about YP-in

The Young People's Inclusion Network is helping Disabled Young People explore and speak out about what they need to participate fully in youth and leisure activities.

The project is run by Kids, the Disabled Young People's charity, and funded by the Big Lottery Fund. It involves providing opportunities for Disabled Young People to meet with each other and also create a vibrant online community - a platform for exploring interests and communicating opinions.

The aim of the project is to secure inclusive leisure experiences for young people and support good practice models to enable mainstream youth and leisure providers to do this.

BARRIERS

The network will combat barriers preventing Disabled Young People from accessing youth and leisure facilities. Kids held a full consultation with young people to establish exactly what these barriers are.

Physical: 'Places aren't wheelchair friendly. When you really look into things, you can't do them.'

Time: 'What stops me from doing things is not having the time because of homework! I can be up all night because it takes me so long to write.'

Friends: 'Last week I told my friends to ring me if they were going out, but they didn't ring me. I think they were anxious about how they will manage.'

Relationships: 'We need to meet more people and make friends.'

Independence: 'Because I can't go out on my own, I've not had any experience.'

OPPORTUNITIES

A strong, supportive community will help young people build confidence; lobbying will help overcome the environmental, attitudinal and institutional barriers that prevent Disabled Young People being fully included.

Where barriers cannot be removed, the network aims to help young people find ways around them. For example, one young woman has already learned to make the best out of staying at home:

'If you've got MSN Messenger, it's absolutely brilliant. If you've got web cam, it's even better. My sister is out 24-7. I'm stuck in the house, and it's absolutely brilliant. People who haven't got cars can use MSN!'

Young people are involved in shaping the project from start to finish and at every level - from recruiting staff to designing the websites. Over the coming months young people will be building their community, exploring their interests and using film, photography and other media to create a showcase of their experiences.

In the third and final year of the project, young people will turn their showcases and private community into a public site, complete with their detailed recommendations for what they need in order to be fully included in youth and leisure activities and disseminate this work through a National Roadshow tour.