PRESS RELEASE: BREAKTHROUGH IN SUPPORT FOR DISABLED PEOPLE

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
February 23, 2010

BREAKTHROUGH IN SUPPORT FOR DISABLED PEOPLE

A support service for disabled people in Greater Manchester who have been the victims of ‘hate crime’ has been established by Breakthrough UK.

Hate crime – which can take the shape of verbal attacks or physical assaults - is a criminal offence motivated by hatred or prejudice towards a person because of their disability.

The new service aims provide disabled people with professional advice and support to overcome the effects of an attack while also monitoring when and where they occur.

Manchester-based Breakthrough UK is a not-for-profit organisation which is at the forefront of tackling barriers to independence experienced by many disabled people.

The organisation is now in the process of employing two part-time members of staff to run the programme.  These new recruits will also provide training to a group of up to 10 disabled people in how to support the victims of hate crime.

Breakthrough UK anticipates that some members of the peer support group will be drawn from disabled people from Greater Manchester’s black and minority ethnic (BME) as well as its lesbian, gay and bi-sexual (LGB) and transsexual communities.

Lorraine Gradwell MBE, chief executive of Breakthrough UK, said: “This new service sends out a clear message that any kind of hate crime against disabled people must be stamped out.

“It will provide disabled people living in Greater Manchester with the practical advice and advocacy they need from the new dedicated team members.

“I also anticipate that the peer group will provide a superb level of support to victims from people who understand just how traumatic hate crime can be.”

Gradwell said that those running the new service will also work closely with the police, Crown Prosecution Service, lawyers and witness care officers to improve responses to disability hate crime.

Further information about Breakthrough UK and its services can be found at www.breakthrough-uk.co.uk