It's the bi-monthly meeting of our Core Reference Group. Gathered here this afternoon at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living are representatives from groups working in the protected characteristics and equality strands of disability, faith or belief, LGBT, mental health, older people, race, younger people. Attendees today are drawn from Derbyshire, Leicester, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire.
Naturally, the cuts to the Voluntary and Community Sector dominate our discussion, although we're just as focused on opportunities for us to extend our services as we are on threats to them.
One important item on our agenda is a periodic review of the seats still vacant on this Core Reference Group. We still have to find organisations to take up seats for Age (one for younger people, one for older people); faith or belief (one seat); Gender (two for women, one for men); Transgender (one). As well as covering the various protected characteristics, we're looking to cover as much of the East Midlands as possible - so we're hoping to find some of the groups to fill these vacant seats from Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire. We've not been in a rush to fill these spaces as we want to get the best people from the right places. We're making progress on this all the time.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Bus drivers humiliated me, says disabled man
This article is published in today's Leiceter Mercury:
Bus drivers humilated me, says disabled man
A disabled man says he has been “humiliated and degraded” by bus drivers who refused to lower the wheelchair ramp to their vehicles.
Mark Richardson, 48, and his partner Donna Hutchison, 43, said they had been involved in six incidents of discrimination on Arriva buses since Christmas.
The couple, from Shelthorpe Road, Loughborough, said that last week one driver refused to lower the disabled ramp on the bus and insisted Donna lifted 20-stone Mark on to the bus.
They said when she refused, the driver insisted every passenger got off the bus, before driving away.
Mark has been using a wheelchair since doctors discovered a tumour in his stomach last February.
The tumour burst and Mark spent months in intensive care, where he developed myopathy, a condition in which the muscle nerve endings do not function, leaving him with barely any feeling in his legs.
He said: “After all I’ve been through, this is not what I need.
“It was so undermining and humiliating for me.
“There is no way they would have treated me like that before I was disabled.
“I’m determined not to be forced to stay indoors. Why should I?
“I was in hospital for so long, I’ll be damned if I’m staying in the house because of the arrogance of some driver.”
The couple use the bus to get to hospital appointments in Loughborough and for other trips.
Donna said that last month a driver did not know how to use the ramp and insisted she carry Mark on to the bus.
She said her request to use the ramp to get off the bus was declined and she twisted the frame of Mark’s chair while trying to get him out.
She said: “We had to call the hospital out to repair the chair.
“It was so humiliating when the driver refused to lower the ramp and chucked everyone off.
“He told me he would lift Mark on but I said no. What if he had been tipped out of his chair?
“I told him I was not getting off the bus until he lowered the ramp so he turned round and shouted to the other passengers ‘right we’re not going anywhere, everyone off’.
“The worst bit was nobody said anything. They just stared at us as they walked past. It was heartbreaking.
“I cried my eyes out when we got home.
“What’s the point of having a ramp if they don’t use it?”
The couple have made two complaints to Arriva and said they had to wait 10 to 14 days for a response.
A spokesman for Arriva said it was aware of complaints and would be carrying out an investigation.
He said: “We will be carrying out an interview with the driver or drivers concerned and I am sure we can come to a solution.”
Friday, 18 February 2011
Disability issues
This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:
Disability issues
Dzine – Leicestershire's disability news agency, now holds its own Community News Cafe encouraging individuals and groups to attend and become community reporters. The team is especially keen to hear of people's experiences of the new Government scheme, Personalisation.
This enables individuals or their carers to have a personal care budget and adapt it according to their own choices.
However critics are concerned this has replaced the system of getting free care from individual authorities.
Coffee Republic, Granby Street, Leicester, hosts Dzine. Drop-in on Mondays between 10am and 11am.
Friday, 11 February 2011
LGBT rugby festival
This article is published in today's Derby Telegraph:
LGBT rugby festival
Rolls-Royce RFC are hosting a festival for rugby clubs with predominantly gay membership at their Moorways ground tomorrow.
The event, starting at 2pm, is being held as part of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans (LGBT) History Month.
Panthers RFC, the East Midlands' gay and gay-friendly rugby club, based at Rolls-Royce, will be taking part, along with the Bristol Bisons, Newcastle Ravens, Manchester Village Spartans and London side Kings Cross Steelers.
Nic Scott, the Rugby Football Union's equality and inclusion manager, said: "The RFU is committed to supporting a game that welcomes everyone, whatever their background.
"We were honoured to be asked to host the launch of LGBT History Month last year and this event was supported by these five clubs.
"The consensus from them was that we should hold an event to support LGBT History Month and Derby seemed the best location for a festival."
Friday, 4 February 2011
Faiths Forum East Midlands: Going, Going...?
