In conjunction with The Pollen Shop
In conjunction with The Pollen Shop
Welcome to one of the most exciting parts of our site. This is where organisations can publicise and promote their manifestoes for the forthcoming Assembly Election. Primarily this space will be an information exchange for the policy concepts different organisations want to be developed in the next Assembly. We hope this will develop into a library of ideas which will be a valuable resource for people in civil society, the media and politicians.
Our objective is to bring together as many different organisations as possible. Any organisation is able to add their manifesto and we hope to have contributions from large and small organisations, representative bodies, lobby groups and campaigning organisations. We hope that everyone won’t always agree and this part of the site will start conversations on the important issues facing Wales.
We recognise the positive policy developments there have been in Wales over the past few years. In particular we welcome the Strategy for Older People, the Commissioner for Older People and the National Service Framework. There is, however, all too often a stark contrast between policy aspirations and the actual experience of older people. There now needs to be a much stronger focus on implementation and on the levers and mechanisms which government can use to bring about change in practice.
Age Concern Manifesto (PDF 649KB)
A Manifesto for people with learning disabilities for the National Assembly for Wales Elections 2007
The new Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) should make sure that at least half of young people with a learning disability leaving school in Summer 2008 have a person centred plan. This should deal with future education, career and housing choices. Everyone leaving school should have a plan like this by 1 April 2009.
All Wales People First Manifesto (Word 199KB)
British Dietetic AssociationThe British Dietetic Association is the nation's largest organisation of food nutrition professionals with over 6,000 members. Dietitians work in a variety of fields including: hospitals, primary care, education, industry, research, sport settings or as freelancers. Approximately two-thirds of members are currently employed in the National Health Service.
The British Dietetic Association (BDA) has recently seen the development of Bwrdd Cymru (the Welsh Board of The British Dietetic Association). This will provide a focus for all BDA activity in Wales, establish a forum for discussion of pertinent issues and provide a stronger voice for dietitians in Wales.
British Dietetic Association Manifesto (PDF 344KB)
British Lung FoundationOne in five people in Wales have some form of respiratory disease. They deserve a world class health service, providing the right care, at the right time, in the right place. On their behalf BLF Wales is calling for respiratory services to be delivered to agreed minimum national standards, to ensure that people living with lung disease have access to the best possible treatment and care, regardless of where in Wales they live.
British Lung Foundation Manifesto (PDF 80KB)
British Medical AssociationDoctors are the backbone of the NHS. They are also the patients’ advocates, and survey after survey confirms that doctors are trusted by their patients. The new Welsh Assembly Government needs to build on that trust to improve the wider patient experience and create an NHS which is both flexible and responsive to the needs of patients in Wales.
British Medical Association Manifesto (Word 240KB)
This Manifesto has been developed by the Wales Carers Alliance. The Alliance is an informal grouping of voluntary organisations working across Wales. It is supported by Carers Wales. We work together to improve life for all carers in Wales by influencing national policy and practice. The current members of the Alliance are: Age Concern Cymru; Alzheimer’s Society; Care and Repair Cymru; Carers Wales; Christian Lewis Trust; Contact a Family Wales; Crossroads Wales; Hafal; Learning Disability Wales; National Autistic Society – Cymru; Parkinson’s Disease Society; Princess Royal Trust for Carers; and SNAP Cymru.
There are about 356,000 adult carers in Wales – 11% of voters. The manifesto is broken into three pledge areas: Carers demand better services for the people they look after; Carers demand time off from caring; and Carers demand information and support.
Carers Manifesto for Wales (PDF 105KB)
Chartered Society of PhysiotherapyThe Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) in Wales considers that there are five priority areas that government in Wales must address and invites candidates to sign up to the ‘Five Fundamentals’ by completing a pre-paid card and sending it back to the CSP Office in Wales. These areas are: Patient Self-referral; Vocational Rehabilitation; Healthy Living; Community Services; and Health Service Reform
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Manifesto (PDF 496KB)
Children's Charities in WalesFive children's charities in Wales have come together to promote their common agenda. This is based on a series of fourteen briefing papers, the links to which are reproduced below
Citizens Advice Cymru Citizens Advice Cymru aims to create a strong and sustainable bureau network accessible throughout Wales which is respected, valued and sought out by policy makers and funders as well as valued by clients and communities.
Citizens Advice Cymru Manifesto (PDF 432KB)
College of Occupational Therapists Occupational therapists are highly educated professionals, performing vital roles in local communities, social care, hospitals, schools, businesses, charities, prisons and other settings. They work with people of all ages with a wide range of occupational difficulties, enabling them to take part in activities that will help them to live the healthy and fulfilling lives that many of us take for granted, such as those associated with paid or unpaid employment, attending school, bringing up a child, pursuing a hobby or socialising.
