How to Support Everyday Citizenship

Introduction

What do we want to do?

Create events about Everyday Citizenship that:

Introduce readers to the ideas in the book
Create excitement for the book, the keys, and the idea of citizenship
Get even more people reading the book
Have great conversations about citizenship and what it means in the lives of people with learning disabilities.

Who will we invite?

This book is for people with learning disabilities who want to make their own choices in life.

It’s also interesting for families and organisations that support people with learning disabilities.

The keys are also interesting for other people who feel they aren’t living the life of full citizens.

Depending on your organisation and your event, you may invite some or even all of these.

What’s the book about?

Everyday Citizenship is part story and part guidebook.

It’s written by and for people with learning disabilities. The book gives you ideas about how to make your own choices and life.

The seven keys describe what it means for every citizen to live life to the fullest.

Each chapter includes:
Ideas to try
Warnings about things to watch out for
A story from Wendy’s life.

The book has beautiful illustrations by Ester Ortega.

Event Ideas

There are many ways you can have an event for Everyday Citizenship.

We’ve listed some ideas here. If you have a new idea, let us know! We’ll add it to this guide so everyone can learn about it.

If you don’t know what kind of event you want, ask people who will be there what they want to do.

Think about your goals for the event.

You can use the keys to plan a learning event:

Learn something new about citizenship
Share your ideas with each other on how you use the keys
Help others learn about your life and how to support you be citizens.

You can use the keys to plan an action event:

Plan future activities and programmes of the group
Make art, music or a play to share with your community
Develop ideas to take to government about how it can work better for you.

Here’s a list of options to inspire you:

Creative Workshops

Invite a local artist to teach a new craft skill (painting, drawing, collage, etc)
Choose one key as the theme of the event and read that chapter together
Chat about what that key means to you. What problems do you have? What ideas do you have?
Make some art that expresses these ideas and share it with your group or community.

Book Club

Invite people with learning disabilities and their families to read the book and come to your event
Talk about each chapter: What did you learn? What did you like? What concerns you?
If you’ve faced challenges in that key, talk about them. What can you do to overcome those challenges? What help do you need to make it happen?

Panels & Discussions

Host a panel discussion about Everyday Citizenship with relevant thinkers and leaders in the field of citizenship, disability and equality. Organisations in the UK/Europe can invite Wendy and/or Simon to join this discussion.

Host an author event, inviting Wendy and Simon to do a reading from Everyday Citizenship. Have them talk about their process of writing the book, share their thoughts on citizenship and disability equality, and allow for a Q&A at the end.

Skills Events

Host skills events for people with learning disabilities and their families.

The book gives you ideas about skills you need to live your life to the fullest. Invite people who can teach you these skills.

For instance:

Financial literacy: how to manage your money wisely
Government benefits: how to get the support you are entitled to
Carer support: how this works in your area.

Teach-ins

There are people and organisations in your community who are there to help you. But do they know how to work with people with learning disabilities?

You’re the expert on your life, so invite them to learn from you. Teach them how to give you better support.

There are also local groups you can join in your community. But do they know how to include people with learning disabilities? Maybe not. Why not invite them to learn about how be more accessible?

You can encourage them to Everyday Citizenship and structure the event around the seven keys.

Learning events

You can learn from each other! Start by review all seven keys and use small groups to discuss each key in detail.

Use groups to either:

Describe your “dream situation” for each key
Share your experience and solutions
Talk about challenges.

Please email olivia@redpress.co.uk with your ideas and questions. Let us know when/where you would like to host your event.

If you want to invite Wendy and Simon, please let us know.

Accessibility

Events can be online or in person
Make sure venues are wheelchair accessible and have accessibility guides on the website
Provide a sign language interpreter or live subtitles.

Marketing & Promotion

Let people know about your event!

Make sure to use:

The Red Press and Citizen Network logo on your media posts and posters.
The Everyday Citizenship Canva to design your posts and posters (contact hello@redpress.co.uk for login details)
ALT text for visuals in social media posts
The book’s social media hashtag: #EverydayCitizenship.

Get copies of the book: contact Red Press (info@redpress.co.uk) for website discount codes, bulk shipments and more.

Let us know how we can help you!