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May 2026 newsletter
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Welcome to the May edition of the Inclusion Barnet member newsletter!
It's full of information on developments at Inclusion Barnet, online resources, community events, access tips and ways to be heard. You'll also find some of the top national news affecting Disabled people including those with mental health issues and long-term conditions.
To find out more about each article, just click on its title.
Inclusion Barnet news
Most of us want to have a say in the decisions that affect our lives, but as Disabled people we’re often excluded from that. With today’s local elections underway, our May newsletter is all about ways you can influence our area and country.
As the new User Voice lead (hello!), I’m looking forward to making sure every Inclusion Barnet member can share views on how local services are run. In this issue you can:
- Give your opinion making Barnet more age inclusive
- Tell the Government what young Disabled people need in education
- Help secure the future of Personal Independence Payments (PIP)
When you share your opinion with Inclusion Barnet, we will listen, and make sure it shapes our decisions, and local and national conversations. As well as working closely with other charities and the borough council, Inclusion Barnet is home to the Campaign for Disability Justice. The Campaign works to make sure that Disabled people have the security we need to live well, the opportunities we need to thrive, and a community that respects us.
Last month over 40 people joined us for a seminar about the PIP consultation, explaining what it is, and how to give your views. At a time when lots of us have been feeling disillusioned about cuts to Disabled People’s social security (check out our cheeky cartoon on work capability assessments), coming together was just the tonic we needed.
If you want to come together to make a more equal world for Disabled people, then please join the campaign, respond to local consultations, and join opportunities in this month’s newsletter
Kind regards,
Cat Whitehouse, Campaign Manager
Healthy Heart goes from strength to strength
Our wonderful Healthy Heart team has been busy meeting people and organisations to promote heart health for African, Caribbean and South Asian people.
We’ve taught over 1200 local people about staying heart healthy in year four of the project. Hello to everyone we’ve met in Burnt Oak, Colindale, Edgware, Hendon, Golders Green and elsewhere in the borough! The team has been been working with Barnet Council, Colindale Community Trust and Shaw Trust. From now until July there’s a monthly session at the Shaw Trust's offices on the last Tuesday morning of the month.
It's great to receive positive feedback from people using the programme. A participant at the Everglade Practice in 2025 reported:-
'I found out a lot of useful information. Even if we are on blood pressure medicine, changes in lifestyle can help a lot to manage it. It is like taking medicine at the right time, having healthy diet, exercise and monitoring of blood pressure.'
Great work Healthy Heart team!
Great volunteering opportunity at New Barnet Library!
Looking to commit to a volunteering opportunity to make a valuable local contribution? New Barnet Library is looking for someone 18+, ideally with a Nursery and/or Primary school background, to run two popular Rhyme Time sessions for babies and toddlers, every term-time Tuesday morning. For more information, email Library Manager, Nick as soon as possible! nick@inclusionbarnet.org.uk
User Voice has a new facilitator!
We are delighted to announce that Cat Whitehouse, who has just joined as Campaign Manager, will be taking over the reins for our monthly User Voice meetings starting in June. No meeting in May as Cat settles in, but keep an eye on your inbox for details of the June meeting!
Young People's Advisory Group activities
The Young People's Advisory Group (YPAG) has been very busy with a range of positive activities, and spreading the word about them in the ARC Outreach Alliance newsletter!
The group recently took part in the Waiting Room podcast, which explores and discusses young people's mental health, and gave a talk about child health and wellbeing at a Paediatrics and Child Health event at Chelsea Football Club.
It's great to see so much excellent peer support work being undertaken by YPAG, with that being a core value of what we do at Inclusion Barnet!
Touchpoint Peer Support remains paused to new referrals and enquiries following unprecedented demand earlier in the year. Touchpoint Benefits Advice is open for business as usual.
A warm welcome to Cat Whitehouse who has joined the Comms team as Campaign Manager.
Opportunities to create change
Visit our consultations and campaigns page on the Inclusion Barnet website for all the latest opportunities to have your say on local and national issues that impact Disabled people in Barnet.
Your words can shape what happens in Barnet. It’s surprising, but some local consultations get as few as 14 responses*. Low numbers like these mean every voice counts
*For example: Barnet Council's proposed Fees and Charges 2024-25 for services, which got 14 online responses.
Here are opportunities to get involved in this month:
Age-friendly Barnet survey (from Age UK)
Help make Barnet a better place to grow older by completing Age UK Barnet's Age-friendly Barnet survey. It’s important that the wide range of experiences and needs of Disabled people are taken on board. Participants will have the chance to win a £50 voucher.
Growing up in the online world: a national consultation (from Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
A Government consultation to gather views on how technology impacts children’s wellbeing, and what more can be done to ensure children engage with the online world safely. Let's make sure Disabled people's views are fully taken on board.
