Justice for LB

Jess and I have wanted to start a blog on Artism for a short while now but we didn't quite know where to start. We came across the story below last week and it felt right to start here.

Sara Siobhan has been blogging about being LB's mum since 2011. I've read the blog a few times before - Sara has a dry but positive tone that I've always enjoyed and LB and Jake's diagnoses are similar. LB's art is great and Sara describes him as 'regularly smashing typical expectations and making visible constraints and rules around ‘acceptable’ behaviour.' That's kind of how I've always seen Jake.

LB drowned in the bath in a local NHS run short term treatment and assessment unit on July 4th 2013. He was 18. He had learning disabilities and epilepsy and should never have been left alone to bathe unsupervised. An independent report has found his death was preventable.

LB's Fighting Fund has been set up to raise money towards the costs of legal representation at the inquest. As previously mentioned, LB was quite the artist and as part of the fundraising efforts, 2 of his pieces are on offer to purchase as postcards, greeting cards or prints. The 2 on offer are 'Bus' and 'Colour' and they're pretty bloody good. You can purchase them here.

Any remaining money will be split between INQUEST.org and Oxfordshire Family Support Network (OxFSN).

You can sign up for email updates of the #justiceforLB campaign here. You can also follow @JusticeforLB on twitter. If you do tweet about the report, please use the hashtag #justiceforLB.

It is hard to believe that nearly 2 years on from Winterbourne this is still happening. And yet he we are. Please do show your support for this campaign in any way that you can.

- Katie