Past Outreach Workshops

Power To The People
Sept 2006

Hijinx Outreach showed that people with a learning disability really have a lot to say at the All Wales People First conference in Llandrindod Wells. The two day event enabled Outreach to open the conference with a piece of invisible theatre with members of Cardiff Young People First planted in the audience. Odyssey members Martin Vick and Gareth Clark were joined by Outreach Officer, Nick Llewellyn where we decided to take over the conference by cutting up the conference agenda and imposing our own! This agitated the 'planted' members of Cardiff People First who spoke out against our dictatorship. Cries of "Out, out, out!" bellowed through the conference hall until the AM Helen Mary Jones burst through the doors to ask "What on earth is going on here?" Helen Mary Jones then cast a vote with the delegates to see if they wanted our regime or the original programme. Of course we lost the vote and left hanging our heads in shame. It truly was power to the people!

The second day of the conference was where all of the delegates undertook workshops on the conference themes of democracy and government in action. 8 workshops took place that explored the lives of a fictitious Welsh town, Aber Ponty and the people that lived there. The delegates were then told that a proposed road may be built through the town, effectively knocking down some of the key buildings where the delegates worked. This polarised all of the workshop groups into either for or against the road. Each workshop group then used either the media, lobbying, chanting or placard making to voice their concerns for either side of the argument. The day culminated into a very lively and animated mass demonstration in the mock town hall to a group of 'councillors.' The decision they were told would meet made a week after this consultation process.

The participants learnt so much about how to effectively make your voice heard in a creative and interactive way and will hopefully use those skills in publicising the People First manifesto for the May 2007 assembly elections. Yvonne Hedges, Advisor to the All Wales People First sums up the energy and commitment of the Hijinx team: "I wanted to say a huge thank you for helping us to make the Annual Conference a roaring success this year. The feedback has been brilliant and for me it will stand out as the most colourful, creative and energy-charged event we have held. This is entirely down to your expertise and unfaltering attention to detail. The ideas for the training day, the opening of the conference and for the workshops, as well as their professional execution, were superb."