Tizard Centre to support Autism London to provide better understanding of hate crimes

The Tizard Centre at the University of Kent will support Autism London on a major new project that aims to provide a better understanding of hate crimes and victimisation against people with autism and learning disabilities.

The Medway-based project has received almost £350,000 of funding from the Big Lottery Research Programme and will run for three years. More than 500 individuals and 20 organisations are expected to benefit.

The Centre's role was announced during the launch event at Mid-Kent College on 4 December. Among those attending the event were: Jonathan Shaw, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, Minister for Disabled People and Minister for the South East; Jacky Hammond, Area Director, Autism London; Kathy Johnson, Co-Chair of Valuing Medway People Partnership Board; Peter Thompson, Managing Director of MCCH and a member of the

Autism London board; Bob Hodges, Head of Foundation Studies at Mid-Kent College; Colin Guest of MCCH; and Professor Jim Mansell, Director of the Tizard Centre.

Titled 'Living in Fear: Promoting Better Outcomes for People with Disabilities', the project will use local focus groups and web- and telephone-based national surveys to research into the nature of hate crime, and responses and barriers to reporting. The aim will be to identify what happens to victims, addressing gaps in our knowledge of how crime against people with autism and learning disabilities is recorded and responded to by community safety agencies, including the police. The project will promote greater safety and well-being within the community, providing an evidence base to enable policymakers to improve the support and services on offer to people with autism and learning disabilities.

It will be led by Autism London and MCCH, working in partnership with the Tizard Centre, and will be steered by people with autism and learning disabilities as well as working in consultation with other stakeholders. These include Medway's Leadership Forum for adults with learning disabilities, Community Safety Partnership, Kent Police, Mid-Kent College, the Valuing Medway People Partnership Board and MCCH's Pathways to Inclusion project.

Dr Julie Beadle-Brown, Senior Lecturer in Learning Disability and the principal investigator on the project from the Tizard Centre, said: 'I am very pleased that we are to be involved in this very important project that could potentially have an impact on the experience of people with learning disabilities and with autism living in the community, as well as on the experience and knowledge of those dealing with issues of hate crime and victimisation of these vulnerable groups. I look forward to collaborating with Autism London, MCCH, Kent Police and all our other stakeholders over the next three years.'

Maria Bremmers, Network Co-ordinator for Autism London, commented: 'Autism London and its stakeholders are delighted to receive the grant from the Big Lottery Research Programme. Valuing People Now [White Paper, 2009] states that people with learning disabilities have a right to live in safety and to be taken seriously when they report a crime against them. It also tells us that people from black and minority ethnic groups and newly arrived communities are particularly at risk of hate crime. A number of excellent community safety initiatives can be found in the UK, and Medway is no exception. But there is little robust evidence to inform policy and practice, especially concerning the experiences of people with autism. There is a strong commitment from all the stakeholders in this project to make a real difference by filling the gaps in knowledge and, where necessary, making real and lasting change.'