Dear Everyone,

I held a conference at the School for Oriental and Asian
Studies, Malet Street some years ago and was reassured that
it was completely suitable for all disabilities.  Well it
was - except for the speakers who could not get  on to the
stage.  Obviously not expected to be speakers.

Has anyone been to anything there recently?

Anthea
On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 14:41:19 -0000 "vin.west"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Andy,
> absolutely!!!
> i think this is the next big battle for the disability community and perhaps
> one which some of us thought would automatically be resolved once
> legislation was on the statute books, but in fact goes right to the heart of
> the problem, that is attitudes and preconceptions about disablity which
> underly the lack of equal access in the first place.
>
> i have been pressing the north gwynedd community health council (of which i
> am a member) to ammend its standing orders to make them inclusive.  at
> present it is a requirement that members stand when speaking in committee. i
> have achieved a compromise so far, whereby the rule is waived until we have
> ammended the rule book, but i asked our chief officer to write to edwina
> hart, as chair of the assembly's equal opps committee for guidance on
> writing inclusive standing orders and have found that neither london nor
> cardiff have given consideration to this issue yet and have no guidance to
> offer!!
>
> the assembly's equal opps policy unit are at the same time inviting people
> from 'under-represented groups' to seek election to community, local and
> national government.  i pointed out to them that this was implying that
> there were no longer any  barriers to people taking equal part in
> government, which is clearly not the case either physically or
> organisationally.
>
> it is very noticeable throughout all fields that whenever equal access is
> considered it is done on the basis of service providers meeting their
> minimum legal responsibilities, and the concept of a disabled person being
> either a service provider or decision maker is never considered!  I put this
> directly to bert massie at a meeting in caernarfon and i hope that the drc
> will help considerably in redressing the balance over the next few months,
> but i feel that nothing will change without disabled people challenging the
> system directly and raising their profile as participants in all areas of
> society.
>
> regards,
>
> Vin West
> Secretary, Arfon Access Group
> Glyn Dwr
> Llandwrog Uchaf
> Caernarfon
> Gwynedd  LL54 7RA
>
> Tel:  01286 880761
> Fax:  001775 6652884
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 10:47 AM
> Subject: Millenium Stadium - different user, different point of view!
>
>
> > On Thursday 15 Nov 2001 my colleague Adrian posted a message
> > to this list that in cluded the following:
> > Finally, I noted in the latter article, by David Rockett (Honorary
> > Access Advisor) of West Dorset DC, that he reports that re: the
> > most accessible buildings he's visited this year the Tate Modern
> > (as a conversion) and the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff  (as a new
> > building) stand out.
> >
> > I was reading an article in the latest edition of Disability Now
> > (December 2001 page 14 Still in the try-ing game).  The article is
> > about former England rugby player Alastair Hignell who is now a
> > journalist and has been diagnosed as having MS.  The article is
> > primarily about the support he has had which has enabled him to
> > obtain beta inteferon but also touches on the access problems he
> > encounters when trying to do his job.
> >
> > Quote: "To many rugby fans, Wales' glorious new Millenium
> > Stadium in Cardiff is the best stadium in the world.  To Hignell it
> > has been the worst.
> >
> > Problems cited include having to park more than a mile from the
> > ground (until recently) and
> > after post match interviews on the other side of the stadium (from
> > the commentary box) he would have to climb six flights of steps to
> > return to the box and then encounter problems with the lifts being
> > shut down.
> >
> > I think the above shows how important it is not to assume that
> > disabled people are going to just be visitors / spectators and there
> > is a distinct possibility that they may be employed in or use the
> > building as part of their job and so equal consideration must be
> > given to all areas.
> >
> > Andy
> >
> > SURFACE
> > Salford University, Research Focus on ACcessible Environments
> > http://www.scpm.salford.ac.uk/surface/
> > Tel: 01874 636826
> >
> > ----------End of Message----------
> >
> > Archives for the Accessibuilt discussion list are located at
> >
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> >
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> >
>
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>
> Archives for the Accessibuilt discussion list are located at
>
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----------------------
Professor Anthea Tinker,
Professor of Social Gerontology,
Age Concern Institute of Gerontology,
King's College London,
Franklin-Wilkins Building,
Waterloo Road,
London SE1 8NN,
United Kingdom

[log in to unmask]
Tel 020 7848 3033 (messages to 020 7848 3035)
FAX 020 7848 3235

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