CIARA LAWRENCE-EVANS

Ciara Lawrence-Evans traballa para Mencap, unha organización con base no Reino Unido que ten como obxectivo recoñecer e apoiar ás persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe, e ás súas familias e coidadores, mediante servizos, proxectos e campañas. Loitan pola igualdade de dereitos, e fan campañas para cambiar as leis, e eliminar as barreiras e prexuízos cos que se atopan as persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe.

Ciara é unha activista e voceira incansable. Fóra de Mencap, é a primeira administradora cunha discapacidade de aprendizaxe de The Sunnybank Trust, unha organización benéfica que apoia ás persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe en Epsom. Tamén e administradora de Head2Head Sensory Theatre, unha organización benéfica de Surrey que traballa para facer o teatro accesible para todos, realizando espectáculos multisensoriais para nenos e mozos con necesidades educativas especiais e as súas familias. 

Ademais traballa de xeito voluntario para organizacións benéficas de concienciación sobre o cancro xinecolóxico: é embaixadora da Get Lippy Campaign para The Eve Appeal, foi embaixadora de Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, e recentemente, fíxose embaixadora de Grace Women. Tamén é patrocinadora de Dance Syndrome (unha organización benéfica que proporciona oportunidades para persoas con e sen síndrome de Down e outras discapacidades de aprendizaxe, utilizando a danza inclusiva) e patrocinadora de Include.org, unha organización benéfica que traballa para incluír ás persoas que teñen discapacidades comunicativas.

Ciara ten paixón por desafiar as opinións, percepcións e actitudes negativas da sociedade sobre as persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe coma ela. Unha das formas a través das que fai isto é o seu propio podcast, o Ciara’s Pink Sparkle Podcast.

Enfrontou moitos retos e momentos desagradables na súa vida, pero superounos pola pura forza da súa personalidade. Valente e grande comunicadora, ela é un exemplo do que as persoas poden acadar cando as súas cualidades e habilidades se valoran.

Nacida en Surrey en 1979, foi a unha escola de educación primaria onde tiña dificultades, e os seus mestres non sabían como axudala. Cando tiña dez anos, os seus mestres dixéronlle que non conseguiría facer nada na súa vida. En 1989 comezou a ir a outra escola diferente, na que tamén tiña problemas, e onde non contaba co apoio adecuado. Unhas nenas da súa clase acosárona gravemente polas súas dificultades, e a pesar de que ela llelo dixo aos mestres e informou do acoso, eles non fixeron nada para solucionalo. Adoitaban insultala, empurrala e rirse dela, incluso na rúa durante a fin de semana, e ela volvía chorando á casa e pechábase no seu cuarto, onde a música era a súa evasión.

Aos nove anos, foi avaliada polas súas necesidades educativas especiais a través da autoridade local e foi diagnosticada cunha discapacidade de aprendizaxe. Os seus pais atoparon unha escola para alumnos con necesidades educativas especiais, na que empezou a estudar en 1992. Nela, os grupos eran pequenos, e os profesores proporcionábanlle axuda para aprender, porque estaban formados para traballar con alumnos con discapacidades de aprendizaxe.

Ao rematar a escola foi á facultade, onde realizou un curso de formación continuada, e despois estudou un curso de Ocio e Turismo, e outro de Administración de Negocios. Nestes cursos os seus titores déronlle tempo extra, incluíndo apoio despois das horas de clase.

Cando deixou a facultade en 1999 empezou a buscar un traballo para poñer en práctica o que aprendera. Fixo moitas entrevistas, pero ninguén quería contratala pola súa discapacidade de aprendizaxe. Mentres estivo desempregada, atravesou un período de moita frustración no que sentía que non encaixaba na sociedade. Non tiña cartos, así que tiña que depender da súa familia todo o tempo. Non podía facer plans para o futuro, nin pensar en ter a súa propia casa.

