In this month’s Listen Up! Blog, Andrew talks about how he has been getting involved with voting for the first time.

Andrew is one of the newest members of the Listen Up! Team, having joined shortly after the General Election. He was inspired by the blogs the team had written and excited after voting for the first time.

Although he was legally able to vote at previous elections, he had been worried that his visual impairment would make it difficult for him. However, after hearing from the Listen Up! Team and getting the information he needed from his support team, he decided to go for it.

“I thought I would give it a go, and see how it would work for visually impaired people.”

And right behind him was practical support where Andrew lives, making all the advice from the Listen Up! Team a reality.  

From the start, Charlie, Deputy Manager at Buckinghamshire Support Service was determined to help Andrew get the information he needed from manifestos in order to make his decision on who to vote for. Unfortunately, even this is often not accessible for people with disabilities, but Charlie took Andrew through the different pledges where she could find them in easy read format.

On the day, going out to vote felt like a great step forward for Andrew, and made him feel able to do it again in the future.

“It gives me more confidence and I now know what happens for next time. It was much easier than I thought it would be, and I will definitely be voting again.”

“I feel more confident, and more involved in the community. I have a right to vote, but I didn’t know what to do. It’s important that people with disabilities understand their voting rights so they can vote in elections.”

Andrew was one of seventy people with disabilities we supported to vote in this year’s General Election, after an internal campaign by the Listen Up! Team. For many, such as Andrew, it was their first time.  

The team also worked on a General Election Hub and wrote several blogs on the website. These resources reached almost 30,000 people across the country, giving lots of people the information they needed to vote.

Voting means that people with disabilities can have a say in the future of the country. If more people with disabilities are voting, the issues that matter most to them cannot be ignored. Access to voting is a vital part of being an inclusive society.

And already Andrew has met with his new local MP, Laura Kyrke-Smith. It was an exciting moment for him, to meet the MP who had won the election he had voted in.  

Andrew prepared a list of questions for her, mainly around accessibility in the local area. He asked her how she could help as an MP to improve the state of pavements and overhanging bushes, deal with inconsiderate parking, and advance the accessibility of public transport.

“It was great to meet my local MP. I think that she understands now the challenges that people with sight loss face every day, and the simple changes that would make our lives easier.”

Laura told him that she would be getting in touch with the local council to make progress after hearing how long Andrew and his support have been raising concerns about pavements locally.

Laura said: “It was great to be welcomed by Andrew and other people that SeeAbility supports in Aylesbury, talking about the important topics such as making elections accessible and improving pavements locally. These are issues I want to take forward in my role and I’ll be back to visit soon!”

It has been exciting for Andrew to get so involved in voting and politics for the first time. He is looking forward to getting started with the Listen Up! Team, and will be voting at future elections.  

He encourages everyone to exercise their right to vote:

“Go for it! Don’t let anything stop you!”