A grant of almost £200,000 from the National Lottery will be used to help integrate Bradford disabled people into society.

RIVER - Realising Integration Via Empowerment and Recreation - assists people with learning difficulties to carry out tasks most people take for granted, such as catching a bus or going to the shops.

The group was created by the Hospitaller Order of St John of God, Thornton, Bradford, after staff at the centre in Bede's Close realised not enough was being done for disabled people in the evenings and at weekends.

RIVER will cater for 42 of the order's users and staff will draw up programmes of events based on each person's needs.

Area manager Breeda Hickey said it will complement, not replace, existing day services and be particularly focused on evening and weekend activities.

She said: "We applied for the grant last year and luckily managed to get the money, £183,189, first time.

"The funding is for three years. In the first year, we will focus on the 42 people who are with us already and after that we hope to open it to any disabled people in Bradford.

"With day care they go into a segregated service and so do not have the opportunity to do things that you and I do."

Ms Hickey said she realised that efforts to integrate disabled people into society risked reaction from people who felt their safety could be endangered - but that was more down to lack of understanding than any facts.

She said: "Most of our disabled members have learning disabilities, not mental health problems. The only way to overcome these misunderstandings is by getting disabled people out there and making them more visible."

One main advantage of RIVER is that it will be more intensive and one on one than out-of-hours schemes social services or groups such as MENCAP are able to provide, she said.

Programmes could involve evening lessons on basic maths and communication skills.

The scheme is part of an order project called Leisure, Educational and Occupational Services which is committed to offering opportunities to adults with learning problems to fulfil their potential within the community.

Centre workers may also be asked to accompany members on trips on the bus into town or any other task once individual plans have been finalised.

The Hospitaller Order of St John of God dates back nearly 500 years and has centres in 45 countries. The English headquarters is in Scorton, North Yorkshire. The focus is on nursing and residential care, specialised housing, hospitals and education and training centres to help the sick, elderly, disabled and those most in need.

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