It is disappointing to say the least to read that of the 30 staff who are at most risk of redundancy at Mencap are those in the campaigns, policy and communications teams. If this happens, it looks like “the voice of learning disability”  will become a little softer for a while.

This proposal would be heading in the opposite direction of many other charities and  campaigning organisations who after a tough couple of years are in 2012 investing again growing in these areas. The marked increase in recruitment for campaigning and policy roles in the last quarter is producing a postive outlook at last for this sector for the rest of the year and hopefully beyond. And it doesn’f feel like it’s just a blip either.

The reason Mencap is looking to cut campaigns, policy and communications roles was reported in Third Sector as lost funding from local authority contracts. I would have thought a loss of funding from this source would have meant a reduction in the charitable side of Mencap’s work rather the their work in gaining justice and long term change for people with learning disability.