Kaliya is a well-known and respected disability rights campaigner who can already count the following achievements:

• Founder of The Broken of Britain a grassroots online campaigning organisation set up to challenge the current threat to disability benefits, services and independent living and to promote wider disability rights.
• Disability blogger for The Guardian Online
• Writer for BBC’s Ouch (It’s a disability thing)
• Blogger at Benefit Scrounging Scum
• Voted by Total Politics in the top 30 non-aligned political bloggers in 2011
• Also known as Harriet

Kaliya also makes regular contributions to TV and radio programmes on disability issues. Her charisma, energy and selfless courage have earned her a huge following amongst disabled and non-disabled people.

Kaliya has EDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome), a condition which affects collagen in the body. People with EDS have collagen which is weak and too stretchy to do its job properly. If you imagine the human body like a house, the collagen is the glue, or cement which holds it together. In people with EDS that ‘cement’ is like chewing gum that someone’s chewed for a week then left in the sun to melt. EDS causes multiple joint dislocations and chronic pain. (Image courtesy of Graeme Lamb Media)

However Kaliya’s disability hasn’t stopped her from fighting and campaigning not just for her rights, but for those of all disabled people.

This is what Billy (a person with learning disabilities supported by Brandon Trust, pictured right) had to say about Kaliya: “It's great to have Kaliya as an Ambassador. It takes all sorts of people to make the world go round. Because of that, she will bring something new and exciting to Brandon Trust. She's 'quality'. ”

So, who better to act as an Ambassador for Brandon Trust and for all the people we support, than Kaliya Franklin?

“I’m excited and honoured to become Brandon Trust’s first ambassador. I think it’s so important for people with different types of disabilities to unite as a strong community to show the world just what we’re capable of, especially when we work together” (Kaliya Franklin, November 2011)

Kaliya will be attending (virtually, if not in person!) our main events and will also be running our twitter feed (@BrandonTrust). We will keep you posted on her antics!