Rights & choices · England
Campaigns and making change
Your browser or device provides the reading voice.
A campaign brings people together to ask for change.
You can choose how to take part.
Choose something to change
Choose something you want to change.
It could be about jobs, support or places you visit.
You can work with other people.
You do not have to speak in public.
Campaigns and projects to explore
Stay Up Late campaigns for people to choose their evenings.
Staff rotas should not decide your whole social life.
Gig Buddies helps people meet through shared interests.
Ask whether there is a project near you.
Good Lives has ideas for making everyday life better.
You can use it to ask decision makers for change.
Learning Disability Week 2026 has finished.
Mencap says the next week is 14–20 June 2027.
Check its website for plans.
Mencap’s Job Squad shares people’s experiences of paid work.
A campaign does not promise you a job.
Changing Places campaigns for toilets that meet more people’s needs.
It has a pack to help local campaigners.
Campaign 4 Change asks people to use respectful language.
It includes people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.
Check how to take part
An old campaign page may describe something already finished.
Ask the organiser about current ways to take part.
Ask for information and support that work for you.
You can contribute without using speech.
Check costs, travel and support before joining an event.
Ask about payment and expenses for sharing your expertise.
Your privacy and next steps
Choose what you want to share.
You can say no to photographs or recordings.
Say what you want to change.
Ask who will act and when they will reply.
Campaigning does not replace help with your own problem.
Use our advocacy and complaints guides if you need them.
What you can do next
Choose an issue that matters to you.
You can ask someone you trust to help.
Explore Good Lives Web pageThis link opens another website.
It may use harder words.
More useful links
- Stay Up Late: the campaign Web page
UK campaign for choice, friendships and social lives, with an ambassador network.
- Gig Buddies: a practical project Web page
Matches people with volunteers around shared interests. Availability and arrangements depend on the local project.
- Learning Disability England: Good Lives Web page
A shared framework for discussion and action, hosted by Learning Disability England.
- Good Lives Manifesto 2024 Web page
Originally made for the 2024 election; the organiser still suggests using it with MPs and local decision makers. Easy Read and audio links included.
- Mencap: Learning Disability Week Web page
The 2026 week is past. Mencap announces 14–20 June 2027; check this page for further plans.
- Mencap’s Job Squad Web page
People sharing paid-work experiences to challenge employers’ assumptions; not a promise of a job.
- Changing Places: start a local campaign Web page
The UK campaign provides a local action pack and an Easy Read version.
- Campaign 4 Change: rights and respectful language Web page
A group led by people currently or previously supported by Achieve together. Includes Mind Your Language, podcasts and work with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.
- Learning Disability England: stronger self-advocacy Web page
Connections, evidence and routes to self-advocacy groups in England; confirm current opportunities directly.
- Learning Disability England: past campaigning work Web page
Lists Self-advocacy Together among earlier work. An archive is not confirmation of an open event or current recruitment.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Learning disability campaigns and making change
Find national campaigns, understand what they ask for and choose how to take part.
Action and rights in England · Includes UK-wide campaigns relevant to England
Choose a change that matters to you
A campaign might ask for better healthcare, jobs, accessible places or more control over daily life. Some work across England; others are UK-wide and include England. The examples below offer different approaches. Following a campaign does not mean agreeing with everything an organisation says. You can help privately, make a suggestion, join a group or choose not to participate. A campaign’s aims are not the same as a legal entitlement or a guaranteed service. Use the related rights guides for your own situation.
Stay Up Late and Gig Buddies
Stay Up Late is an ongoing UK campaign about choosing your social life. It challenges evenings cut short by staff rotas and blanket bedtimes, and invites people with learning disabilities into its ambassador network. Its related Gig Buddies project matches people with volunteers who share their interests. Gig Buddies is a practical project, not a nationwide guarantee of support or a replacement for assessed care. Ask a local project about coverage, waiting lists, costs and the support needed for an outing. You can support evening choice without wanting to stay up late yourself.
Good Lives: action led by people’s priorities
Learning Disability England hosts Good Lives, a shared framework for improving everyday life. People can use it to choose priorities and ask services or decision makers to act. The Good Lives Manifesto was created for the 2024 general election, but its organiser explicitly says it remains useful for working with MPs and local decision makers. Its pages include Easy Read and audio material. Pick one request relevant to your life, explain the change wanted and ask who will act and when. It is a campaigning framework, not a government promise.
Learning Disability Week and Mencap’s Job Squad
Learning Disability Week 2026 ran from 15 to 21 June and has finished. Mencap now announces the next week for 14 to 20 June 2027; check its organiser page for further plans and resources. It is a national awareness opportunity, with activities relevant across the UK. Mencap’s Job Squad, launched during the 2026 week, shares the experiences of people in paid work and challenges assumptions about employment. You can use those stories to start a conversation with an employer. The campaign itself does not guarantee a job or employment support place.
Changing Places: access to suitable toilets
The Changing Places campaign works across the UK for toilets that meet the needs of people who cannot use a standard accessible toilet. Its local campaigning pack includes an Easy Read version. You could ask a venue or council to consider a facility and explain which outings are currently difficult. Check the campaign’s official map and a venue’s access arrangements when planning a visit. Not every accessible toilet is a Changing Places toilet. Asking for a new one does not mean every existing building is automatically legally required to install one.
