Speakup are a self-advocacy group in Rotherham. They are an important part of the EQUALD project. Speakup tell us what they think, and give us new ideas. In this blog we are going to tell you 8 ways Speakup have made a difference so far. 

1. Speakup supported with the funding application of the study. Jodie is one of our co-applicants on the project. 

2. Members of Speakup: Jodie, Vicky, Alison, Hayley, and Annie are part of our Project Management Group. They help us with project planning, accessibility, participant recruitment and understanding the research findings.
   
   

3. Jodie and Vicky were part of the interview panel that interviewed candidates for the Research Associate and Research Fellow positions on the project. They asked questions in the interview and helped decide who would be hired. 

4. We co-designed our logo with Speakup. They told us which colours and images they liked: purple, equals sign and people with flags. The logo design was based on their ideas.
   
   

5. Speakup gave us ideas about what we should include on our website:
   
   

• biographies about the team

• feedback form on accessibility

• mailing list

• use of videos to explain parts of the project 

• PDF ‘easy read’ version of the website
   

Our team met with Speakup again to show them a draft of the website.  For example, the text was too small, and we needed more images.

6. We asked Speakup how to make meetings accessible. Here are some of the things they told us:
   
   

• use the introduction: ‘what do you love to do?’ to help people get to know each other

• use videos alongside the agenda to explain the meeting content 

• take enough breaks 

• use Easy Read information
  
  

7. Jodie joined our first Advisory Group meeting to talk about accessible meetings and to help us recruit adults with learning disabilities.

8. We talked about ideas from our review with Speakup. They told us that in ISFs:
   
   

• It is important to know how much money you have and what you can do with it

• Trust between you, your provider and family is important 

• Support plans need to be flexible and able to change often 

• A good relationship between you and a care provider means: 

o   spending time with the person

o   knowing them well

o   knowing what they like doing

o   doing the things you say you will do

o   asking questions

o   forming a team as the support worker and person with learning disabilities 

• Being person-centred means giving people choice and control over their support

• Reviews of support should be done regularly