The time has come to try to make a real difference to the lives of disabled people across Wales. I have been tirelessly trying to do this since I launched my #SaveWILG campaign back in November 2016 . This campaign was a relative success, but it appears that the Welsh Independent Living Grant (WILG) has been eaten up by being placed into the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) so that Local Authorities (LA’s) can do as they please with this money and it is not being used to protect former Independent Living Fund (ILF) recipients in the way we had hoped for.

It appears that what is happening in this right wing society of ours, is that there is a move towards ending independent living for disabled people. The PA’s that disabled people rely on to help them become independent members of society, are not being paid nearly as much as they deserve.

This all began back in 2015 when the UK Government closed the ILF as part of their war on disabled people. This was an awful move that did not even make financial sense as the ILF was a cost effective scheme that was a massive loss to the disabled community and saved the UK Government peanuts in the grand scheme of things.

What we need to do in Wales, is create something similar to what they have in Scotland – ILF Scotland.

Independent Living Fund (ILF) Scotland was established in July 2015 following the UK Government’s closure of the UK ILF, to safeguard the rights of disabled people in Scotland to live independent lives.

The public body ILF Scotland administers the fund on behalf of the Scottish Government. The fund enables disabled people with high support needs to choose to live in their communities.

I will do all I can to make something like this happen in Wales. Whether this is possible remains to be seen, but I will definitely need lots of help from people who are experienced in setting up these kind of schemes.

There is money out there, but it is just a matter of unlocking this for the benefit of disabled people and their PA’s. The weekly wage of a Premier League footballer  would help disabled people live on a level playing field with the rest of society.

Please email me if you can assist with this ambitious dream of mine to improve the lives of disabled people and their families.