A través do centro de emprego local descubriu o Servizo de Emprego de Mencap, onde en 2001 lle ofreceron un traballo a tempo parcial de oficina como empregada administrativa, que despois pasou a ser a tempo completo. Máis tarde pasou a ser traballadora de apoio, axudando a persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe a conseguir emprego. En 2005, obtivo un emprego a tempo parcial na oficina principal de Mencap en Londres. Máis tarde solicitou, e obtivo, un segundo emprego como recepcionista a tempo parcial.

Despois pasou a colaborar coas campañas e pasou a formar parte do equipo de recadación de fondos, como asistente de investigación de famosos. Buscaba a persoas famosas que estiveran sensibilizadas ou tiveran algunha conexión coa discapacidade de aprendizaxe ou calquera outra discapacidade, a quen lles poidera interesar representar a Mencap, e despois escribíalles aos seus axentes, o que acabou facendo case sen precisar apoio. Tamén lles prestaba atención cando acodían a eventos.

O traballo actual de Ciara en Mencap é Líder de Compromiso no Equipo Directivo de Comunicacións, Defensa e Activismo, e está centrada no seu Gran Plan a 5 anos. Consiste en falar cos seus compañeiros de traballo con discapacidades de aprendizaxe sobre o Gran Plan, para saber o que é importante para eles, e asegurar que estean incluídos e ben representados na Estratexia de Mencap. O obxectivo é que a organización estea á altura dos seus valores fundamentais de amabilidade, inclusión e compaixón, en especial coas persoas con discapacidades de aprendizaxe. Un exemplo de como fixeron esto foi a mellora dos servizos informáticos para facer a información máis accesible para aqueles con necesidades adicionais.

Para axudala no traballo, ten un adestrador de desenvolvemento, Matt, que a apoia e a aconsella especialmente nas partes máis difíciles, e tamén lle axuda a xestionar o seu calendario e axenda, e a preparar as súas numerosas reunións. Tamén se apoia no seu xefe inmediato para que lle axude a xestionar o seu fluxo de traballo e a asegurarse de que non se afasta das súas áreas de traballo clave. Matt especialmente axúdalle a centrarse nas súas ambicións e a defenderse a sí mesma.

Algunhas das actitudes da xente que aínda estigmatiza á xente con discapacidades de aprendizaxe enfurécena, pero no seu traballo pode canalizar esa ira e cambiar significativamente as vidas da xente coma ela e os seus amigos. Dende que empezou a traballar, Ciara quixo progresar, desenvolverse e aprender cousas novas, co obxectivo final de converterse en directora executiva, en Mencap ou noutro lugar. Pensa que as organizacións necesitan máis persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe en roles directivos, porque co apoio adecuado, poden usar a súa experiencia da vida real para axudar a facer cambios e defender ás persoas; e deberían ter as mesmas oportunidades ca calqueira outro.

A súa serie de podcasts Ciara's Pink Sparkle Podcast comezou durante a pandemia de Coronavirus en 2021, nun período no que se lle implementou unha licencia no traballo e empezou a frustrarse porque pasaba todo o día soa na súa casa sen moito que facer, mentres o seu marido traballaba para o servizo postal Royal Mail. Despois de investigar e descubrir que só había unha persoa cunha discapacidade de aprendizaxe facendo podcasts, pensou que non era suficiente, e facelo sería algo pioneiro; así que pediulle a algúns amigos que finxiran ser convidados para empezar a poñer a proba as súas habilidades como presentadora, algo que resultou xurdir de xeito innato para ela. Durante a pandemia, as voces da xente con discapacidade de aprendizaxe foron esquecidas, e o obxectivo de Ciara era que foran escoitadas, e falarlle ao público das súas vidas. A ela, o feito de empezar o podcast devolveulle a súa voz e deulle confianza en si mesma.

