In celebration of the closure of the Independent Living Fund

Over the last months we have heard calls to save the Independent Living Fund (ILF). Social media and Internet forums were flooded with emotional pleas to the government beyond its final days: parent carers and vocal disabled people calling for action to prevent themselves or loved ones being ‘imprisoned’ in their home, unable to use the toilet or having a life not worth living. ‘I will have no control, no choice and be unable to live in the community’, one person chanted. Others chanted ‘which side are you on’ (Channel 4 News). I found myself in a very unusual situation. Here I was, a campaigner for independent living all my adult life, a former Direct Payment Support Service Manager, social work lecturer and ILF recipient. Surely I would be devastated that the ILF had ended? My experience was entirely different, I celebrated.