Catherine Capaldi was a young disabled person who made a difference. She campaigned for inclusion and fought hard to raise awareness of the issues affecting disabled people. The Catherine Capaldi Awards have been created to celebrate Catherine’s life and vision, and to support the participation and leadership of disabled people in addressing the problems which affect their lives.
And the winners are….
The first ever winner of the Catherine Capaldi Awards is…. Unity Pie
Unity Pie, is a social enterprise that emerged from sharing cooking skills over Zoom during lockdown, and seeks to unite people with food, whilst creating training and job opportunities. We thought this was a great idea that promoted social interaction and friendship and teamwork.
The Camden winner of the Catherine Capaldi Awards is….. Our Group Your Group
Our Group Your Group is a project that is looking to help social workers to work with parents with learning disabilities in a more inclusive way. We all agreed that this was a great proposal that places lived experience at the centre, and provides important information to all the parties involved.
Other applications
Bare Peas is an interactive computer game that aims to bring people together in a fun and active way. The judges all thought that this was a great proposal that combined fun, mental health and wellbeing, and physical activity, as well as the ability for increasing friendships and social groups.
SociAbility is a free app that helps disabled people find accessible places, providing detailed information based on someone’s profile. The judges all agreed that this was a great application that is rooted in lived experiences, and is another great example of using technology to allow people to use spaces better, and to share this with others to help their journey / visit planning. https://www.sociability.app/
Disability Hate and Mate Crime Project is an initiative to offer training and support for people with a learning disability to share stories, speak up for themselves, and teaching what healthy relationships look like. We all agreed that this was really important for both individuals, as well as for training and awareness for wider groups.
Disability Unity Service (DUS) is a freedom card that can store personal needs of the individual, making it easier to travel independently. We all thought that this was a great idea that would save everyone time, offer more privacy for people, and uses technology in an exciting and practical way.
The Elfrida Society Parents Project Peer Support group is a project that looks to provide support to parents with learning disabilities through workshops. We thought that this was a great idea that is interactive and engaging for a wide range of people who have, or are looking to start a family.
Project Freedom App is the idea for an app which would provide information on routes and accessible places, to make independent travel easier. We agreed on how informative and useful this would be, and is another example of good use of technology in a useful way for the end user.
The way we see it is a photography guide for people with learning disabilities to encourage more people into the creative industries. The positive impact that visual arts such as photography can have on someone’s wellbeing and mental health was noted by all the judges, and we all thought that this was a really great idea with a very practical outcome.
Rainbow Crossing is an idea on how to make road crossings more visible. We all agreed that this was a great proposal that can help to bring safety to our streets in a fun and creative way.
Accredited work ready qualifications is about working with colleges and schools to support and develop accessible accredited training that can help people into employment. We all agreed that this is a great idea, that proactively tackles barriers to employment faced by disabled people, with practical suggestions for both training providers and for employers.
Smiley Masks is an idea on how to communicate how people are feeling more effectively, which we all agreed was so important, especially in the current pandemic.
Accessible shopping centres and cinemas is about working with local businesses to improve accessibility to leisure facilities. A great idea to make things much easier for people to understand what is being provided, and what is suitable or what could be improved, so that people are able to access leisure facilities in an equal way.