciplesofUser-ledGovernance-idealforall.docVIP

Ideal for All An organisation of disabled people, governed by disabled people  Ideal for All – An organisation of disabled people, governed by disabled people Ideal for All is a multi award winning User-led organisation based at one of the countries leading, fully accessible, Centres for Independent / Inclusive Living located in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands. What is a User-led organisation? One where the people the organisation represents (or provides a service to) have a majority on the Management Committee or Board, and where there is clear accountability to members and/or service users. (Morris, 2006) What are Centres for Independent / Inclusive Living? Grass-roots organisations run and controlled by disabled people. Their aims are for disabled people to have control over their lives and achieve full participation in society. They work towards these aims by representing disabled people’s views locally and nationally, and by providing services which promote independent living. (Morris, 2006) Ideal for All is committed to working to the social model of disability perspective. What is the social model of disability perspective? The social model has been developed by disabled people in response to the medical model and the impact it has had on their lives. Under the social model, disability is caused by the society in which we live and is not the ‘fault’ of an individual disabled person, or an inevitable consequence of their limitations. Disability is the product of the physical, organisational and attitudinal barriers present within society, which lead to discrimination. The removal of discrimination requires a change of approach and thinking in the way in which society is organised. (Open University) www.open.ac.uk/inclusiveteaching/ Social model of disability The poverty, disadvantage and social exclusion experienced by many disabled people is not the inevitable result of their impairments or