Learning disability in the media - looking back at 2022

• This month we announced that Tommy Jessop had become a Mencap ambassador. His announcement was picked up across 47 national, regional and trade titles, such as Daily Mirror and Learning Disability Today. The media team also set up exclusive interviews with Daily Express and OK! Magazine. Speaking about how he felt and what his aims were for being affiliated with the charity, Tommy said: “[It’s] a really proud and good honour for my career to be the new ambassador for Mencap.”
   
• The media team worked with Morning Live on a piece that focused on employment for people with a learning disability, following our media outreach for Mencap’s 75th anniversary. They filmed at the Golden Lane office where they interviewed Natalie Duo in the employment team, then interviewed Aaron Plummer outside Tottenham football stadium where he works part-time.  

• In February, we launched our Myth Busters, a group of 18 people who are living life with a learning disability, challenging misconceptions, and providing greater representation for the 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. The Myth Busters campaign generated 19 mentions during February.  The campaign was driven by stats from our 75th anniversary survey, which was led by the media team previously, and showed that two in five Brits (42 per cent) haven’t seen someone with a learning disability in the media in the past year.”
   
• George Webster was interviewed live on ITV’s Lorraine where he spoke about his career and about Mencap’s Myth Busters launch.
   
• We also worked with BBC Breakfast on a 15-minute segment to showcase five of our Myth Busters, which was shown on the day of launch. Each Myth Buster involved in the piece spoke about their life, career and busting myths for people with a learning disability, as well as what it means to them to be a Mencap Myth Buster. Aisha Edwards, Andrew Self and Alastair Smith pre-recorded an interview and Ellie Goldstein and Daniel Wakeford were interviewed live.
  
  When asked about the campaign, Andrew said:

“people with a learning disability deserve the same chances as everyone else. We have the same hopes and dreams, and just need a little bit of extra help. They need more people like me in the media so others can better understand a learning disability. Being seen matters”.
 

• The Sun and Daily Mirror also had exclusive interviews with Ellie Goldstein and Sophie Potter, where they spoke about their new role and what myths they want to bust.

• George Webster was interviewed on BBC Radio 2 with Ken Bruce for ‘Tracks of My Years’. Ken and George talk about George being talent-scouted by the BBC from his work as an ambassador for Mencap and his new role being a Myth Buster on the show.
   
• Mencap's media team and policy team worked with Holby City on a storyline about a nurse at hospital, Madge, and her daughter, Lizzie, who is autistic and has learning disability which aired this month. Both teams, and a family who have been through a similar experience to the Holby City characters, worked with producers to advise on aspects of the storyline as well as how increased social care charges are impacting people with a learning disability.
  
  You can read more about the truth behind the Holby City storyline here.

• This month saw more Myth Busters coverage. Ellie Goldstein was a guest on Michael Ball’s Radio 2 show where she spoke about her life as a model and being a Mencap Myth Buster. Daniel Wakeford was also a guest on Rylan’s Saturday BBC Radio 2 show where he spoke about being a Mencap Myth Buster and how people with a learning disability are trailblazing within their communities, including himself with a new album this summer called The Rock Pop Album.
   
• Stylist magazine featured Ellie Goldstein, who spoke about making history as the first model with Down syndrome to feature in a campaign for Gucci Beauty, pushing boundaries and her role campaigning as an ambassador for Mencap.
   
• The media team also worked with campaigner Leo Andrade who spoke to the Metro about the treatment her son Stephen was subjected to. Leo's article follows Mencap's recent input into a storyline on BBC's Holby City, where increased social care changes were impacting a family at the hospital who faced similar issues to Leo and Stephen.

• After months of planning, a Cosmopolitan magazine feature prominently included our Myth Buster, Sophie. In a photo shoot beautifully shot by celebrity portrait photographer Alex Cameron, six women appeared in the feature, to chat about their body image and how their individual journeys throughout their lives have impacted what they see in the mirror. Sophie wanted to show the world that people with a learning disability can feel empowered, comfortable and sexy in their skin – just like everyone deserves to – and to spread a little bit of body positivity across the UK along the way.
   
• Sophie also appeared alongside her sister Emily on BBC’s Access All podcast where they were interviewed by Nikki Fox about loneliness for Mental Health Awareness Week. Sophie talks candidly about her experience of loneliness following a bereavement and the closure of her day centre during the pandemic.
   
• As part of our campaign for change around inpatient units, campaigners Sharon Clarke and Leo Andrade spoke to Woman magazine about the treatment of their sons when they were wrongly held in inpatient units for years and how they campaigned for their releases.
   
• Also, this month the Royal Garden Parties took place and one of the attendees was Mencap support worker, Lesley McCormack, who went above and beyond during the pandemic.  Lesley was interviewed by her local newspaper, the Liverpool Echo, where she spoke about meeting Sophie, Countess of Wessex and being a support worker at Mencap.

• Myth Buster Aisha Edwards was interviewed by Enable about Learning Disability Week, becoming a Myth Buster and how Mencap has supported her into employment.
   