Así, mercou un libro sobre como empezar un podcast, e comezou a pensar nos temas sobre os que falaría cos convidados, e a contactar con persoas famosas. A día de hoxe, despois de decenas de episodios, logrou facer unha boa diversidade de entrevistas a persoas famosas, activistas, xornalistas, traballadores de organizacións benéficas ou a outras persoas cunha discapacidade de aprendizaxe. Algúns dos seus convidados ata agora inclúen: a humorista Ria Lina, o presentador Jeremy Vine, o baixista de U2 Adam Clayton, o actor e humorista Rob Brydon, o cantante Chesney Hawkes, o guitarrista de u2 The Edge, o deseñador gráfico Stephen Averill, o presentador Jeremy Vine, a actriz Fiona O'Carroll, a activista polos dereitos das persoas con discapacidade Katie Fraser, ou o cantante, compositor, actor e pintor Gavin Friday.

Tamén escribe e fai campañas sobre temas de discapacidade, e publicou artigos no The Guardian, no The Huffington Post e no The Independent. É columnista para a revista Able, e escribe sobre os obstáculos que teñen que superar as persoas con discapacidades de aprendizaxe en actividades cotiás como traballar, viaxar, acceder á asistencia médica, participar no deporte, ou sexualidade e relacións.

Mentres era unha nena medrando cunha discapacidade de aprendizaxe, nunca quixo ler e non entendía os libros. Recentemente, a súa voz foi gravada para tres audiolibros de Sweet Cherry Publishing, de xeito que as historias sexan accesibles e agradables para os nenos con discapacidade. Narrou as versións accesibles e de fácil lectura de tres novelas clásicas: Frankenstein, Moby Dick e O marabilloso mago de Oz (unha das súas favoritas). Ciara pensa que é importante que as persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe estean representadas nos medios, non só na televisión ou na radio, senón tamén libros ou no cine, e que sexan máis visibles na nosa cultura popular para a vindeira xeración.

A súa propia experiencia co acoso fixo que se involucrara nunha campaña anti-bullying chamada “Dont Stick It-Stop It!”, grazas á que descubriu que 8 de cada 10 nenos cunha discapacidade de aprendizaxe sofren acoso. Durante esta campaña falou en eventos, e tivo encontros con membros do goberno e con persoas que traballan en educación para transmitir a mensaxe de que o bullying contra as persoas discapacitadas non é aceptable, e aconsellar sobre boas prácticas que se deben realizar, por exemplo, sobre como levar un rexistro e actuar ante o acoso; sobre a necesidade dunha formación mellor para os profesores en canto a concienciación sobre a discapacidade de aprendizaxe, o que faría que os profesores tiveran unha actitude positiva respecto do que as persoas poden lograr; e sobre a importancia de que persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe vaian a falar ás escolas para previr o acoso.

Tamén pensa que é moi importante sensibilizar aos empresarios sobre a discapacidade de aprendizaxe,  e sobre o feito de que as persoas que a teñen poden traballar.

Ciara é prima de The Edge, guitarrista da banda U2. Ten un forte vínculo con el, e foi o primeiro famoso a quen convenceu para converterse en embaixador de Mencap.

Dende 2006 vive de maneira independente no seu propio piso. A súa nai axudábaa regularmente a entender as facturas, a manexar a súa conta bancaria, e a facer a compra. Despois comezou a vivir coa súa parella, Mark, co que casou en 2013 e que tamén a axudaba con esas cousas, aínda que co tempo deixou de precisar tanto apoio.

Ela é a proba do que a xente cunha discapacidade de aprendizaxe pode lograr nas súas vidas, co apoio correcto, usando axustes razoables, dándolles tempo extra e desglosando a información para axudarlles a comprender.

Os logros de Ciara teñen un carácter continuado. Na actualidade, Ciara leva 24 anos de traxectoria profesional en Mencap; 19 anos vivindo de xeito independente; 12 anos casada con Mark; e 4 anos levando a cabo o seu podcast, ademais do seu activismo e traballo voluntario como administradora e embaixadora para as diferentes organizacións benéficas mencionadas. Traballa incansable cada día, demostrando que os seus antigos mestres do colexio, e outros detractores que de cando en vez aínda a critican, estaban equivocados.

Así, segue no seu cargo como Líder de Compromiso do Gran Plan con Mencap, sendo ademais a primeira persoa con discapacidade de aprendizaxe que pasou a formar parte do seu Equipo de Liderado.

