Ciara Lawrence and Edel Harris, Mencap (easy read)

Covid-19 has been hard for everyone. But it has been really hard for many people with a learning disability.

I am Zoë Anderson from the National Lottery Community Fund.

I wanted to know more about what was happening to people with a learning disability during Covid-19 and what can help.

The National Lottery Community Fund has already helped.

We gave £100,000 for a Mencap project in England called Home Not Alone.

The project helps to stop people being lonely.

It helps people to meet and do things on the internet.

In Northern Ireland the money has helped people with a learning disability to get support at home during Covid-19.

I spoke to Edel Harris and Ciara Lawrence from Mencap to find out more about what can help.

Ciara from Mencap said that many people with a learning disability have been forgotten during Covid-19.

She said that a lot of information has been hard for people with a learning disability to understand.

And many people with a learning disability have not had their usual support.

This means they have not had people to help them know what to do.

It has also been hard because the Covid-19 rules keep changing.

Ciara has a learning disability.

She said she found it hard to understand the rules at first.

She had to ask her mum for help.

I found out that clear information about Covid-19 and what to do is really important.

Mencap and other organisations have done some good work on this.

They worked together to make some easy to understand information about Covid-19.

Ciara even set up an easy read group at Mencap.

The group looked at lots of information about Covid-19.

They worked out how to make it better for everyone.

Ciara said that the easy read group has done a great job.

Some families said that the group’s information really helped.

Edel is the senior boss of Mencap.

She said it is important for different organisations to work together when there is a problem like Covid-19.

She said that Covid-19 has also helped Mencap think more about the future and what they need to do.

Mencap is working with people with a learning disability and their families.

They are looking at how everyone with a learning disability can have a happy and healthy life.

Ciara said that what is most important is to listen to people with a learning disability like her.

Ciara said that people should meet people with a learning disability and hear what they have to say.

This will help people to understand people with a learning disability.

And it will help people with a learning disability to show what they can do.

Then we can all work together, Ciara said.

Easy Read version prepared by Making it Clear. Pictures by Photosymbols.

This page was last updated on 22 March 2021.