So far, 2012 has not been a good news year for people with learning disabilities. Such things as the continuing Care Quality Commission reports on residential facilities failing to meet essential standards and cuts to social care funding leading to people losing their services have painted a bleak picture… So it's time to redress the balance a little. With such bad news regularly featuring in the LDT newsletter, it is easy for this to overshadow the good work that is being done around the country - of which there is a lot. I regularly get sent press releases about services that are doing great work with and for people with learning disabilities. Some of these make it onto the news pages of the website; others get expanded into features in the print edition of Learning Disability Today. For example, picking a story at random from my inbox, in just over a year, staff at CMG's Avenue Road supported living service in South Norwood have helped Morris Walters, who has autism, to gain employment, as well as develop his life skills, such as cooking and travelling. To see the full story, click here. Individually, stories like this are great for the people they are helping, whether it is to gain employment, move into a home of their own, or learning valuable life skills. But it also reminds everyone that it is not all doom and gloom for people with learning disabilities - there is some great and often innovative work going on that makes a real difference to people's lives. In times such as these, when the news is often bad - there is no escaping the reality that life is tough and getting tougher for many people with learning disabilities - it is even more important to remember that there are still many good things happening all over the country, and these should be celebrated whenever and wherever possible.   If you have any 'good news' stories that you want to publicise, please email me at dan.parton@pavpub.com.