The Gibraltar Disability Society will sending two representatives, Mrs Nicole Byrne and Mr Maurice Valarino, to the Project SEARCH 2014 Europe Conference to be held in Glasgow in June. As part of the Society’s initiative to move forward and create much needed employment opportunities for persons with disabilities we have also issued invitations to Miss Samantha Sacramento Minister for Social Services, Mr John Cortez Minister for Health, Mrs Isobel Ellul Hammond Shadow spokesperson for Social Services and Health and Mrs Antonia Savignon-Balestrino from the Autism Support Group. The Society has offered to sponsor those we have invited to attend alongside our own representatives and we hope, as well as attending the conference, we will be able to organise a visit to a working Project SEARCH programme. By attending this conference we are following on from the visit to Gibraltar, sponsored by the Society, in October last year of Miss Erin Riehle, Founder and Senior Director and Mrs Anne O’Bryan, Program Consultant and UK Lead both from Project SEARCH. It was during this visit that Miss Riehle, Mrs O’Bryan and Nicole Byrne met with the Ministers for Health, Education and Social Services give them the opportunity to hear firsthand how such a project could benefit Gibraltar’s disabled young persons. Since its inception in 1996 Project SEARCH has grown from a single program site to over 200 sites across the United States and Canada, England, Scotland, and Australia. Further updates to regarding the Conference visit will be made over the coming weeks.
The Gibraltar Disability Society wish to congratulate the Equality Right Group Gibraltar after Parliament today passed the Civil Partnership Bill. Felix Alvarez, founder and Chairman of the ERG, stated today that it has taken 14 years of campaigning to bring about this legislation and thanked the Government for delivering on their electoral promise. Unfortunately for disabled members of our community, after over 30 years of campaigning by the Disability Society, there is still no legislation to protect their rights. This is despite a promise by the present government to introduce legislation based on the terms of the UN convention within their first year in government.
We have received the following information from GHITA:
We have been informed by the Gibraltar Health Authority that as from Thursday 6th March 2014, persons who have been clinically diagnosed as profoundly deaf and are registered with the department of Audiology can avail themselves, if they so desire, of the GHA text (SMS) service when booking an appointment. The telephone number to send messages is 58008464.
Persons are required to register at the Registration Office in the Primary Care Centre at their earliest convenience.
The committee would like thank all those who volunteered their help on flag day. Thanks also to all those who kindly donated and helped raise a grand total of £1,462.76.