About SPAEN

 

Our vision is of an inclusive society in which disabled people are fully included by leading full and independent lives.

Our method is that of promoting mutual support among those who are striving to lead full and independent lives by taking control of the management of everyday affairs.

Our impact will be to reduce the social exclusion of disabled people as well as the social cost of this exclusion.

SPAEN is a membership organisation and its members are all people who have made the transition from having their care needs organised by the state to taking over the management and control of their own assistance.

SPAEN, therefore, hosts a unique body of lived experience, information, and knowledge of personal assistant employment, which cannot be found within any other Scotland-wide public or voluntary organisation.  Its values as a user-led organisation place a great deal of emphasis on peer support. We believe that best practice in the employment of personal assistants can be best spread by people who have real life experience.