Winter blues - and greens!

As we only have one comment so far, let’s start with something that has had everyone talking: the snow! It’s been the hot topic recently- or should that be cold?- so please let us have a sprinkling of notes as you share your experiences! How did it affect you? How did you feel if you were snowed in? Evidently anyone even slightly unsteady on their feet will have had difficulty (yet, as the pictures show, this didn’t prevent some mad partygoers tottering around in six inch heels!), so how were the disabled community affected? The entire country certainly slipped up- but what can we learn from this? As you may be aware, the Get Involved Group in January had to be postponed (it’s now February 8th) and the Volunteer Celebration prior to Christmas also suffered. What can Brighton and Hove do to ensure the city doesn’t skid to a halt? Do you think enough has been done? What do other countries do? How could things be made easier for disabled people in these circumstances? Did you find it strange to actually celebrate the rain (I certainly did!)? As opposed to the traditional ‘rain rain go away’, the word on everyone’s lips was snow!

Now, as the snow memories melt, let’s look at something more colourful: politics. Caroline Lucas, MEP from the Green Party, paid the Fed a visit recently, and discussed concerns over the taxi trouble, awareness issues, the inaccessible council training rooms, and the issues regulating and gaining access to private establishments (sadly they’ve not yet invented chairs that can fly, thus solving the stair dilemma, but any scientists reading should certainly give it a go!). Does the thought of all this make you feel green (or red or blue?)? Would you be interested in a GIG (Get Involved Group) with a chance to put questions to people from other parties? With a general election coming up, it could be particularly useful, and is a chance to get our voices heard. What do people think? What colours are you wearing?

In other news, we held a workshop designed to give disabled people an introduction to the Adult Learning environment, which got people talking about their experiences as learners and aspirations for delivering disability equality awareness training. If you attended, what did you think? Please add your comments and do your bit in making others aware (yes I am trying to get more comments, but it would be interesting to hear your experiences, and hopefully in the future we can compile a more extensive blog entry dedicated to them - watch this space!)! The Fed feels that having trainers with the experience of being disabled is much more powerful than having a contractor come in. It’s just plain common sense, isn’t it? Who knows more- you or a contractor? What do you think? Feel free to share your stories! And if you’re interested in taking part, please get it touch: it’s an additional opportunity for paid employment, which is a great incentive, especially as many of us are still paying for Christmas!

Finally, the Get Involved Project is going to get involved with various strategy groups (for the council, Primary Care Trust and on education and employment) and seeks Volunteer Reps to sit in on each group. Do you fancy promoting disability equality, and ensuring that those in the public sector are following their legal duty? If so, come along to the next Get Involved Group on Monday 8th February, 2-5pm at Church House, Hove. If you’re interested, get in touch with Alex at alex.hawkey@bhfederation.org.uk (and also- I have to say this, and it goes for everyone!- please comment on the blog!)!

Happy New Year!

by AIMEE KEAY



Happy New Year, and welcome to the new Fed Blog 2010! Even if the diet falls flat (or should we say fat?) and the gym attendance dwindles down to none, let’s hope that this year we can see improvements that really matter to you and the wider community! Why should blue badges leave owners feeling blue? Why is public transport insufficient for certain members of the public (yes I am thinking of the taxi dilemma), and how can these additional needs be met? Why is housing housing its own resident problems? We want to hear what you think about these issues, and more, and work together towards an amicable solution. We want to hear your voices and your comments, so please don’t hold back! Each month this blog wants to heat up the hot topics, so please post your comments and let’s kick start the discussion!

Let’s start, as all new years do, with some positive news! I hope all of you who attended International Day enjoyed yourselves! What did you enjoy the most, and what would you like to see at the next one? It was a great introduction to the Federation for me and reaffirmed my decision to get involved and write this blog (I hope you like it so far!). I wasn’t able to make it until later as I was at uni, but I did enjoy the talented Mat Fraser’s comedy! He made me think much more about awareness and acceptance. Do you have to be confident to laugh at yourself or is this a manifestation of the ‘if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry’ motto? Does laughing indicate acceptance (whatever that is!) of your disability? It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this, and of course on anything else that you’d like to share!

I suppose I should take this opportunity to introduce myself! I’m Aimee, I’m twenty and I’m studying English at Sussex Uni (and loving it!). I chose to help the BH Federation as I’d like to give something back (bet you’ve all heard that one before, but however clichéd it is, it’s true!), make a difference (ditto on the cliché!) and help support others, as well as gaining useful experience for my future career in journalism (watch this space!).

In all honesty, before my illness, I never really thought about being disabled or the difficulties that disabled people face in any real detail. My biggest eye opener (no pun intended) came when I was in a wheelchair for a day out and people addressed my friends instead of me, or else talked r.e.a.l.l.y. s.l.o.w.l.y. as if using a wheelchair automatically meant I had cognitive problems! I’m sure many of you can identify with this, or perhaps have sadly learnt to accept this kind of treatment. In the Removing Barriers workshop, this lack of disability awareness among the general public (as well as NHS and Council Staff) was flagged as an issue, and it was suggested that a widespread awareness campaign was needed. What do you think? I definitely believe front-line staff need more training in this. Let’s see that they get it!

Another key issue for me is dealing with an invisible disability (as I’m sure all of you know, just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there!), which I’ve found particularly frustrating when getting seats on buses or trains! Being young (although sadly no longer a teenager!), I find older people especially tend to disbelieve you - though why anyone would make it up, I don’t know! As flagged in the workshop, this can also be incredibly wearisome for users of disabled toilets, who may need to use the facilities due to an invisible disability. Awareness is the key- and it is worth being aware (ha- see what I did there!) that the Fed is preparing to launch a training scheme for those wishing to teach disability awareness and equality. Will keep you posted on its progress!

Before I go and leave you to your Christmas leftovers, let me give you with some final food for thought (luckily the sort that won’t break that diet!). Given that most of you will have more experience with the Federation than me, it would be great if you could comment on what you like best about it, and what you would like to see more of, thus helping create new year’s resolutions and, of course, new year solutions! I look forward to reading lots of your comments and I wish you all a very happy 2010!

Welcome to the new Fed blog!

by JON HASTIE

Here at the Fed we are always looking for new ways to engage with the community, and now thanks to the wonderful people at blogspot, we now have our own shiny blog! For the uninitiated, a blog is basically a kind of online journal, which was once the province of web-wise individuals, but is now increasingly being used by everyone from charitable organisations like the Fed to celebrities and big business. For us, it's a way to tell you, the reader, everything that's happening within the Fed and discuss the big issues affecting disabled people in Brighton and Hove. For those TV lovers out there, consider it our version of The One Show, with articles that matter to you!

I will confess right now, writing doesn't always come naturally to me, I can often stare at a blank page for ages waiting for the inspiration to come. But I usually get there in the end! Of course, it helps that when it comes to issues affecting disabled people, there is no shortage of things to write about. I could probably write an essay on the state of dropped-curbs alone, let alone the much bigger issues of education, employment, and, well, the list is endless! And I'm sure many of you out there must feel the same, and as a result of your experiences as a disabled person have your own issues which you know more about than most of the general public! That, in case any of you were wondering, is what people mean by “expert by experience”.

One of the great features of the blog is that readers are able to comment. I’d like you, as a reader, to feel free to add a little comment on what you read on this blog, and even tell me when you think I'm talking rubbish! For this piece, maybe you could tell me what articles you would like to see in future, and we'll see what we can do. And if there's something that you would like to write about yourself, you might even like to take a guest spot on the blog!