To Loughborough this afternoon, for a meeting with Patricia Stoat, CEO of the Faiths Forum for the East Midlands and Athea Ghosma, FFEM's Development Officer
Supporters of FFEM were disturbed to learn recently that its funding expires on 31 March - as is the case for every regional faiths forum throughout the country. As I walked to the meeting up from the train station, I tweeted,
FFEM has been in existence hardly more than a couple of years. Indeed, in common with a number of other sorts of organisations (such as REDP) the East Midlands was the last of the nine English regions to get one. FFEM also have a place on the REDP Core Reference Group. In this short time it has already done some good work in creating a sense of collective identity for inter faith organisations across the region. But it was clear to all who took an interest that it had only begun to plant the seeds for more helpful and creative things to come. Now all that potential has been snuffed out. Or has it? Now read on ...
After being ushered into Pat's office, I felt I had to begin by expressing my sadness, disappointment and anger at this decision. But as our conversation progressed this afternoon, it became clear that FFEM wasn't quite as dead and buried as it might at first have seemed. The office is closing at the end of February, giving them one month to pay all bills etc. And very nice office it is too, refurbished and kitted out (modestly but befittingly) to allow them to do their job well. It seemed odd to me that it's slap bang in the middle of a housing estate, next door to a chippie - but that's more likely so because I'm used to such organisations being located far from real life locations. So, come 1 April, FFEM won't have premises, paid staff or any funding. But it might not give up the ghost just then.
Although it's all up to the decision of their Board when it meets at the end of this week, there is the possibility of an afterlife for FFEM. Using the social media model, FFEM could continue to exist as a hub of influence, collecting and collating information from the several inter faith bodies in the East Midlands, locating it in a central virtual location. Given my own interest and faith in social media, not to mention my frequent and regular (or "obsessive") practice of it, I can really see the point of this and could see immediately how ti would work. Now if we can just get inter faith folk in Derby, Kettering Lincoln, Northamption, Nottingham, Wellingborough etc blogging, facebooking and tweeting like I do ...
- George M. Ballentyne, REDP Core Partner
Supporters of FFEM were disturbed to learn recently that its funding expires on 31 March - as is the case for every regional faiths forum throughout the country. As I walked to the meeting up from the train station, I tweeted,
In Loughborough, meeting CEO Faiths Forum for East Midlands. FFEM's funding ceases next month. More evidence of government vision #fail
FFEM has been in existence hardly more than a couple of years. Indeed, in common with a number of other sorts of organisations (such as REDP) the East Midlands was the last of the nine English regions to get one. FFEM also have a place on the REDP Core Reference Group. In this short time it has already done some good work in creating a sense of collective identity for inter faith organisations across the region. But it was clear to all who took an interest that it had only begun to plant the seeds for more helpful and creative things to come. Now all that potential has been snuffed out. Or has it? Now read on ...
After being ushered into Pat's office, I felt I had to begin by expressing my sadness, disappointment and anger at this decision. But as our conversation progressed this afternoon, it became clear that FFEM wasn't quite as dead and buried as it might at first have seemed. The office is closing at the end of February, giving them one month to pay all bills etc. And very nice office it is too, refurbished and kitted out (modestly but befittingly) to allow them to do their job well. It seemed odd to me that it's slap bang in the middle of a housing estate, next door to a chippie - but that's more likely so because I'm used to such organisations being located far from real life locations. So, come 1 April, FFEM won't have premises, paid staff or any funding. But it might not give up the ghost just then.
Although it's all up to the decision of their Board when it meets at the end of this week, there is the possibility of an afterlife for FFEM. Using the social media model, FFEM could continue to exist as a hub of influence, collecting and collating information from the several inter faith bodies in the East Midlands, locating it in a central virtual location. Given my own interest and faith in social media, not to mention my frequent and regular (or "obsessive") practice of it, I can really see the point of this and could see immediately how ti would work. Now if we can just get inter faith folk in Derby, Kettering Lincoln, Northamption, Nottingham, Wellingborough etc blogging, facebooking and tweeting like I do ...
- George M. Ballentyne, REDP Core Partner
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Another REDP Away Day: "What about the workers?"
Following on from the Away Day we had for the REDP on 20th January, we had another one, just for members of the Working Group. We're meeting at Leicester LGBT Centre, Wellington Street. The centre is having their ground floor cafe renovated, which has led to the entry buzzer not working and (more worryingly) a lot of rattling and shaking in the training room, right above where the work is being carried out. Despite one or two scares, the floor didn't give way, thankfully!
Our group today comprises Tahera, Chino, Kelly, Carolyn, Tonia (l-r, photo above) and Laura (REDP Project Manager, far right). Liz Harrison was missing today. As with the last meeting, Bob Clarke is our facilitator.
The Working Group carries out most of the day-to-day work of REDP, including circulating papers published by central government and coordinating responses to them, from the Core Partners and the wider Core Reference Group. Our discussion today homes in on ways to help make the group work more effectively. Not that it isn't effective now - but no matter how good something is, it can always get better!
- George M. Ballenyne, REDP Core Partner.
REDP Equality Update Event - Nottinghamshire
Find out more about the 2011 Census:
http://2011.census.gov.uk/
- George M Ballentyne, REDP Core Partner
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