As a disabled person, when you first start talking to a non-disabled person about the barriers to your participation, you can be met with the response, ‘I thought that’s all sorted now. ’ If you suggest they take a look at 20 shops locally, chances are they’ll find many are not physically accessible. And that’s just a high street. 

Euan’s Guide carry out a survey asking disabled people in the UK about their experiences. Their latest research shows there’s a long way to go, as many of us know. For example:

• 70% said the lack of disabled access has directly affected plans or aspirations
• 78% are not confident when visiting new places in terms of accessibility
• Only 7% felt positive about the new government making things better.

Our guest this month, Kiki McDonald, co-founder of Euan’s Guide with her late brother Euan, says, “disabled people are still having to fight for disabled access information and access to everyday places, be it a train or a restaurant. Accessibility should be a right, not a privilege.” 

With Kiki, we talk about the survey results in detail. We also reflect with Kiki about the impact and joy of Euan McDonald.

Links  

 EuansGuide.com

Survey Results 

BBC Reporting on Euan’s death

Isn’t it great when you speak with someone and they are on your wavelength, but are also so wise that they make you think a little harder?

Our guest this month is one of these people. Celia Chartes-Aris is all about policy, research and law. Her impressive impact led to her being crowned No. 1 on the Disability Power 100 list in 2025. However, her real power lies behind the scenes, being well-connected and acting as an advisor to UK and international governments and organisations, where she advocates for the improvement of Disability equity.

Celia is still relatively young and has a lower life expectancy due to a complex health condition. Whilst she doesn’t appear in a hurry, she is working at a furious pace. We get to explore what drives her, including when she discovered what ableism was and how it became a fundamental driver for her.  We delve into the difficult topics, asking whether the stigma attached to disability will ever be removed and why intersectionality is so far behind in disability advocacy. Celia also tells us how she became a campaigner to restore the Minister for Disability in the UK Government after the post was axed. 

Links

Power 100 Celia

BBC Celia becoming Power 100 no.1

LinkedIn Celia

Access2Funding 

Disabled by Society

Celia Linktr.ee 

The second part of this month’s show is all about Phil’s recent trip to Malaga.

After meticulous planning, Phil and Sue, his wife, set off for some winter sunshine. On landing, a broken powered wheelchair meant limitation, frustration, moments of kindness and a lot of stress and cost.

How did Phil and Sue manage?

So, will they ever fly again? Let's just say the train to Spain is suddenly looking very attractive.

Links:

Ilunion Hotel

Global Disability Summit 2025, Berlin

This month, we’re splitting the show into two parts. First up, Simon recently attended the 3rd Global Disability Summit in Berlin. Simon found himself out of the loop, having not attended an event like this for a decade. As is often the case with huge multi-national conferences, they are overwhelming at times, brilliant for meeting people, and have fantastic speakers, but not so good ones. They highlight what needs to be done to progress disability inclusion and where different countries and regions are currently. Simon gives us the highs and lows, whilst Phil wonders what might be done to improve things.

We shall send you part two in two weeks, which features Phil’s trip to Malaga. 

https://www.globaldisabilitysummit.org/

https://www.disabilitydebrief.org/debrief/gds2025/?ref=disability-debrief-newsletter

Somewhere near the Blue Mountains, just outside Sydney, Australia, something special is happening in production. Our guest, Henry Smith, shares insights about it and the organisation he has co-founded, Inclusively Made. 

Henry and his partner, Genevieve Clay-Smith, have been creating human-centred films for many years. Henry explains how Genevieve initially stumbled upon working with talented disabled individuals, first by accident. Realising that this experience was enjoyable and not frequent enough, they decided to pursue it intentionally. They recognised the need to share the experiences and knowledge they have gained with others through Inclusively Made. It encompasses the entire production process and involves everyone. It is no longer about telling people why they should be involved; rather, it focuses on how to do so. 

Inclusively Made aims to make inclusive production business as usual in the global production and entertainment industries. In just 12 months, they have had a huge impact. Henry shares his thoughts on the progress made so far and his plans for the future.

Links

Inclusively Made website 

Taste Creative

A bit more about Henry and Genevieve 

Inclusively Made Instagram 

Henry LinkedIn

Genevieve LinkedIn

It is often said that politicians only think short-term. However, twenty years ago, the Labour government released a report titled “Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People.” This cross-government strategy outlined a programme to enhance the opportunities and life chances for disabled individuals by 2025. The aim was that this year, disabled people in Britain would have full opportunities and choices to improve their quality of life and be respected and included as equal members of society.  

We ask whether it succeeded in its aim and wonder why there isn’t a piece of research (that we know of) showing what has changed. 

Barclays recently made headlines with its mystery shopping contract with Ipsos. The bank informed Ipsos that they’d rather some mystery shoppers be blind or deaf; however if that wasn't possible, individuals could simulate the conditions of being blind or deaf. We discuss the pros and mainly the cons of ‘cropping up’. 

Finally, we preview some of the guests who will be coming to the show in 2025. 

