About Us
Speakup is a Self Advocacy Group run by and for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. We help people have a voice, employment opportunities and be valued and included in society.
At Speakup we see people and not labels and believe that everyone has the right to live a full and enjoyable life. It all started back in 1988 when a group of people with learning disabilities came together because they were unhappy that people were not listening to them.
At Speakup we have been supporting, employing and training people with learning disabilities and autistic people to use their skills and abilities to help others and make a difference for over 30 years.
You can see the work we do by clicking on What we do.
Or you might like to ring us on 01709 720462 Or email us using our Contact form
We work with, or have worked with, many organisations including:
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NHS England, Social Care Institute for Excellence, The Care Quality Commission, The Department of Health, Local Government Association, The Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, Ministry of Justice, NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups, Citizens Advice, Energy Saving Trust and the Universities of Sheffield, Leeds, Huddersfield, Lancaster and Manchester to name but a few.
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David Gill who works for NHS England and was mentored and received training by Speakup before he joined them. David has gone on to be awarded a Dimensions Leaders List for 2019! Congratulations David!
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We support National plans and policies such as:
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'Ask Listen Do' (NHS England programme), LeDeR, 'Making It Real', 'Building the right support' and 'Transforming Care'. We sit on the National Co-production Advisory Board, Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) Partnership, NHS England Expert Advisory group and are regularly invited to the Care Quality Commission Co-production meetings.
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We are experts in developing and delivering accessible information, training and resources that improve the lives of people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
We do this in many ways, you can see lots of the work we do by clicking on What we do or you might like to ring us or email us.
We live with our core values every day enabling and empowering some of the most disadvantaged and marginalised people to lead independent, healthy, prosperous and inclusive lives. We do this by bringing real improvements to communities: enabling a person centred life without discrimination and free from abuse.
We believe in co-production and empowering people by enabling and supporting.
People with lived experience can bring so much to staff training and gives people a real insight into the issues people face.
Speakup is passionate about employment for people with learning disabilities and autistic people, some of whom have mental health issues. We employ people with lived experience in salaried and sessional work on all our activities, and regularly provide work placement opportunities.