Our work in parliament
Our All Party Parliamentary Group on Spinal Cord Injury has a decisive impact on decision-makers from across the political spectrum
We’re working in the corridors of power to influence policies in favour of spinal cord injured people nationwide. The All Parliamentary Group (APPG) meets regularly and includes parliamentarians from across the political spectrum in addition to healthcare professionals, charities and SCI people.
Recently the group has gained widespread attention, especially since it’s chaired by Owen Patterson MP and is often attended by Helen Whately MP, minister of state for social care. And it’s not just chatter. It works. Whately has already pledged to restore specialist beds, which have been used temporarily to treat coronavirus patients, to SCI people once the pandemic is under control.
We now have a good working relationship with Patterson and Whately, who have agreed to meet us to discuss the urgent issues facing SCI people.
The success of this meeting, and in particular the care minister’s commitment to return the beds repurposed due to the pandemic to spinal centre use, reinforce the importance and influence of the APPG and SIA in making a real difference to spinal cord injured people in the UK
Working with decision-makers
Our APPG gives us a prime opportunity to show politicians the scale of the challenges facing the spinally injured community. Presentations have been especially good at getting our message across. Recently our campaigns manager Dave Bracher gave a moving account of his own injury, and the impacts the pandemic has had on his peers.
How you can help
Help us reach even more policymakers and ask your MP to join the next APPG session. We’ve written a template letter for you so you can quickly personalise it and send to your local MP.
Don’t know who your MP is? Just click the button below to find out.