Como parte deste traballo, recentemente, contribuíu a conversas en contextos de atención sanitaria; por exemplo, en 2023 estivo no Health Inequalities Summit, onde falou sobre a esperanza de vida, as mortes evitables e outras barreiras ás que se enfrontan as persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe ao acceder á atención sanitaria. Tamén participou en debates sobre consultas inclusivas para o coidado de feridas como a campaña "Legs Matter" de 2023, onde falou da importancia dos rexistros de discapacidade de aprendizaxe e os axustes razoables nos entornos médicos. 

Ademais fixo declaracións e participou en iniciativas sobre a representación nos medios das persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe, especialmente en torno ao estigma e os mitos. Unha investigación de Mencap revelou que case a metade dos británicos non saben o que é unha discapacidade de aprendizaxe, e que un de cada cinco di sentirse "reacio" a falar con alguén con discapacidade de aprendizaxe. Na Semana da Discapacidade de Aprendizaxe, en xuño de 2024, Ciara afirmou en "Big Issue" que cre que se debe, polo menos en parte, á falta de representación positiva nos medios de comunicación. Así, dixo: "Cando eu medraba non había ninguén coma min nos medios. Non tiña modelos a seguir." Tamén dixo que ela quería cambiar iso, e que é estupendo ver a outros embaixadores de Mencap desafiando as ideas erróneas sobre as discapacidades de aprendizaxe no ollo público. E engadiu: "A representación nos medios de comunicación debería centrarse nas historias positivas e no que a xente pode conseguir en lugar do que non pode."

En xuño de 2025 falou publicamente e participou no proxecto conxunto de Mencap con BNY para lanzar un programa de educación financeira para persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe. Este programa abrangue temas como a elaboración de orzamentos, o aforro, a seguridade en liña, a detección de estafas e a comprensión do crédito e as pensións. Previamente, Ciara foi vítima de fraude e dixo: "É moi importante para a xente coma min ter información accesible e de lectura fácil que nos axude a comprender mellor a banca e a xestionar o noso diñeiro. Desenvolver estas habilidades vitais pode darlles ás persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe máis independencia financeira e confianza nas tarefas cotiás."

En xuño de 2025, Ciara foi destacada como convidada á ceremonia de entrega dos premios Leaders Awards 2025, que celebran as voces e os logros das persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe e autismo.

Tamén se distingue na lista Shaw Trust's Power como unha das 100 persoas con discapacidade máis influentes.

En setembro de 2025 puxo en marcha unha campaña de recadación de fondos, Challenge 60, para a organización benéfica GRACE Women, con sede en Surrey, da que é embaixadora voluntaria, para concienciar e apoiar ás mulleres con cancros xinecolóxicos.

Ciara aparece mencionada no libro "Beautiful Lives" publicado en xuño de 2025 de Stephen Unwin, director de teatro, defensor das persoas con discapacidade e pai. O libro trata sobre as vidas das persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe.

O seu “Ciara’s Pink Sparkle Podcast” xa acumula decenas de episodios e converteuse nunha plataforma visible a través da cal cuestiona o estigma e comparte historias de persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe. Ciara actualiza o seu podcast semanalmente, e entrevistou a unha gran variedade de invitados, tratando moitos aspectos da experiencia vivida da discapacidade de aprendizaxe, recibindo opinións positivas de diferentes públicos. Co seu estilo natural, alegre, encantador e e ameno, Ciara cautiva aos seus convidados e público. Emprega un formato conversacional onde se amosa como unha persoa que sabe escoitar, moi respectuosa e comprensiva, algo moi importante tendo en conta os temas relativos á discapacidade de aprendizaxe que se tratan no podcast. A miúdo, tamén fala das súas propias experiencias de maneira directa e auténtica, co propósito de desafiar os estereotipos e defender os dereitos das persoas con discapacidade de aprendizaxe, dun xeito apoderador.

