DRILL Grants Success QUB

DRILL Grants Success

The Disability Research Network at the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW) is delighted to be involved in three grant award successes in Northern Ireland as part of the DRILL (Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning) programme, a £5 million scheme led by people with disabilities and funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

More than £1 million has been awarded to 10 new research and pilot projects across the UK, of which £450,000 has been allocated to three projects in Northern Ireland involving SSESW colleagues.

Each research or pilot project will be led by people with disabilities or long term health conditions. They will be developing approaches and questions, working alongside academics and policy makers.

The projects involving our colleagues are:

The Mental Health Foundation has been awarded £149,657 for their pilot project on supporting people with mental health problems to get involved in physical activity. They will work in partnership with the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, the Northern Health and Social Care Trust and SSESW colleagues Gavin Davidson and Paul Best.

The British Deaf Association has been awarded £149,947 and will explore access to justice for deaf people, working in collaboration with SSESW academic lead Bronagh Byrne and with Syracuse University College of Law and Rowan University (both USA).

Positive Futures has been awarded £149,997 for their project on supporting people with learning disabilities who have experienced violence. Positive Futures is working in collaboration with SSESW colleagues Berni Kelly and Rebecca Irvine and with the Public Prosecution Service, Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Nexus NI.

Our Disability Research Network is a multi-disciplinary initiative aimed at enhancing collaboration between academics, policymakers, practitioners and community and voluntary sector organisations with an interest in disability studies and research. It provides unique opportunities for members to share knowledge and disseminate a growing body of disability research, stimulate debate about disability issues and develop collaborative partnerships for future disability research and further development of disability policy and practice.

For more information contact

Dr Bronagh Byrne at b.byrne@qub.ac.uk or see http://www.qub.ac.uk/drn

DRILL Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland DRILL National Advisory Group 

Alan Sheeran

Consultant (Disability and Children’s issues) – Chair of the Northern Ireland NAG

Tony O’Reilly

Activist, North West Forum of People with Disabilities – Co-chair of the Northern Ireland NAG

Dr Nicholas Acheson

Visiting Research Fellow, Trinity College Dublin.

Gavin Davidson

Senior Lecturer in Social Work, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast

Dr Berni Kelly

Senior Lecturer in Social Work, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast

Ursula Marshall

Activist, Cookstown Disability Forum

Heather Matthews

Activist, REAL Network

Majella McAteer

Business Development Manager, British Deaf Association

Professor Roy McConkey

Emeritus Professor of Developmental Disabilities, Ulster University

Michael Potter

Researcher, Northern Ireland Assembly

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