WARRINGTON charity worker and disability campaigner Jonathan Levy has been nominated for the Positive Role Model for Disability category at the 2016 National Diversity Awards.
The ceremony celebrates some of the excellent and inspiring achievements of positive role models and community organisations from across the UK. The awards aim to recognise nominees in their respective fields of diversity including age, disability, gender, race, faith, religion and sexual orientation.
Jonathan, aged 25, from Appleton, has dyspraxia, a neurological condition which can make even the simplest tasks a struggle. Jonathan has always been slower than most in reaching milestones such as learning to ride a bike, and upon reaching school age he avoided games, lacked confidence and stood out with his ‘chicken scratch’ handwriting.
Jonathan’s transition to the workplace wasn’t easy and in November 2011, he felt compelled to write a newspaper feature about how his condition affects him. This feature received a response far greater than he had ever anticipated and led to him receiving a Dyspraxia Foundation award in June the following year, before becoming a Dyspraxia Foundation panel adviser and then a trustee in July 2013.
In 2014 he raised awareness of dyspraxia through appearing in an award-winning short film on Channel 4 series, Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic. Today Jonathan regularly advises others and gives talks on his experiences growing up with dyspraxia. He was also recently filmed as part of the BBC’s ‘Think Beyond the Box’ neurodiversity project.
Jonathan said: “I am honoured and touched to have been nominated for this award. It has come as a lovely surprise and when I wrote my newspaper feature little over four years ago, I never expected it to lead so many great things.
“I’m open and upfront about my condition but I don’t let it define me, instead I let it strengthen me. I believe that it is vital for disabled people to recognise and put forward what they can do, before what they may struggle with.
“Disabled people face many barriers but that doesn’t stop me having big ambitions and for every person who has ever said I won’t achieve X, Y and Z, I just do whatever I can to indeed achieve it.”
Everyday tasks Jonathan can find difficult include cooking, tying shoelaces, using office equipment and crossing roads, while other symptoms of the condition include exaggerated arm movements, poor hand-eye condition and speech with uncontrolled pitch, volume and rate.
Outside of Jonathan’s activities raising awareness of dyspraxia, he works as fundraiser for the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace, runs an online business and serves as a Stockton Heath parish councillor.
To vote for Jonathan to win the Positive Role Model for Disability award, please visit https://nominate.nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/Nominate/Endorse/29670
1 Comment
Good luck Jonathan – you should be proud of what you have achieved over the years – keep up the good work at the Peace Centre 🙂