Closes 26 May 2026
A Government consultation on proposals to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. The changes aim to improve help and support for children and young people with SEND across the 0 to 25 years system. Let's give the views of Disabled people to achieve the best possible outcome.
Closes 18 May 2026
More ways to get involved
Find all of Barnet Council's consultations on the Engage Barnet website.
Visit our consultations and campaigns page on the Inclusion Barnet website
Local and London news and events
Maxability is a ceramics studio offering inclusive and accessible pottery classes to Disabled and non-Disabled people. At the open day on Thursday 21 May, 3.00 - 6.00pm they will be showcasing their students' work.
Address: Maxability, Flightways Resource Centre, 1 The Concourse, NW9 5UX.
Ground floor, level access, with multiple wheelchair accessible bathrooms. A BSL interpreter will be on site. If you have any access requirements you would like Maxability to know about, or to book a place at the Open Day, please email: info@maxability.org.uk.
For over 55s in Barnet, a range of activities including flower arranging, vinyl club, quiz night, talks and Dementia cafe.
Online and national resources
Charity providing financial support to help Disabled people and those with long term health conditions live independently at home.
You can apply for a grant by being referred by a medical practitioner, social worker, CAB or charity if you are in financial need and unable to:
- afford equipment or building work yourself
- obtain the funding that you require from statutory services
The Patients Association runs a helpline providing guidance and support on health and social care matters. Examples of the areas they can help with:
- getting a second opinion about your condition
- changing your GP or dentist.
0800 345 7115
9.30am - 5.00pm Monday to Friday
National news - local impact
Access Tips
Warning: This section includes mentions of suicide.
Emergency video relay service for Deaf people to obtain help in an emergency using BSL.
Free app designed to provide evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) tools for managing anxiety, stress, and panic.
An app designed to help neurodivergent people (especially autistic individuals and families) discover and rate sensory-friendly, inclusive places around the world.
A free app for finding and marking wheelchair accessible places.
Be My Eyes connects blind or low vision users who want assistance, with volunteers and companies across the world, through live video and AI.
Seeing AI is a free app that narrates the world around you. Designed with and for the blind and low vision community, this ongoing research project harnesses the power of AI to open up the visual world. Seeing AI assists with daily tasks from reading, to describing photos, to identifying products, and more.
This free app helps Disabled people find accessible places. Wherever you're going, get accessibility information on your smartphone.
British Transport Police 61016 texting service
A non-emergency texting service for contacting the British Transport Police discreetly. You can text 61016 when:
- You want to tell BTP about an incident that has already happened
- You want to tell BTP about issues affecting your rail journey or your local station
- You have a general police enquiry
Suicide Prevention Stay Alive App
The Stay Alive app is a pocket suicide prevention resource, with information for those at risk of suicide and people worried about someone. It includes: strategies for staying safe, how to help a person thinking about suicide, and access to Barnet services and support.
Support with technology from Jewish Care
Jewish Care Explore offers support with technology to all adults within the Jewish community.
Learn more about Jewish Care Explore's technology support.
Register for 999 text services
999 offers a text reporting service for members of the public who may be unable to call in an emergency. Text 'register' to 999, and then confirm 'yes' when you receive a response. Once this is complete, you will be able to text 999 in an emergency situation and the police will respond.
Be an inclusion champion
The importance of personality in inclusion
Personality can shape how people communicate, build relationships, and work with others, and this can perhaps be as significant in shaping what is needed for an individual's inclusion in society as addressing the more 'formal' ways someone might be Disabled by the way society is structured. Being inclusive can mean recognising that different personality styles are not barriers, but part of the rich culture we live in with people able to play a positive part if their styles of communication and learning needs are enabled.
Personality can be common across conditions, or vary within a condition, and can interact with other factors. Someone more introverted may need time to process thoughts before responding, while a more extroverted person may think best out loud. Additionally, if someone has a chronic health condition, they may have changing energy levels that affect how social or productive they can be on a given day.
In personal and work spaces, inclusion might look like allowing space for quieter voices, being flexible with communication styles, and avoiding assumptions about motivation, ability or the implications of a diagnosis. When personality differences are understood and respected, relationships and teams often work better for everyone and society itself becomes more inclusive. Let's treat and accommodate every individual for the complete person that they are!
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Individual membership is FREE and is for Disabled people, which may include long term conditions or mental health issues, and/or carers. Find out how being a member and sharing your lived experience can lead to positive change on our website.
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About Us
Inclusion Barnet is a Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisation (DDPO), based in Barnet, North-West London. This means that all of our Trustees and most of our staff have lived experience of disability. Learning to use lived experience for social change is a skill. We use this understanding to design and deliver higher quality, more person-centred services.
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We're calling on the Government to work with organisations led by Disabled people to make employment easier to access and to improve social security so that everyone can live a decent life, whether they’re in work or not.
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