Por se fora pouco, este ano, Ciara asumiu novos retos:

Recentemente, uniuse a unha compañía de teatro, a Sutton Theatre Company. En Novembro de 2025, estrearase o espectáculo musical “Oklahoma!” no teatro Epson Playhouse, en Epsom, unha cidade do distrito de Epsom e Ewell, no condado de Surrey, Inglaterra. Ciara participará actuando, cantando e bailando.

Tamén adoptou un estilo de vida saudable e comezou a facer exercicio nun ximnasio local.

Ademais, está planeando un emocionante novo capítulo para o seu podcast en 2026.

Texto publicado orixinalmente: 20/06/2021

Texto actualizado: 21/09/2025

Ciara Lawrence-Evans works for Mencap, a UK-based organization which aims to recognize and support people with learning disabilities, and their families and carers, through services, projects and campaigns. They fight for equal rights, and campaign to change laws, and to remove barriers and prejudices faced by people with learning disabilities.

Ciara is a tireless activist and spokesperson. Outside of Mencap, she is the first trustee with a learning disability of The Sunnybank Trust, a charity that supports people with learning disabilities in Epsom. She is also a trustee of Head2Head Sensory Theatre, a Surrey charity working to make theater accessible to all, by running multi-sensory performances for children and young people with special educational needs and their families.

She also works as a volunteer for gynecological cancer awareness charities: she is an ambassador for the Get Lippy Campaign for The Eve Appeal, she was an ambassador for Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, and recently became an ambassador for Grace Women. In adittion, she is a patron for Dance Syndrome (a charity providing opportunities for people with and without Down syndrome and other learning disabilities, using inclusive dance), and a patron for Include.org, a charity working to include people who have communication disabilities.

Ciara is passionate about challenging society's negative views, perceptions and attitudes about people with learning disabilities like herself. One of the ways she does this is her own podcast, Ciara's Pink Sparkle Podcast.

She faced many challenges and unpleasant moments in her life, but she overcame them through the sheer force of her personality. Brave and a great communicator, she is an example of what people can achieve when their qualities and skills are valued.

Born in Surrey in 1979, she went to a primary school where she struggled, and her teachers didn't know how to help her. When she was ten years old, her teachers told her that she would never achieve anything in her life. In 1989 she started going to another different school, where she also had problems, and where she did not have adequate support. Some girls in her class bullied her severely because of her difficulties, and even though she told the teachers and reported the bullying, they did nothing to fix it. They used to insult her, to push her and to laugh at her, even on the street during the weekend, and she would come home crying and lock herself in her room, where music was her escape.

At the age of nine, she was assessed for her special educational needs through the local authority and she was diagnosed with a learning disability. Her parents found a school for students with special educational needs, where she started studying in 1992. There, the groups were small, and the teachers provided her with help to learn, because they were trained to work with students with learning disabilities.

After finishing school she went to college, where she completed a continuing education course, and then studied a course in Leisure and Tourism, and another in Business Administration. In these courses her tutors gave her extra time, including after-school support.

When she left college in 1999, she began looking for a job to put what she had learned into practice. She did many interviews, but no one wanted to hire her because of her learning disability. While she was unemployed, she went through a period of great frustration where she felt she did not fit into society. She had no money, so she had to depend on her family all the time. She couldn't make plans for the future, or think about having her own house.

Through the local job centre she discovered Mencap's Employment Service, where in 2001 she was offered a part time office job as an administrative assistant, which later became full-time. She then went on to become a support worker, helping people with learning disabilities to gain employment. In 2005, she got a part-time job at Mencap's head office in London. Later she applied for, and got,  a second job as a part-time receptionist.

She then went on to collaborate with campaigns and became part of the fundraising team, as a celebrity research assistant. She would look for famous people who were aware of or had some connection with learning disability or any other disability, who might be interested in representing Mencap, and then she would write to their agents, which she ended up doing almost without needing  support. She also provided support to them when they went to events.

