Citizenship Team in the North East and North Cumbria
The Citizenship Team was made up of 4 Citizenship Leaders and a Project Support Coordinator. The aim of the Citizenship Team was to make it easier for people with a learning disability, autistic people and their families to have their voices heard about what support and services are needed in the North East and North Cumbria.

The Citizenship Team were
Nargis and Terry – Family Carers
Frank and Shaun – Self Advocates
Michelle – Project Support Coordinator
The North East and North Cumbria Working Together Strategy is a plan that says that people with a learning disability, autistic people, and their families should be equal partners in planning good support and services.
It says that people are important in decision making and that people should be listened to and included right from the start.
It is from the Working Together Strategy that the Citizenship Project was borne, funded by the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB).
You can find the information about the Integrated Care System in the downloads at the side of the screen.
The goal of the Citizenship Project was to make sure that people who live in the North East and North Cumbria can have a voice and be involved.
We know that not all areas have existing self advocacy groups, parent carer forums, or family networks, which can make it harder for people to be involved and be heard.
We wanted to make sure that people can have their say, no matter where they live.
Most of the work was based around the principles of The Seven Keys to Citizenship by Simon Duffy and Wendy Perez.
As the funding for this project is now ending, the report in the downloads at the side of the screen summarises the work that has been done, the outcomes and learning from this work, and key recommendations.
This project ran from 7th September 2021 to 30th June 2024 (2 years and 9 months).