In the late 1980s, three men with learning difficulties from Oxfordshire decided they deserved and wanted more power over their lives.

Despite huge odds, Tony Thorpe, Michael Edwards and the late Raymond Metcalf managed to get funding and negotiate red tape to set up My Life My Choice.

Today it is a registered charity with 400 members and groups in Oxford, Abingdon, Wantage, Banbury and Henley. It runs a packed programme of activities and events.

And earlier this month it beat 800 other charities to win The Guardian newspaper’s Charity of the Year Award.

Charity co-ordinator Mark Smyth, 47, said: “We were ecstatic.

“Winning this award will elevate people with learning difficulties to a position where people can look up to and listen to them.”

It’s not difficult to see why the judges were impressed.

The charity has been up and running since 1999 and strives to build its members’ confidence, introduce them to new skills and then encourage them to train others to empower themselves too.

Mr Smyth said: “When the charity was set up, there was nothing led by people with learning disabilities and a general feeling that services weren’t run with them in mind.

“People with learning disabilities are often ignored, abused, and excluded, but thanks to My Life My Choice people with learning difficulties are now DJs, rappers and film makers.

“They are also campaigners, mentors, advocates. And they even run nightclubs and cafes.

“Our groups bring people together, so they make friends, learn from each other and build their confidence to do things they thought they never could, from travelling independently to working.”

Among those who has helped out is Paul Scarrott, 40, who went along to the charity’s Oxford group two years ago after suffering a nervous breakdown.

He said: “I was at a very low point and someone said I should go along.

“I’m so glad I did.

“I had been DJing since I was a teenager and when Mark and the others found out, they suggested I train others to do it.”

Since then he has become one of the charity’s ‘champions’ and a trustee.

He is also a regular feature of its Stingray Nightclub events at Oxford’s Jam Factory, also the charity’s HQ.

The Oxford resident said: “I love being involved in the club nights where I DJ.

“People who have learning difficulties can find public nightclubs very noisy and scary, so having one of our own is great.”

Mr Smyth said: “The nightclub was set up three years ago and we started by training six people in all the areas we would need, such as DJing, health and safety and PR.

“I was quite hands-on at the start, but the intention was that the team would eventually run it for themselves and so in October, on the last club night, I stepped back and didn’t go.

“It was a bit weird, but of course they did fantastically and now, well I suppose I’ve been sacked!”

Tracey Dale, 42, helped set a new My Life My Choice group in Banbury a year ago and credits it for transforming her life.

She has recently been elected to the board of trustees.

She said: “I have a mental illness, as well as health problems and these combined can make you feel very isolated and alone.

“My husband Kenneth is great and it was him who first heard about My Life My Choice when they brought a roadshow to Banbury last year.

“We got involved and I had some ideas about setting up a group here and that’s what happened.”

Now the group has 14 members.

She said the group had helped boost her confidence to the point where she addressed Oxfordshire County Council members to urge them to involve people with learning disabilities in decision making.

She said: “I really got my point of view across.

“Thanks to My Life My Choice I feel my life has changed so much.

“I have lots of confidence and now feel I can make myself heard.”

My Life My Choice received £6,000 in prize money from the Guardian.

It plans to plough it back into projects including its successful travel buddy scheme.

Mark Smyth said: “One of the biggest problems for people with learning difficulties is transport.

“They rely heavily on public transport or their parents to get them places, but the travel buddy scheme is transforming that.

“We train people who feel confident enough to use public transport, to do it alone and they in turn train others to do it.”