Learning Disability Pride

About Learning Disability Pride

The first Learning Disability Pride day was held in Northern Ireland on 27 May 2017, with the help of Thomas Haighton's Big Lottery Fund.

The event was hosted by Carrickfergus and District Senior Gateway Club in partnership with Mencap and around 5,000 attended the parade, which showcased flags, posters, banners and floats, all made by people with a learning disability.

Learning Disability Pride is an opportunity for people from all backgrounds to get together and really fly the flag for learning disability, in a fun and celebratory atmosphere.

Continuing Learning Disability Pride

In order to continue to raise awareness and change attitudes towards learning disability we want Learning Disability Pride to become an annual event.

We would like people to hold their own events in celebration of learning disability; inviting people they know to come along and join in the fun.

Holding your own event

The initial Learning Disability Pride event in Carrickfergus in 2017 attracted around 5,000 participants.

As well as the main parade, the event included music, dancing, food and drinks, face-painting, a bouncy castle and much more.

We want to encourage people across the country to get in the Learning Disability Pride spirit and hold their own events.

If you think that this is something you'd be interested in we would love to hear from you.

Helpful resources for planning an event

To help you plan an event we've also created lots of useful resources and information.

Some of these are from the 2017 event, but you may still find them useful to use for your own event in the future:

Holding your own event toolkit (PDF, 2.4 MB)
Event planner (Excel, 258 KB)
Event flyers (PDF, 3.2 MB)
Participant survey (PDF, 702 KB)
Site map and key (PDF, 70 KB)
Site map (PDF, 352 KB)
Stall holder/supplier survey questions (PDF, 398 KB)
Template letter for volunteers (PDF, 437 KB)
Volunteer briefing document (PDF, 673 KB)
Volunteer signing in sheet (PDF, 390 KB)
Learning Disability Pride logo (JPEG, 1.4 MB)
Our BIG Plan (PDF, 117 KB).