The College of Occupational Therapists calls on the political parties to reduce occupational deprivation and injustice, and create healthier and more fulfilling lives for the people of Wales.
College of Occupational Therapists (PDF 59KB)
Depression Alliance CymruDACymru is the only organisation in Wales whose sole purpose is to relieve and prevent depression. We do this by providing information, support and understanding to those affected and their families and friends.
We co-ordinate a network of self-help groups so that people can share experiences and coping strategies, and produce a unique range of publications, resources and training programmes that offer advice and information on depression and related topics. We provide our members with a range of mutual support services, promote research into causes and prevention, and campaign to raise awareness about the realities of depression.
DACymru Manifesto (Word 20KB)
Diabetes UK CymruDiabetes is quite simply too serious to ignore. If not properly treated and managed, it can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and nerve damage leading to amputation. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that diabetes accounts for 9% of hospital costs in Wales, in addition to other costs in primary care and the wider community.
As Derek Wanless concluded in his Review of Health and Social Care in Wales (2003) there is "scope for significant cost-savings through prevention, earlier diagnosis, and better management [of diabetes]." In order to realise these potential savings Diabetes UK urges increased activity in the following three areas of work: Diabetes prevention; Early detection of diabetes; and Enabling people to manage their diabetes.
Diabetes UK Cymru Manifesto (PDF 84 KB)
This manifesto has been produced by a partnership of Wales’ equality organisations. Our aim is to highlight the equality issues that will make a real difference to people in Wales. Our hope is that political parties will include these equality issues in their manifestos and the campaign leading up to the election and commit to developing a robust equalities agenda in Wales.
Our vision is that every individual should have equal rights and opportunities within an inclusive society. This will result in Wales becoming a fair, more prosperous, healthier and better-educated country.
A joint manifesto produced by: Age Concern Cymru, Citizens Advice Cymru, Children in Wales, Chwarae Teg, Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission, Disability Wales, Equal Opportunities Commission, Faith Communities, Help the Aged, Minority Ethnic Women's Network Wales (MEWN Cymru), North Wales Race Equality Network (NWREN), Race Equality First, South East Wales Racial Equality Council (SEWREC), Stonewall Cymru, Swansea Bay Racial Equality Council, The Valleys Race Equality Council, Wales Women’s National Coalition (WWNC), Welsh Language Board, Welsh Women's Aid.
Equality Manifesto for Wales (PDF 223KB)
Help the Aged CymruOlder people are a great economic and social asset, and a dynamic electoral force: 57 per cent of Wales’s over-65s voted at the last Assembly elections as against 37 per cent of all those entitled to vote. We believe that older people should have enough money to live on with dignity and in comfort; that they should not be sidelined by society; and if or when they grow frail or are less able to cope, they should receive the health and care services they need.
Help the Aged Cymru Manifesto (PDF 320KB)
Help the HospicesWhat Help the Hospices would like to see in every party's manifesto: This party believes that everyone has the right to die well. We see hospices as vital stakeholders in creating better environments, care and support for those at the end of life. We pledge to work towards a good death for everyone in Wales.
Help the Hospices Manifesto (PDF 380KB)
Home-Start Butetown, Grangetown, Riverside (BGR)Home-Start Butetown, Grangetown, Riverside (BGR) in Cardiff is an independent voluntary organisation, which is committed to promoting the welfare of families with at least one child under the age of five years. In July 2005, funding was awarded by the Big Lottery to expand the service into Adamsdown, Splott and Tremorfa. We rely on volunteers to offer support, friendship and practical help to families under stress in their own homes, helping to prevent family crisis and breakdown. Home-Start (BGR) has a proven, lasting, positive impact on both the children and their family, resulting in an improvement in health and wellbeing.
Home-Start (BGR) in Cardiff would like: Recognition of the benefits of home based preventative support for families under stress; Support to ensure sustained and consistent services for families; Recognition of the skills and expertise that Home-Start (BGR) offers; Acknowledgment of the gift of time, commitment, experience and skills of volunteers who are crucial to our service delivery.
Mind CymruMind works for a full life, free from injustice and inequality for all who experience mental distress, enabling them to play their full part in society. We have produced this manifesto because Mind fights for access to good quality mental health services and social care for people with experience of mental distress, and we believe that the next Welsh Assembly Government must do the same.
