Welcome to the

home page!

EDG is a voluntary organisation committed to the principles of inclusion and equality.

We work with people who have learning difficulties and their families to:

assist people to plan positive changes in their lives
support groups to speak out about issues that are important to them
provide training and consultancy on person centred planning, inclusion and citizenship to staff, self-advocates, and families

Click on the links below to find out more about EDG and the work we do:

Community circle training!

Now that our North Edinburgh Community Circle is two years old, and after many requests for advice from other folk who want to set up their own circles, the EDG 'Building Community Circles' training has arrived!

Please view the flyer (pdf)to find out more details about this new course, taking place in Edinburgh on 5th April.

Dare to Dream Returns!

Back by popular demand! EDG are running a Dare to Dream course in March this year. The course will be lead by Steve Coulson and Linda Keys. Participants will have a chance to learn about and practice person centred planning using MAP and PATH. Linda and Steve plan to incorporate a lot of new ideas on MAP and PATH which they learned about when Jack Pearpoint and Lynda Kahn came to Edinburgh last September. To read more about the course read the Dare to Dream 2012 (pdf). You can also download a Booking Form (pdf) here.

PATH MAPS Course Edinburgh September 2011

This was a fantastic learning experience for all those who took part. Thanks so much to Jack Pearpoint and Lynda Kahn for their wisdom and guidance and to everyone who took part. If you would like to see some photos of the course you can see them here.

Speak Out Group on Film!

The Speak Out Against Bullying and Harassment Group have been featured in the Citizen Leadership Gallery working with a local school. If you would like to see them at work you can click on the link below:

Speak Out and Citizen Leadership

The Big Plan on Film!

We were really delighted to hear from our friends in Canada about how they have used the Big Plan over there. The great thing is that they filmed their Big Plan and put it on You Tube. Many thanks to Lori, Becki and all the others who made this film. If you would like to watch it please click on the link below:

The Big Plan Waterloo Region

Not to be outdone our friends and colleagues at ENABLE Scotland have produced an 18 minute DVD for families which explains how the Big Plan works. You can see the DVD here:

The Big Plan

Community Circle

EDG run a community circle and we would love you to join us! We got the idea from our friend Lois Smidt at Beyond Welfare in Iowa, USA.

We meet monthly (the second Tuesday of the month, 5.30 - 8pm) and have a meal together, followed by a relaxed meeting where we all sit in a circle. The idea of the meal and the meeting is to help people get to know one another, so all of us are better connected and more able to contribute (as well as all having people to turn to if we need a hand). Have a look at our flyer:

North Edinburgh Community Circle flyer (pdf)

Our friends at Beyond Welfare have been running their circle for over 13 years now, and you can watch a clip about it at their website: www.beyondwelfare.orgWe meet at North Edinburgh Arts Centre.

If you would like to find out more, please email Linda or call 0131 476 0522. It is helpful to know if you are coming along to the meeting so that we can plan for the food.

Linda has written an article about the work we have done in setting up the circle. We hope it will make for interesting reading, and perhaps some useful ideas if you are thinking of setting up a community circle of your own. You can read the article by clicking here (pdf)