‘A Future for All’ in action: Roundtable with Anna Dixon
In August, families in Bradford from our A Future for All project, funded by the National Lottery Climate Action Fund, sat down with Anna Dixon MP for a roundtable organised with New Church Community Groups and our project partners at Contact. After a facilitated workshop by Hope for the Future, constituents were joined by the MP for Shipley to talk about climate, nature and accessibility.
The conversation gave parents, including parents of children with SEND, and young people the opportunity to speak directly about the issues affecting their lives, or issues that they are passionate about. One constituent raised the importance of stopping North Sea oil drilling, and raised concerns about the opening of Rosebank - a new oil field. (Link to other work on rosebank?). Other constituents raised personal issues around the additional expenses on Electric Vehicles (EVs) on mobility schemes, flagging that it makes it harder for individuals with disabilities to make more sustainable decisions, and that the government should be promoting the use of EVs. Anna Dixon had agreed to follow up on this with Daniel Francis MP member of the Transport Committee and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Disability Equipment and Wheelchair Users. This wasn’t the only action agreed to as a result of the session, following the roundtable Anna went on to attend the Westminster Hall Debate on Security Assessment on Global Biodiversity Loss and Ecosystem Collapse on September 3rd, as asked in the meeting.
Furthermore during the roundtable, parent carers shared powerful accounts of their disabled and neurodivergent children being failed by education and mental health services. Anna Dixon highlighted the importance of early intervention and support for carers, and said this was something she would continue to pursue through her role as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Carers and in her continued work with fellow MPs. We would urge Anna Dixon MP to continue to use these routes to highlight the needs - and champion the voices - of parent carers of disabled children.
This is roundtable is exactly what A Future for All is about: creating accessible routes into democracy for families whose experiences and priorities are too often missing from political decision-making. We’re looking to continue to work with local community groups in Yorkshire to support political advocacy, and bring new voices to the table to talk about the issues that are important to them.