I have a few horses of the hobby variety, such as treating people with respect, smiling whenever possible and, of course, Rainbow Trust Children's Charity but sometimes I meet people with such belief in what they are doing that it makes my efforts look like whims. And one such person is journalist and campaigner Rosa Monckton, whom I met recently at a fundraising dinner in aid of the Westminster Society for people with learning disabilities.
I'd already heard about Rosa's e-petition to ring fence money for people with learning disabilities and to review how it is spent and am a passionate believer in what she is doing. However, meeting her 'in the flesh' and feeling the force of her distress at what will happen to the thousands of young people with various forms of learning disability when their parents die, made me want to do something to help. So this is my contribution to the cause.
Rosa needs 100,000 signatures on the petition to trigger a debate in Parliament on this important subject. In her own words, she has "received over 1,300 e-mails from worried familes and many from elderly parents, who are confronting their own mortality, and are desperately concerned about the welfare of their children after they have died.Intentional residential communities across the country are being closed, and places that have been home to people for many years are being shut down. People with no mental capacity are being assumed to have made decisions that they are incapable of making."
I have a number of friends who are in such a position and it breaks my heart that they have this worry to carry day in, day out, so I urge you to sign the petition and send the link to your own networks. At the moment, Rosa has 11,890 signatures and only has until March 20 next year to reach her target, so there is still a long way to go.
Another great site to visit for further information is the Down's Syndrome Association
However you get to it, please sign it and/or pass it on to your frends. Here's the link again: Petition