Links

Summary of Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People on Navigator 

Transport for All Roadmap to achieving Disability equality by 2025

Guardian reports on Barclays using non-disabled people pretending to be disabled 

Article (from 1998 and still relevant) on the pros and cons of disability simulation exercises by Kevin Donnellon on Medium 

On Friday, 29th November, Members of Parliament voted in favour of a bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. Phil, who is part of Not Dead Yet, an organisation that opposed the bill, gives us an update. He was also at the demonstration outside Westminster Palace. 

On our last podcast, our guest Peter Torres Fremlin said that sometimes, as disabled advocates, we need to mature and accept people’s motives, which might not be the same as ours, but a win is a win. We debate some moments of possible recent hypocrisy, i.e. funding for Not Dead Yet and the Shaw Trust Power 100 awards. 

We talk about our favourite podcast of this year, plus our most listened-to show and what our best moment of disability inclusion was. All wrapped up in a bow, this is our present to you this Christmas. Thank you for listening and your support. 

Links

BBC Who will scrutinise the Assisted Dying bill?

BBC Parliament votes live updates on the day

Not Dead Yet UK
Chelsea Roff

Disability Power 100 list

The Way We Roll podcasts we mention

International Perspectives with Susan Scott-Parker and Peter Torres Fremlin

Former CEO and Chair of Scope, Richard Hawkins and Alice Maynard 

Disability and Shame 

Talking with Motability Operations CEO Andrew Miller

This month, to coincide with the International Day of Persons with a Disability 2024, we will explore the international progress of disability inclusion with our two guests.

Susan Scott Parker is a renowned global expert and an authoritative voice on disability and its effects on global business.

Peter Torres Fremlin is the editor of Disability Debrief, a newsletter that reports on disability news from around the world and the people who are making change happen.

We asked Susan and Peter about the persistent challenges. Are the large NGO’s and the conferences effective? Conversely, are the Organisations of Disabled People equipped to campaign, advocate and deliver? How can disability discrimination be recognised as a human rights issue and not optional? There’s money sloshing around; is it spent wisely? There are success stories to enjoy, a few less celebratory examples, and an acknowledgement that the search is on for new disability leaders.

We also discover our guests' love of poetry, a biography of Stalin being on a beach (maybe) and being on safari (definitely). 

Despite this being a substantial show, we realise there’s so much we didn’t cover: disabled people’s positioning in societies, poverty, access to education and healthcare and whether we go broad enough in terms of regions, to name a few. Nevertheless, there’s plenty in the show to think about. 

Peter Links 

Website Desability 

Peter’s X handle 

Peter LinkedIn page 

Disability Debrief

Fall With Me poem

Susan links

Business Disability International 

Susan LinkedIn page

Scott Parker Goes Live podcast 

Links

International Disability Alliance crisis

International Labour Organisation Global Business Disability Network  

We were very sorry to hear of the recent passing of Euan MacDonald MBE. Among Euan’s many achievements was the creation of Euan’s Guide, the award-winning disabled access charity. Perhaps best known for the disabled access review website EuansGuide.com, they also make accessible toilets safer and carry out a huge Access Survey. We remember Euan and talk about his impact.

We’re delighted to welcome back Abbi Brown, although for not the best of reasons. We spoke in July this year about Abbi becoming trapped in her East London flat after the lift in her block was broken, and the property management company were less than useless in helping. Abbi talks us through what she endured, what she had to do and she updates us on the current situation.

Phil wants some winter sun and talks about ageing, disability and difficulty finding the right place to stay. He also talks about being a proud grandfather, after one of his many amazing grandchildren’s recent success in kart racing. Move over, Lewis Hamilton; Albie Friend needs a seat.

Links

About Euan’s Guide (they are on X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn too)

Euan MacDonald Wikipedia 

BBC on Euan 

BBC Abbi Brown story 

Abbi Brown on X

When Abbi Brown was our guest 

Albie Friend Instagram

Since its launch in 2019, the Valuable 500 has signed up more than five hundred senior executives from worldwide companies and organisations to put disability on the board agenda. So far, so pretty good. But as the Valuable 500 matures, it is now asking more of its members and wants them to report back on progress. It is holding a meeting in Tokyo in December 2025.

At the centre of this is our guest, Stephane Leblois, Chief Community and Programmes Officer for Valuable 500. Stephane leads programme development and community building, playing a pivotal role in rallying for progress and fostering accountability among the members.

We asked Stephane how he got involved in disability inclusion and about his relationship with disability. He tells us about fantastic examples of inclusive practice, from a multinational pharmaceutical company to a prestigious hotel in Scotland. These trailblazers share their knowledge and become known as the ‘Iconics’.

But what do you do about the companies that sign up but don’t make any meaningful change – is that purple washing? How do you harmonise more than 500 organisations' disability inclusion efforts when they are in different places geographically and in terms of resources? Luckily, Stephane has the answers.

Links

https://www.thevaluable500.com

https://www.thevaluable500.com/about

https://disabilitypower100.com/project/stephane-leblois/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaneleblois/