A double win at The Charity Awards 2011

Friday 10 June 2011

Mencap’s healthcare campaigns win two awards at the annual ceremony

Mencap has won two awards at The Charity Awards 2011, which were held last night (Thursday 9 June) at Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

As well as picking up the award in the disability category, Mencap was also announced as the overall winner of the awards. The awards were given for Mencap’s campaigns ‘Death by indifference’ and ‘Getting it right’ , which call for equal access to healthcare for people with a learning disability.

‘Death by indifference’ highlighted the cases of six people with a learning disability who died while in NHS care. Mencap and their families believe that they died unnecessarily because they received a poorer standard of care and assumptions were made about their quality of life.

‘Getting it right’ aims to support healthcare professionals to make adjustments to improve the healthcare given to people with a learning disability.

David Congdon, Mencap’s head of campaigns and policy, said: “We were delighted to win these prestigious awards, because this was really a win for the six families – without them this wouldn’t have been possible.

“The two campaigns have been a real team effort, especially by Beverley Dawkins [Mencap’s national officer for PMLD] and the families, who have worked together over the years to get justice.”

Find out more about The Charity Awards 2011

Find out more about ‘Death by indifference’

Find out more about ‘Getting it right’