• Myth Buster Brendan Chivasa featured in the Metro and MSN UK in an article about his experience throughout the pandemic, especially around his mental health.
   
• Ciara Lawrence was interviewed for the Our Voices podcast which she spoke about living life with a learning disability and her refusal to accept the limitations that society has outlined for her.

• This month, the LeDeR report (Learning from Lives and Deaths – People with a learning disability and autistic people) was published by Kings College London. The media team issued a statement in response from Edel Harris who said the report’s findings indicate that not enough has been done to “address the reasonable adjustments needed by people with a learning disability, the poor understanding of the Mental Capacity Act by healthcare professionals and the ongoing inappropriate use of Do Not Attempt Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation Orders (DNACPR)”. This was picked up by trade media, Learning Disability Today and Nursing Times.
   
• Mencap's new Chair of Trustees, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, to be interviewed by BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour about the tragic death of her sister, Diana, who died alone after facing healthcare inequalities, like many others with a learning disability. The media team also organised for Vanessa, a campaigner for Mencap's Treat Me Well Steering Group, to be interviewed about the death of her husband, who also had a learning disability.
   
• Together, the media and policy teams secured a piece for our Homes Not Hospitals campaign in The Daily Mail about Adam Downs, who has autism and a learning disability. He is currently in Rampton Secure Hospital, which once housed Charles Bronson, the Soham murderer Ian Huntley and 'Crossbow Cannibal' Stephen Griffiths. Adam is one of 15 people in Britain with these or similar conditions who are sadly languishing in high-security hospitals
   
• Myth Buster Sas Granville wrote an article for Metro about her journey to accept and celebrate her sexuality. In her piece, Sas writes:

"As a Myth Buster, I want everyone to know that people with a learning disability can know their sexuality – I definitely know I am attracted to women! People who are gay should be able to do what anyone else does and have relationships and get married if they want."
 

• Mencap’s Engagement Lead, Ciara Lawrence, was invited to appear on the GB News Breakfast Show where she reflected on her career at Mencap and the importance of people with a learning disability having a voice in society.

• The media team secured an exclusive opinion piece from Mencap Chief Executive Edel Harris in the Daily Mirror. In the piece, Edel explains why the Mirror’s Fair Care for All campaign is so important, with 165,000 vacant social care posts as of March this year. Edel also wrote about the 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK who depend on social care support to live a fulfilling and independent life.
  
  In a separate article for the Daily Mirror, Edel called on the Conservative No10 candidates to “commit to the necessary funding” to ease pressure on the sector.
   
• Dan Scorer, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, was interviewed live on air on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour about Mencap’s policy work around Homes Not Hospitals. Alison Rodgers, whose son Adam Downs has autism and a learning disability, has been locked away for over half his life in secure hospital units was also interviewed for the segment.
   
• Mencap’s Push to the Peak challenge went ahead on Sunday 28 August, with Mencap ambassador Emily Burnett and her aunt Teresa, who has a learning disability, taking on the climb. Prior to the climb, Emily and Teresa’s fundraising efforts were covered by Daily Mirror, as well as ITV News Wales, Metro, MSN UK and Care Talk, who also featured the special video messages Emily’s Hollyoaks cast members recorded to show their support.  

• Director of communication, advocacy and activism Jackie O'Sullivan was interviewed by New Statesman following the news that the government may not increase disability benefits in line with rising inflation, despite promises made. Jackie said people with a learning disability “will often need extra help to support them with budgeting and planning”. With energy markets “phenomenally complicated to navigate as it is and very little of the information provided in easy read”, people with a learning disability may rely on family to assist them, or support provided by social care, which is now limited due to the “erosion” of the social care sector in recent years.

• An episode of BBC Panorama Mencap supported with aired. Presented by Mencap Myth Buster, Tommy Jessop, the episode investigated why people with a learning disability are more than twice as likely to die from avoidable causes than the rest of the population and uncovers the health inequalities they face. The episode also featured Myth Buster and campaigner, Brendan Chivasa, who talks about his frustrations when accessing healthcare.
   
• As part of Mencap’s London Marathon coverage, Chris Reid, one of our runners with a learning disability, was interviewed by BBC Newsbeat on competing in running events. He spoke about how running the London Marathon for Mencap will be the hardest yet "I'll actually give back to the charity that's been part of my history," he says.

• We worked with ITV News to secure an exclusive opportunity with Alison Rogers, a brave campaigner who has been working with Mencap and who is desperately trying to get her son Adam out of Rampton Hospital. Head of Policy and Public Affairs Dan Scorer was also interviewed as part of the piece and said:

 “It just shows that people with learning disabilities and autism just do not matter as much in the eye of the Government. To keep them locked up is Dickensian and barbaric.”

This was shown on ITV Evening News and ITV News at Ten, as well as online on ITV News.

• Enable magazine featured Ismail Kaji, who is Parliamentary and Government Engagement Officer at Mencap, in their latest print issue. Ismail spoke about the health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability in the UK and his concerns following findings from LeDeR’s latest report.