The Surrey People's Group: via Zoom

SURREY NETWORK MEETING 9th July via Zoom

On the 9th of July, The Pro-Active Community held another successful Surrey People’s Meeting.  

The group usually holds quarterly meetings in person at a venue in Ashtead, but due to the current social distancing measures in place, the group decided to go virtual and used technology to connect! The meetings are run by people who have learning disabilities, autism, and acquired brain injury with the aim to bring people across Surrey together and to give everyone a voice.  

For many, the last few months have been incredibly difficult and extremely isolating, so this meeting was a great way for people to come together whilst still being safely apart.

One attendee said,

“I have found everything so difficult, I had to stop going to work and I have felt up and down. We can’t do anything we used to do, so it is nice to do this.”

The Surrey People’s Group welcomed 37 people who were from Active Prospects, Surrey Choices, The Grange, Headway, and Surrey County Council. The group decided to talk about topics that are important to them at the moment such as how Coronavirus has affected them and advice for each other. The power of technology has proven to help a lot of people within the group over the last few months, with many agreeing that platforms or apps, such as Zoom, have helped them to keep in touch with friends and family, which is vital at this time.

One attendee said,

“I found Zoom hard to use, but now it is ok. It helps me talk to my family. I am really worried about public transport when I can go out.”

Everyone in the group loved chatting with each other and raised really good points about how people can make a positive change by working together. Through the discussions, it was highlighted that some people with disabilities feel they have not been thought of during this pandemic, but they hope that through groups such as the Surrey People’s Group their voices can be heard and made to matter. The group agreed that they need to be supported as daily life starts to change again.

One attendee said,

“It’s scary now the shops have opened, it’s very busy. I wear a mask, but other people don’t - why not!”   

The Surrey People’s Group finished the meeting on the topic of the Black Lives Matter movement and what has been shown on the news. Many people from the group said they want to help to make a change.

“I am a people person so miss people, but this meeting has been good and I have enjoyed it. I want there to be another. It feels good to talk about these things together.”

The Surrey’s People Group looks forward to hosting another meeting in August, so keep an eye out for all the information soon and please share!