Changemakers promote positivity for the Christmas period International Day of People with Disabilities

Our NCS (National Citizen Service)

Changemakers at Boston Endeavour Academy have been hard at work raising awareness around mental health and support for their fellow students. They designed t-shirts with positive messages and ways to stay happy and healthy that were hung on a noticeboard for all to see. The display also included infographics on local mental health charities the students had researched.

And that’s not all! The teens have also been raising money through a sponsored walk in their pyjamas and collaborated with Boston charity, Local Hope, who provided 30 bags of grocery essentials and Christmas treats.

Our Changemakers added to these bags with the money they raised and donated to sheltered housing in Boston before Christmas.

In December we joined the celebrations for the International Day of People with Disabilities.

Since 1992, the United Nations has marked the International Day of People with Disabilities every year on 3rd December to spread the word on disability issues and mobilise support for the dignity, rights, and wellbeing of persons with disabilities.

The estimated one billion people living with disabilities worldwide face many barriers to inclusion, and as a result they do not enjoy access to society on equal basis with others in areas such as transportation, employment and education, as well as social and political participation. This international event aims to promote empowerment and help create real opportunities for people with disabilities.

We ran a series of sessions for people to find out more about key topics including:

• Mental Health – Supporting others at work and home, featuring Harry Key, Head of Global Specialist Services at CiC. In this session, Harry looked at what we can do and what tools we can use to support our colleagues, teams, family and friends with an increasing number of us needing support with our mental wellbeing and resilience.

• Neurodiversity in the workplace, with Professor Amanda Kirby, Chair of ADHD foundation and Neurodiversity campaigner, who helped increase our awareness and understanding of how people experience and interact with the world in many ways, and how this can influence how we learn and communicate at work.

• Arthritis Awareness with Maureen McAllister, Workplace Health Development Manager at Versus Arthritis. Maureen explained how to recognise and prevent the onset of arthritis.

• Back & Neck Care in the Workplace with Richard Patricio, CEO at Workhappy. He provided tips, tricks and hints on how to keep comfortable and safe when working at your desk, as back pain is now the world’s leading cause of human disability.

350 colleagues joined the sessions with some fantastic feedback for our speakers.