On 9th September, the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory and the Byres Community Hub hosted ‘Health and Wellbeing for All’, as part of Scottish Learning Disabilities Week. This annual awareness week aims to highlight the experiences and celebrate the lives of people with learning disabilities in Scotland. The event was also jointly hosted by David Weir, a community organiser and leading member of several organisations for people with learning disabilities.

Our event focused on inclusion and access, aligning with the official theme of this year’s Scottish Learning Disabilities Week of ‘I am here to be seen’; promoting research, organisations and offerings that support being visible and included in health and wellbeing activities.

The event welcomed 9 external stallholders offering a range of information and activities related to inclusion in sport, social connection, accessible facilities, relationships and sexual health, Boccia Fun and mindful drawing. The event was attended by 66 visitors, many of whom were people with lived experience and many who were visiting the Byres Community Hub for the first time. Colleagues from the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory led research engagement activities on healthy lifestyle behaviours including tabletop games to promote a new education programme to support self-management of Type 2 Diabetes and a led walking and wheeling session with Glasgow Life Good Moves around campus, drawing on research into the experiences of walking for people with learning disabilities, which was enjoyed by 22 people.

We were lucky to benefit from the skills of University of Glasgow student and social media volunteer Shahd Alwahidi, who expertly photographed and filmed the fun of the day. You can now see Shahd’s reels and photos from the event on the Byres Community Hub and the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory’s Instagram profiles.