Margaret Follon, Chair of the Project Advisory Group:

I was delighted to be asked to chair the Advisory Group for the Match Me research project. It has been a real pleasure to meet both the research group from Stirling University and the other members of the group who have come from a variety of backgrounds.

Our first meeting was spent getting to know one another and was a very positive start to the programme. Our most recent meeting involved hearing more about the extensive work of the research team, and Dianne and Julia [Project researchers] did a very thorough job of taking us through the work to date. It was also an opportunity for us to hear about the work of the peer researchers which was very effectively outlined by Glen.

I am looking forward to hearing about the next stage of the work over the next few months and to meeting up again later in the year.

Jean Morrison, Project Advisory Group Member:

I felt honoured to be asked to join the PAG

My interest lay in the provision for and access to housing disabled people.  My experience lay in my association with a local Aberdeen group that helps match disabled people to housing in the city.

The results of the research will provide housing providers across Scotland with the underpinning research that will help them amend existing and/ or create new allocation policies that will remove some of the stress for disabled people to find suitable housing

Ann Marie Penman – Project Advisory Group Member

Up until 5 years ago, housing was never an issue for me and my family. However, our circumstances changed significantly at that time and we suddenly found that we needed adapted, accessible housing. It hasn’t been easy trying to get this and I’ve been very grateful to have the support of the charity Housing Options and housing association Horizon. I was therefore delighted to be asked by Housing Options to join the steering group for the Match Me project as my own experience had led to a wider interest in access to adapted social housing.

The meetings and discussion with the project team have been extremely interesting covering everything from the practicalities of engaging with those involved through to research ethics. I’ve been able to use some of my own experiences to contribute to discussions and learnt a lot from others involved.

I’m looking forward to the final report and recommendations as I know from the interim findings that although there is some good practice there are also still far too many disabled people not able to access suitably adapted housing.

For further information about the Match Me project, contact:

Professor Isobel Anderson, University of Stirling at [email protected]

July 2018

For further info please follow link to project page