Voices talk, hands write: sustaining community publishing with people with learning difficulties

People with learning difficulties are generally a marginalised section of the community whose care environment often segregates them from other people. One way of broaching this invisibility is by developing a writing and publishing group which can present at community events and may be a means of educating others. However, such groups can be difficult to sustain. This article, based in part on a keynote address at the 2006 Groupwork Symposium (Pollard, 2006a), explores the origin and continuing development of a community publishing project with people with learning difficulties in Grimsby. Taking account of the difficulties of recording community based action, it reviews the outcomes 3 years after the initial set up project ceased.