Mind Cymru Manifesto (PDF 74KB)
Anyone requiring copies of Mind Cymru's 6 accompanying e-briefings should send a request to walesmanifesto@mind.org.uk
The National TrustThe National Trust's priorities for this election and beyond are:
Climate change proofing and adaptation: climate change should be recognised as a 'here and now' reality relevant to everyone in Wales and to all areas of public life. The next Government should make mitigation of the causes of climate change a crucial consideration in everything they do. Every policy formulated and every pound spent should be climate change proofed. Coordinated action to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change is urgent if Wales is to adapt fairly and cost effectively. The results of the Stern Review show that action now makes economic sense and the onus is on all Governments to adopt this long-term perspective. The National Trust is acting to reduce our contribution to the causes of climate change, and to adapt to its impacts on our buildings, gardens, coast and countryside. We hope this experience will inspire and support others to do the same.
Learning: The National Trust is proud to put learning at the heart of everything we do and recognises the vast benefits to be gained from increasing the opportunity for pupils to experience out of class room learning in Wales. Each year more than 50,000 school children visit a property in Wales. We are asking the next Government to acknowledge the potential of out of classroom learning in supporting a revised National Curriculum and as a tool for encouraging personal development as well as contributing to the vital skills agenda.
The historic environment: Evidence from the Valuing our Environment studies demonstrates the major contribution that the historic environment has made to the Welsh economy in supporting over 22,000 jobs, having had a total impact of around £750 million and as a key driver for tourism. The continued success of this is dependent on a healthy, well-maintained and widely understood historic environment. The National Trust recognises the potential and importance of developing Wales' heritage resource further. Care for the historic environment must be seen as important for the sustainability of the environment, and a crucial contributor to both Welsh society and economy. We are calling for a Strategy for the Historic Environment based on a shared vision that drives cross governmental links with community regeneration, learning, tourism, culture, planning, environmental management and sustainable development.
National Union of TeachersThe education of children and young people in Wales over the next four years will be significantly affected by the outcome of this year’s Welsh Assembly elections. Wales has never been better placed than it is now to be a world leader in the way children and young people are educated.
The National Union of Teachers is committed to securing for children throughout Wales, the benefits to be gained from a good education. The barriers that prevent children from fulfilling their full potential must be brought down. This Education Manifesto of the National Union of Teachers represents practical, sensible, realistic and achievable goals for those charged with the provision of an education service in Wales for the next four years. It is a manifesto for the pupils, parents and professionals involved in education and the school communities.
National Union of Teachers Manifesto (PDF 715KB)
Royal College of Nursing WalesThis Manifesto for Nursing and Health was drawn up following a lengthy consultation with our members. It sets out what we see as the key priorities for health for the next Welsh Assembly Government. This document, along with our more detailed policy paper published earlier this year, forms the basis of our influencing in the run up to the election and is the foundation for our work in the years to come.
Royal College of Nursing Manifesto (PDF 1.4MB)
Scope CymruScope Cymru’s aim is that disabled people achieve equality. To achieve this, we need to ensure that children and adults with cerebral palsy and additional support needs are at the heart of our quest for equality in Wales. Scope Cymru wants to work with political parties in the National Assembly for Wales to banish disablism and help make equality for disabled people a reality.
Scope Cymru Manifesto (PDF 140 KB)
Established in 2006, the Wales Cancer Alliance strives to promote the best cancer prevention, treatment, research and care for people in Wales. The Alliance comprises leading voluntary cancer organisations who wish to positively influence legislation, policy-making, resources and services for the people affected by cancer in Wales. Currently, the Alliance consists of Breast Cancer Care Cymru, Cancer Care Cymru, Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Tenovus – the cancer charity. Together, we invest approximately £15m every year in cancer research and services in Wales.
This manifesto aims to address the key issues facing people in Wales today in relation to cancer services. Contained within this document are realistic and attainable proposals to develop world-class, equitable cancer services the people of Wales deserve. It aims to affect the future of cancer research and care provision in Wales and to increase awareness of cancer issues among politicians, the media and the public during the electioneering period and beyond.
Wales Cancer Alliance Manifesto (PDF 101 KB)
Wales Environment Link (WEL) is a network of voluntary environmental and countryside organisations in Wales. It is also the officially designated intermediary body between the Government and the voluntary environmental sector in Wales. WEL’s vision is to increase the effectiveness of the environmental sector in Wales in its ability to protect and improve the environment, by facilitating and articulating the voice of the sector. As an umbrella body WEL helps represent the shared interests of its 28 member organisations, who in turn represent over 216,500 subscribing members in Wales.
It should be noted that the paper represents the collective views of the members of WEL but does not necessarily reflect the policy position of each individual member organisation. If you are interested in finding out more about our members’ individual policy positions, WEL can provide contact details.
Wales Environment Link Manifesto (PDF 437 KB)
So have a look at the manifestos on this page and see where you can work together to develop shared agendas or understand why organisations may have a different point of view.
