MP encourages 'spiritual helpers' for people with learning disabilities

Speaking at a one day conference organised by Christian charity Prospects last week, Labour MP Stephen Timms said every town should have an organisation which helps them express their spirituality.

He welcomed the growing involvement of faith-based groups like Prospects, which specialises in helping churches provide Christian support and spiritual development for people with learning disabilities.

He said the growing movement of faith-based activism was "one of the most heartening developments" in Britain today.

“Such movements do not consist of activists who happen to have had some background in Christianity. Rather, it has right at its centre the person of Jesus Christ, and the activity of worship," he said.

"It recognises that people with learning difficulties are made in the image of God. It plugs away, it doesn’t abandon failures even if it looks foolish.

"It works in faith that human history is in God’s hands and that one day what is plainly wrong today will be put right.”

Mr Timms praised Prospects' advocacy work over 30 years, adding that every town should engage with disabled members of the community in a similar way to the charity.

"To be a voice for people with learning disabilities, and also to help release the gifts and contributions of all. Gifts so we can all work towards wholeness and hope in our communities," he said.

Mr Timms said that the Government wanted disabled people to have greater access to housing, transport, health, employment, education and leisure opportunities, and to participation in family and community life.

He added that the key principle was to give individuals a personal budget, a clear understanding of how much is to be spent on their care and support, and then to allow people to exercise choice over the spending.

Responding to recent media coverage of difficulties Christians are facing with an increasingly secularist agenda, and what is perceived as the ‘privatisation of Christian faith’, Mr Timms reassure Prospects' leaders on the Government position.

He said: “You are responding to the choices of Christian people with learning disabilities who want to be supported in their faith. This includes their spiritual development and lifestyle choices," he said. "And because Christian faith is central to the service you provide, being a Christian is a genuine occupational requirement for those who do this job.”