I have spent the morning writing to all the candidates in the Wrexham area for the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections in order to invite them to take part in a hustings that I am hoping to organise for recipients of WILG.

I will publish any replies I receive and keep you up to date with my progress.

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Dear Candidate

I am writing to give you the opportunity to be involved in a hustings that I am organising – along with Sheila Meadows OBE – to clarify your position on the future of independent living for disabled people in Wales. Alternatively, I wonder if you are holding any cross party meetings or hustings that WILG recipients could attend to ask questions and gain information.

As a former recipient of ILF, I now rely on the Welsh Independent Living Grant (WILG) to pay for my care team. Future arrangements past March 2017 are clouded in doubt and uncertainty with disabled people facing a bleak future. It is laughable to think that I am one of the lucky ones as in 2010 the ILF was closed to new recipients. Will you, and your party, be prepared to fight for independent living for all?

We are hoping to hire Maesgwyn Community Centre as a venue for this proposed hustings and I believe this will present you with an excellent opportunity to address concerned members of the electorate and reassure them about what you would do to protect and enhance their rights.

In 2013 there were 111 claimants of ILF in Wrexham. We can assume that the numbers receiving WILG are similar and if we include family members and those employed and reliant on such funds then this translates to a large proportion of the eligible voting community. I would argue that this therefore gives you a valuable chance to prove your worth to the local community.

Many thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely

Nathan Lee Davies