Page 6 - Community Living 35-4

update
New editor, new sponsors

 saba@cl-initiatives.co.uk f @communityLivingMagazine t @CommLivingMag_

Editor: goodbye and hello Meader’s view
In announcing the departure of our editor
Simon Jarrett, the board of Community
Living Initiatives is experiencing a curious
and unexpected emotional state.
We are very sad to lose our excellent
Simon and are deeply grateful to him but
thrilled that he has softened the blow by
bringing to the table such a worthy and
exciting successor as Saba Salman.
Beating a path from print to digital for a
beloved, niche magazine such as
Community Living is no mean feat.
Managing to do that while improving the
quality and balance of articles, the
diversity of opinion and point of view, the
feel and look of cover and content (and all
on a shoestring) is quite something. For
the last six years, our editor Simon has
done just that – and more.
Academic, historian and author of
seminal book Those They Called Idiots,
Simon has been immersed in Active Prospects lead aspiring lives. We see ourselves as
understanding and improving the lives Associate sponsor more than a care provider – we want to
and fortunes of people with learning create opportunities for people to achieve
disabilities for his whole career. And how their aspirations in life.
this showed – in his commissioning of Although budgets are tight, we felt it
content, his incisive editorial and his was important to show our support for
unerring commitment to promoting Community Living magazine by becoming
inclusion and equality. an associate sponsor. We are specialists in
Community Living’s new editor, Saba giving people with a learning disability a
Salman, is a well-known and highly voice: we set up the Pro-Active
respected journalist. She is an award- Active Prospects is a Surrey-based Community in 2015 as a co-production
winning writer for The Guardian, The charitable care provider that supports body of people we support and, since
Independent and Byline Times and the autistic people and people with a learning then, it has grown into an award-winning
author and editor of human rights disability or a mental health need. We independent charity. Community Living
anthology Made Possible, a book have been around since 1989 and employ has a long track record of helping people
influenced by her disabled sister Raana over 350 staff to support around 250 with a learning disability to influence
and described by the right honourable Sir people each year. change and we want to support that.
Norman Lamb as “a call to arms”. Our purpose is to support people to l https://activeprospects.org.uk
Saba also chairs the charity Sibs, which
supports the brothers and sisters of
disabled people, and is an ambassador for Paradigm to bring people together to imagine what
social change organisation NDTi (National Associate sponsor more is possible and plan action.
Development Team for Inclusion). Through a range of work including the
Farewell and thank you Simon. You have Reach Standards in support for living, the
been a dream to work with on our journey Gr8 Support Movement, Individual Life
towards bigger readership and greater Designs, co-producing strategies and more,
influence in the fight for we help dust off the cobwebs, re-energise
the rights of people with Paradigm is about encouraging all – tired thinking and banish institutionalised
learning disabilities and people with a learning disability, their thinking and behaviour. We are all about
autistic people. families, organisations and communities making human rights real and freeing
Welcome Saba. With – to explore what more is possible. people to live good ordinary lives.
your auspicious arrival, Boundless in energy and aspiration, After 12 years of working with
the fight continues and Paradigm is a development and training Community Living’s editorial board, we
the gloves are off. organisation with a passion for supporting look forward to and remain committed to
Jo Clare people with a learning disability to live sharing great stories, challenges and
lives they choose. learning in a way that encourages all to
Simon Jarrett: six The success of our work is based on our protect human rights and to keep speaking
years as editor commitment to co-facilitation and ability up when we see them being eroded.
6 Vol 35 No 4 | Summer 2022 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk