The Way We Roll

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/

Our guests this month are Alice Maynard and Richard Hawkes, formerly of Scope, a leading disability charity in the UK. In 2010, Alice became Chair, and shortly after, Richard joined as Chief Executive Officer. 

During their time leading Scope, it went through a significant transformation and a turbulent time. Significant changes included closing services used by disabled people, which attracted praise and condemnation. Getting the organisation on a stronger footing by restoring its reserves and the modernisation of processes and policies were significant but less visible. We talk to Alice and Richard about how they formed a formidable and effective partnership to achieve their aims whilst facing many challengers.  

We ask them both about how (and why) they joined Scope and what they achieved and are proud of. We explore being strategic and bold and going against those who love you. There are some revealing tales of their time working together.  

We also explore today’s challenges, what can organisations do better and what their leadership philosophies are.  

 Links

 Alice Maynard LinkedIn

 Future Inclusion

 Richard Hawkes LinkedIn

 British Asian Trust 

 Richard on X

 Scope

 Scope History

 Civil Society Media on the closures 2015 

Phil speaks of his disheartening recent experiences at A&E at his local NHS hospital. We grapple with the oh-so-simple task of trying to make the NHS better, as it feels like it’s broken, and how that can break us. 

A previous guest and friend of the pod, Abbi Brown, was recently trapped in her flat for days. The lift in her block was broken, and although there was another lift, it was beyond a locked door, and her property managers refused her access. Abbi is a wheelchair user and has now regained her independence. We talk about the nonsensical rules, why people avoid making decisions and the feeling of powerlessness and fury when we’re trapped.

Finally, a brief look at the DWPs Disability Confidence. Reports show it’s not making a difference. 

Links

BBC Abbi Brown story 

Abbi Brown on X

When Abbi Brown was our guest 

The NHS is Broken Wes Streeting MP

NHS Accident and Emergency

Nye at the National Theatre 

Disability Confidence DWP 

Disability Debrief - Disability Confidence not changing anything 

If we’re lucky in life, we might find a role that makes sense to us and makes a difference to others. Our guest this month has achieved that and more.  A huge music fan, especially of live music, and a disabled person who’d experienced barriers accessing gigs, Suzanne Bull MBE founded Attitude it Everything in 2000. It a charitable organisation which connects disabled people with music and live events industries, to improve access together. Suzanne tells us how it started, who helped and some of the many fantastic achievements to date. 

 Then, as the pandemic took hold in the UK, Suzanne was diagnosed with breast cancer. She tells us of the triple whammy of having such a diagnosis, of being a disabled woman with access needs, and it being the start of a global pandemic. Suzanne has found another passion, which she regularly blogs about. She kindly spent some time with us talking about the topic. 

Links

 Attitude Is Everything

 Attitude is Everything story

 Creative United

Someone's Survival Guide

Blog The Musings of Spu 

Banco de Gaia

 Whirl-y-gig

 LinkedIn 

 Twitter X 

 RIDC research Accessible Events 

We’ve had a show like this before, where we ask what the UK government are doing when it comes to disability and why now. We’re not sure they know what they are doing. 

PM Rishi Sunak has ‘started a conversation’ on reviewing Personal Independence Payment, the main disability benefit in the UK. He decided to start this just before the local elections and also knowing it cannot be finished before the next general election. The Guardian calls it a ‘full-on assault on disabled people’ and The Telegraph, ‘a benefits crackdown’. It appears to be aimed at people with mental health and neurological conditions, who now make up 49% of all PIP claim assessments, compared to 26% of those with muscular-skeletal conditions. 

The United Nations doesn’t cut the UK government much slack either, reporting that ‘it has made' no significant progress in more than seven years since it was found guilty of grave and systematic violations of the UN disability convention.’

Join us as we delve into the issues and talk about the perception and impact now and in the future.  

(At the time of recording, the Prime Minister hadn’t announced the general election, which is happening on 4th July 2024)

Links

BBC Ros Atkins video on PIP review

BBC Proposed changes to PIP

The Telegraph PIP Review

The Guardian PIP Review

Disability News Service ‘Seven years on and no progress on disability rights by UK government, says UN’

Disability Rights UK UN Rapporteurs Question UK Government Over Benefits Deaths and Austerity

Human Rights Watch UN Body Calls on UK to End Detention of People with Disabilities

Admitting shame is a tough thing to do. Perhaps as complex as the shameful experience itself? Clearly, it is not unique to disabled people. Is there something more with us? An additional new perceived weakness, or from internalised ableism, it is hard to ignore but easier to deny. Stigma and societal attitudes can mean we have it thrust upon us if a person, on finding out we are disabled, says, ‘What a shame.’ 

Two people inspired the topic of shame in our latest show. Natalie Illsey, a disabled creative in the US, emailed us to ask how we feel about people saying, ‘What a shame’. Damon Rose, a BBC journalist, said to Simon that we should discuss how we feel about shame.

We hope you enjoy our thoughts, which were influenced by Natalie and Damon. We’d love to get your feedback on this most difficult topic, so email us at [email protected] or find us on social media, The Way We Roll.

Links

Counselling for Disabled People SpokzPeople 

Natalie Illsey LinkedIn

Damon Rose