Liz Lynne opens the Mercian Ability Partnership

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 21st Jul 2009

From left to right: Jan Winter, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People; Kate Darby, Member of Mercian Ability Partnership Bid Team; Liz Lynne MEP; Richard Burford, Martial Arts Expert; Patricia Lambert; John Moore, Mayor of North Warwickshire.

Liz Lynne, LibDem MEP for Staffordshire and the West Midlands, officially opened the Mercian Ability Partnership, a new User-Led Disability Organisation for Tamworth, on July 10th.

Liz, who is Vice President of the European Parliament's All Party Disability Intergroup, spoke at the launch day for the new partnership which works to promote and encourage independent living for people with disabilities in the Tamworth area.

Liz was joined by local MP Brian Jenkins, and the Mayors of both Tamworth and North Warwickshire, for a day of celebrations and activities including a self-defence class and a chance to try African drumming.

Speaking at the launch Liz said: "This will be a fantastic facility for Tamworth and for the surrounding area. User-led organisations such as this are so important in helping people with all forms of disability and providing a wide range of services from group support meetings to offering expert advice.

"I believe that we should encourage more European countries to move towards user-led support for disabled people so everyone across Europe can have access to the same high-quality facilities similar to those now available to the people of Tamworth."