Inclusion North Citizenship Boards Seeking Members

Inclusion North have an exciting opportunity for people with a lived experience of autism/a learning disability to influence change within health and care in the North East and North Cumbria.

Citizenship Boards have been setup to make sure that people with a learning disability and autistic people can have their voices heard within the Integrated Care System.

Inclusion North are looking for members to join their Autism Citizenship Board or Learning Disability Citizenship Board.

Members will:

• represent their local area

• share their views and experiences about health and care, and

• think about how we can make health and care better for people with a learning disability and autistic people

Each board will have at least 26 members – 2 people for each local authority area.

Extra spaces to people who often do not have their voices heard, for example:

• Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities

• people from the LGBTQIA+ community

• people in long-stay mental health hospitals

All members will receive an involvement fee for taking part in meetings and have travel reimbursed.

Some members are already in place but they are looking for more to make sure every area is well represented.

Do you know someone/several people who might be interested in being a member of one of the boards?

If so, they can fill out the below form and send it to: kimberly.bellhouse@inclusionnorth.org. The first round of member selection will take place on 22 March. You can still apply after this but there will be less spaces available.

Members will also vote for a co-chair to help plan agendas and facilitate meetings alongside Inclusion North.

If you need any more information on the boards or would like to arrange a conversation about them, please contact:

Autism Citizenship Board: Hayley Matthews - hayley.matthews@inclusionnorth.org

Learning Disability Citizenship Board: Anya Bonner - anya.bonner@inclusionnorth.org