Independent Living Fund to host north-east event

A call is being made to people living in Aberdeenshire to share their views at an Independent Living Fund Scotland Co-production event.

Disabled people, support organisations and other interested stakeholders are being urged to help shape the re-opened Independent Living Fund (ILF)

An event will take place at the P&J Live on Wednesday, January 17 from 11am to 3pm where attendees can share their views and have their say.

Established in 2015, ILF Scotland was set up to continue to provide funding and support to help disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland live independently following the closure of the UK ILF.

The ILF has not been open to new applications since 2010, but in September 2023, the First Minister announced in his Programme for Government that ILF will re-open on a phased basis in 2024/25.

Peter Scott OBE, Chief Executive Officer at Independent Living Fund Scotland, said: “We would like to encourage disabled people and key stakeholders across Aberdeenshire to share their views and experiences by joining us at the event.

“This will be our third re-opening event and the first in-person event of the year, and it’s important that we hear from as many people as possible. "Every bit of feedback will help inform the policy development of the re-opened ILF and help define how we best support more of Scotland’s most disabled citizens.”

The Scottish Government and ILF Scotland have established a co-production working group to help them develop the policies for a re-opened ILF. This group consists of disabled people, representatives from Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) and other key stakeholders.

This group will make recommendations on re-opening to the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport and will take all feedback from the events on board as part of this.

Visit here to sign up for the event on Wednesday 17 from 11am to 3pm at P&J Live in Aberdeen.

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