Campaign 4 Change and Mind Your Language
Campaign 4 Change is led by people currently or previously supported by Achieve together. Its organiser describes paid member roles and campaigning with partners across the UK, including work about the rights of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Mind Your Language challenges disrespectful and distancing language in social care. You can explore its public videos and podcasts and discuss which words you want people to use about you. Ask directly about involvement; this provider-linked group is not an independent statutory advocacy service or an open membership offer to everyone.
Self-advocacy together: check whether a page is current
Self-advocacy means people speaking up about their own lives and rights. Learning Disability England lists Self-advocacy Together within its past campaigning work. Those pages can explain earlier collective action, but they do not establish that a particular event, petition or recruitment route is still open. For current connections, use Learning Disability England’s self-advocacy information and group map, then ask the group directly. Our Learning Disability Pride guide covers celebrating identity; the peer-advocacy and advocacy guides explain other forms of support.
Make participation accessible and fair
Ask for information early, Easy Read, communication aids, questions in advance, breaks, a quiet space or another way to contribute. Check travel, accessible toilets, personal support, online access and any companion costs. A video, picture, recorded message or supported conversation may work better than a speech. People with profound and multiple learning disabilities should be included through their own communication and preferences. Ask about payment and expenses before providing expertise, and get advice about any effect on benefits. Supporters should help people choose priorities rather than deciding the campaign for them.
Choose what to make public
You can campaign without sharing private care records, your address, your diagnosis or an upsetting experience. Agree whether photographs, recordings, names or stories may be used and where they will appear. Check before signing a petition whether names or comments are public and what emails you will receive. Never share another person’s private story without appropriate permission. It is reasonable to ask who is organising, who funds the work and what they will do with your contribution. You may choose a private meeting or a written submission instead of social media.
Turn an idea into a practical request
Name one problem, the change wanted and the person or organisation able to act. For example, ask a provider to plan support around a chosen evening event, or a venue to review its toilet access. Work with others if you want, keep a copy of the request and agree a date to check the answer. Ask how people affected will help judge the result. A campaign or MP enquiry does not replace urgent safeguarding, individual advocacy, a formal complaint or legal advice, and does not pause appeal or court deadlines.
Words you could use
“We want … to change because … Please explain what action you can take, who will be responsible, how we will be involved and when you will report back.”
More useful links
- Stay Up Late: the campaign Web page
UK campaign for choice, friendships and social lives, with an ambassador network.
- Gig Buddies: a practical project Web page
Matches people with volunteers around shared interests. Availability and arrangements depend on the local project.
- Learning Disability England: Good Lives Web page
A shared framework for discussion and action, hosted by Learning Disability England.
- Good Lives Manifesto 2024 Web page
Originally made for the 2024 election; the organiser still suggests using it with MPs and local decision makers. Easy Read and audio links included.
- Mencap: Learning Disability Week Web page
The 2026 week is past. Mencap announces 14–20 June 2027; check this page for further plans.
- Mencap’s Job Squad Web page
People sharing paid-work experiences to challenge employers’ assumptions; not a promise of a job.
- Changing Places: start a local campaign Web page
The UK campaign provides a local action pack and an Easy Read version.
- Campaign 4 Change: rights and respectful language Web page
A group led by people currently or previously supported by Achieve together. Includes Mind Your Language, podcasts and work with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.
- Learning Disability England: stronger self-advocacy Web page
Connections, evidence and routes to self-advocacy groups in England; confirm current opportunities directly.
- Learning Disability England: past campaigning work Web page
Lists Self-advocacy Together among earlier work. An archive is not confirmation of an open event or current recruitment.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Where the information comes from
Links checked 1 November 2026.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
- Stay Up Late: the campaign Web page
UK campaign for choice, friendships and social lives, with an ambassador network.
- Gig Buddies: a practical project Web page
Matches people with volunteers around shared interests. Availability and arrangements depend on the local project.
- Learning Disability England: Good Lives Web page
A shared framework for discussion and action, hosted by Learning Disability England.
- Good Lives Manifesto 2024 Web page
Originally made for the 2024 election; the organiser still suggests using it with MPs and local decision makers. Easy Read and audio links included.
- Mencap: Learning Disability Week Web page
The 2026 week is past. Mencap announces 14–20 June 2027; check this page for further plans.
- Mencap’s Job Squad Web page
People sharing paid-work experiences to challenge employers’ assumptions; not a promise of a job.
- Changing Places: start a local campaign Web page
The UK campaign provides a local action pack and an Easy Read version.
- Changing Places: the UK campaign’s origins Web page
Explains the consortium and the people whose access needs led to the campaign.
- Campaign 4 Change: rights and respectful language Web page
A group led by people currently or previously supported by Achieve together. Includes Mind Your Language, podcasts and work with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.
- Learning Disability England: stronger self-advocacy Web page
Connections, evidence and routes to self-advocacy groups in England; confirm current opportunities directly.
- Learning Disability England: past campaigning work Web page
Lists Self-advocacy Together among earlier work. An archive is not confirmation of an open event or current recruitment.
A page for you to fill in
You can type your answers and download a copy.
You can also print a page to write or draw on.
Someone you trust can help you.