Ciara's current job at Mencap is Engagement Lead in the Communications, Advocacy and Activism Directorate Team, and she is focused on her 5-year Big Plan. It involves talking to her colleagues with learning disabilities about the Big Plan, to find out what is important to them, and to ensure that they are included and well represented in the Mencap Strategy. The goal is for the organization to live up to its core values ​​of kindness, inclusion and compassion, particularly towards people with learning disabilities. An example of how they did this was an improvement in IT services to make information more accessible to those with additional needs.

To help her at work, she has a development coach, Matt, who supports and advises her especially in the more difficult parts, and also helps her to manage her calendar and agenda, and to prepare for her many meetings. She also relies on her line manager to help her keep on top of her workflow and make sure she's not getting pulled away from her key work areas. Matt especially helps her focus on her ambitions and  to advocate for herself.

Some of the attitudes of people who still stigmatize people with learning disabilities make her furious, but in her work she is able to channel that anger and make a significant difference in the lives of people like her and her friends. Since she started to work, Ciara wanted to progress, develop and learn new things, with the ultimate goal of becoming a CEO, at Mencap or elsewhere. She thinks organizations need more people with learning disabilities in senior roles, because with the right support, they can use their real-life experience to help make change and advocate for people; and they should have the same chances as anyone else.

Her podcast series Ciara's Pink Sparkle Podcast began during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2021, at a time when she was put on furlough at work and became frustrated that she spent all day alone at home with nothing much to do, while her husband worked for the postal service Royal Mail. After researching and finding that there was only one person with a learning disability doing podcasts, she thought it wasn't enough, and doing it would be something groundbreaking; so she asked some friends to pretend to be guests to start putting her skills as a presenter to the test, something that turned out to come naturally to her. During the pandemic, the voices of people with learning disabilities were forgotten, and Ciara's aim was for them to be heard, and to tell the public about their lives. For her, starting the podcast gave her back her voice and gave her confidence in herself.

So, she bought a book on how to start a podcast, and started thinking about the topics she would talk about with the guests, and contacting famous people. To date, after dozens of episodes, she has managed to do a good diversity of interviews with famous people, activists, journalists, charity workers and other people with a learning disability. Some of her guests so far include: comedian Ria Lina, presenter Jeremy Vine, U2 bassist Adam Clayton, actor and comedian Rob Brydon, singer Chesney Hawkes, u2 guitarist The Edge, graphic designer Stephen Averill, presenter Jeremy Vine, actress Fiona O'Carroll, disability rights activist Katie Fraser, or singer, songwriter, actor and painter Gavin Friday.

She also writes and campaigns on disability issues, and she has published articles in The Guardian, The Huffington Post and The Independent. She is a columnist for Able magazine, and writes about the obstacles that people with learning disabilities have to overcome in everyday activities such as work, travel, accessing medical assistance, participating in sports, or sexuality and relationships.

As a child growing up with a learning disability, she never wanted to read and she didn't understand books. Recently, her voice was recorded for three audiobooks by Sweet Cherry Publishing, making the stories accessible and enjoyable for children with disabilities. She narrated accessible, easy-to-read versions of three classic novels: Frankenstein, Moby Dick, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (one of her favorites). Ciara thinks it's important for people with learning disabilities to be represented in the media, not just on TV or radio, but also in books or film, and to be more visible in our popular culture for the next generation.

Her own experience with bullying led her to become involved in an anti-bullying campaign called "Dont Stick It-Stop It!", thanks to which she learned that 8 out of 10 children with a learning disability are bullied. During this campaign she spoke at events, and met with members of the government and people working in education to convey the message that bullying against disabled people is not acceptable, and to advise on good practice that should be carried out, for example on how to keep a record and act on harassment; about the need for better training for teachers in learning disability awareness, which would make teachers have a positive attitude about what people can achieve; and about the importance of people with learning disabilities speaking in schools to prevent bullying.

She also thinks it's very important to raise awareness among employers about learning disabilities, and the fact that people with them can work.

Ciara is the cousin of The Edge, guitarist of the band U2. She has a strong bond with him, and he was the first celebrity she convinced to become a Mencap ambassador.

Since 2006 she lives independently in her own flat. Her mother regularly helped her to understand the bills, to manage her bank account, and to do the shopping. She then started living with her partner, Mark, whom she married in 2013 and who also helped her with those things, although over time she no longer needed so much support.

