Self Advocacy in Cornwall started when John Hersov from the City Lit in London came to the Retreat Hospital in St Colomb near Newquay. It was here that a Self Advocacy group was formed. This was in the 1980s. Following this event, Self Advocacy groups were set up in various locations in Cornwall.

A group was formed in Redruth, supported by Frank Baker and Tony Atkins. The group consisted of people who attended a course at Cornwall College. It was based on the City Lit model. A second group was set up in Penzance. This group comprised of people who were living in lodgings, or were on work placements. The groups met in the evenings, so as not to clash with what people were doing in the day.

Anthony Dunn was elected as chair of the Truro group. They met above the city's library in the evenings. In the years that followed, Self Advocacy groups were set up in day centres such as Blantyre, Murdock & Trevithick and Morley Tamblyn.

A conference was organised in Truro, and Gary Bourlet was invited to come down from London as a guest speaker. The event was opened by the mayor of Truro. Anthony was elected to be the chairman of the conference. It was at this conference that we decided to set up Cornwall People First. It would act as an umbrella organisation for 'Self Advocacy' groups in Cornwall. The event was filmed by Peter Keeves.  The Trustees and workers still talk about it today.

From the beginning, communication between the groups, and transport was an issue. It was suggested in 1991 that Cornwall People First should be split into two groups to help solve the problem. These groups were in East and West Cornwall. People with learning disabilities were then able travel to the closest ‘Forum' meeting to them. Liskeard, St Austell, Bodmin, Truro and Redruth were among these locations.

In 1995, a second conference was organised in Cornwall, This was held in Redruth. The MP for Truro and St Austell, Matthew Taylor attended and gave a speech.

Prior to this conference, Sharon Potts and Pat Cox from the 'Wednesday Self Advocacy Group' based in Redruth went to an international conference in Canada. They came back with revolutionary ideas such as being able to employ your own staff to support you at home, and an instruction to ‘Parents, Social Workers, and Friends' which is as follows:

Don't walk in front of us
Because we may not follow

Don't walk behind us
Because we may not lead
But walk beside us
And be our friends.

Cornwall People First has grown, and grown, and grown, but we will never forget our history and the hard work carried out by those who founded our fantastic group!

Photo Gallery (thumbnails):

John Hersov

Gary Bourlet

Frank Baker

Anthony Dunn

(click to view larger images)