About Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA)

Background

Glasgow Disability Alliance is a membership-led organisation of disabled people and groups in Glasgow. With over 850 members including groups led by disabled people as well as individuals, GDA is the biggest  groundswell of disabled members in Scotland. Established in 2001, our mission is to act as the collective, representative voice of disabled people, promoting equality, rights and social justice.

 

What we do

 

GDA provides information, advice, accessible learning and opportunities for involvement in decision making, with and for disabled people in Glasgow. We provide a range of accessible lifelong learning courses so that disabled people can build confidence and skills and reach their full potential.. Learning For Change

  

“Increased confidence and self esteem and consequently improved motivation and increased access to further learning and wider civic opportunities,” PZA , External Evaluation. 

 

GDA also provide advice, information, training and consultancy for organisations and agencies, sharing disabled people’s experiences and helping with engagement of disabled citizens as a route to improving access to learning and services in a wider sense e.g. colleges, social work, health.

 

“The most significant impacts have been seen in instances when GDA has worked in partnership with organisations to deliver learning opportunities. There is evidence that the developmental process has increased availability of appropriate learning opportunities for disabled people and increased the capacity of providers to deliver appropriate learning,” PZA, External Evaluation, 2008 

 

We act as a voice for disabled people and more importantly, support and encourage disabled people to develop their own voices to become citizen leaders. 

 

“It’s impossible to choose what you want to do and when you want to do it when you can’t access transport and have no personal assistance. You also need information about your rights and GDA have been critical in telling us about these and giving us access to learning to make sure that we have the knowledge and confidence to use our voices,” GDA Campaign Action Group Member in Annual Review 2008-9.

 

GDA is a catalyst for change, working in partnership to promote equality and inclusion and improve the life chances of disabled people.

 

“Learners also commented on GDAs role in ‘changing the way people think’ and ‘educating the educators’. They could see that GDA had influenced provision and improved the services that other providers delivered for disabled people,” PZA External Evaluation.

 

 Values

 

GDA believes that disabled people are disabled by barriers in society which has not planned for their inclusion. Disability is not about impairments or medical conditions. It is a complex social problem which requires joined up working to remove barriers so that disabled people can take part in the full range of life opportunities.

 

GDA is committed to challenging discrimination and building the skills and confidence of disabled citizens so that they are empowered to have dignity, freedom, choice, control over their own lives. This is called independent living and GDA works in partnership as part of the Independent Living Movement in Glasgow and Scotland.

 

                               

 

Glasgow Disability Alliance

Suite 301, The White Studios

Templeton Business Centre

62 Templeton Street

Glasgow

G40 1DA