She is proof of what people with a learning disability can achieve in their lives, with the right support, using reasonable adjustments, giving them extra time and breaking down information to help them understand.

Ciara’s achievements are ongoing. Ciara has now spent 24 years working for Mencap; 19 years living independently; 12 years married to Mark; and 4 years running her podcast, in addition to her activism and volunteer work as a trustee and ambassador for the various charities mentioned. She works tirelessly every day, proving her former school teachers, and other detractors who still occasionally criticize her, wrong.

She continues in her role as Mencap’s Big Plan Engagement Lead, and is also the first person with a learning disability to join their Leadership Team.

As part of this work, she has recently contributed to conversations in healthcare contexts; for example, in 2023 she was at the Health Inequalities Summit, where she spoke about life expectancy, preventable deaths and other barriers people with learning disabilities face in accessing healthcare. She has also participated in discussions on inclusive wound care consultations such as the 2023 "Legs Matter" campaign, where she spoke about the importance of the learning disability register and reasonable adjustments in medical settings.

She has also spoken out and been involved in initiatives on the representation of people with learning disabilities in the media, particularly around stigma and myths. Research by Mencap revealed that almost half of Brits do not know what a learning disability is, and one in five say they feel "reluctant" to talk to someone with a learning disability. During Learning Disability Week in June 2024, Ciara told the Big Issue that she believes this is at least partly due to a lack of positive representation in the media. She said: "Growing up there was nobody in the media like me. I had no role models." She also said that she wanted to change that, and that it is great to see other Mencap ambassadors challenging misconceptions about learning disabilities in the public eye. She added: "Representation in the media should focus on the positive stories and what people can achieve rather than what they can’t."

In June 2025 she spoke publicly and participated in Mencap’s joint project with BNY to launch a financial education program for people with learning disabilities. This programme covers topics such as budgeting, saving, online safety, spotting scams and understanding credit and pensions. Ciara has previously been a victim of fraud and said: “It is so important for people like me to have accessible, Easy Read information that can help us understand more about banking, and how to manage our money. Developing these vital skills can give those with a learning disability more financial independence and confidence in everyday tasks.”

Also in June 2025, Ciara was featured as a guest at the Leaders Awards, which celebrate the voices and achievements of people with learning disabilities and autism.

She is also featured on the Shaw Trust's Power list as one of the 100 most influential people with disabilities.

In September 2025, she launched a fundraising campaign, Challenge 60, for the Surrey-based charity GRACE Women, of which she is a volunteer ambassador, to raise awareness and support for women with gynaecological cancers.

Ciara is mentioned in the book "Beautiful Lives" published in June 2025 by Stephen Unwin, a theatre director, disability advocate and father. The book is about the lives of people with learning disabilities.

Her “Ciara’s Pink Sparkle Podcast” has already accumulated dozens of episodes and has become a visible platform through which she questions the stigma and shares the stories of people with learning disabilities. Ciara updates her podcast weekly, and has interviewed a wide variety of guests, dealing with many aspects of the lived experience of learning disabilities, receiving positive reviews from different audiences. With her natural, cheerful, charming and entertaining style, Ciara captivates her guests and audience. She uses a conversational format where she shows herself as a person who knows how to listen, very respectful and understanding, something very important considering the topics related to learning disabilities that are covered in the podcast. She also often speaks about her own experiences in a direct and authentic way, with the aim of challenging stereotypes and advocating for the rights of people with learning disabilities, in an empowering way.

As if that were not enough, this year, Ciara has taken on new challenges:

Recently, she joined a theater company, the Sutton Theatre Company. In November 2025, the musical “Oklahoma!” will open at the Epson Playhouse in Epsom, a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell, in the county of Surrey, England. Ciara will be performing, singing, and dancing.

She has also adopted a healthy lifestyle and started working out at a local gym.

She is also planning an exciting new chapter for her podcast in 2026.

Text originally published: 20/06/2021

Updated text: 21/09/2025