Activism and Campaigning

April 4, 2014 0

First on board with RNIB bus charter

A bus company has become the first national operator to sign a new charter that aims to ensure services are accessible to blind and partially-sighted passengers. First UK Bus has won praise from RNIB after joining local operators Reading Bus and Kinchbus in signing the bus charter, which was launched this week at First’s

March 8, 2014 0

‘Brutal’ new death sentence for ILF, but activists vow to fight on

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Disabled campaigners have vowed to fight on in the battle to save the Independent Living Fund (ILF), despite the government deciding to go ahead with its closure. Mike Penning, the Conservative minister for disabled people, told MPs today (6 March) in a written statement that he wanted to close ILF next year, despite the

Activism and Campaigning

February 28, 2014 0

WOW petition debate: Campaigners ready to plot their next move

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Activists hope an historic House of Commons debate will prove a significant step towards forcing the government to assess the overall impact of its welfare reforms on disabled people, and to scrap the hated “fitness for work” test. Backbench MPs agreed to hold this week’s debate after more than 100,000 people added their names

Activism and Campaigning

February 28, 2014 0

UKDPC ‘fends off insolvency’

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One of the UK’s two major disabled people’s representative organisations appears to have staved off the threat of insolvency. UK Disabled People’s Council (UKDPC) lost its last paid member of staff last summer, when its chief executive Jaspal Dhani was made redundant, and since then has been run by trustees and volunteers. It has

Activism and Campaigning

February 21, 2014 0

Tight lips among Atos staff as protesters tell them ‘enough is enough’

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Staff working for the outsourcing giant Atos refused to comment this week as disabled activists protested outside their head office about the company’s involvement with the government’s “fitness for work” test. The protest near Euston station in London was one of scores held around the country, all inspired by a disabled activist from Leeds,

Activism and Campaigning

February 21, 2014 0

Whistles, ripples… and a giant inflatable rat, as Atos faces day of action

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Activists have staged demonstrations at scores of locations across the country to highlight how a government contractor has “humiliated” disabled benefits claimants, and to call for the abolition of the “fitness for work” test. The national day of action saw an estimated 60 protests outside offices used by Atos Healthcare, including actions in Bradford,

Activism and Campaigning

February 14, 2014 0

Council keeps passengers waiting… and waiting… for an accessible taxi

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Disabled campaigners are calling on a city council to give them a wider choice of public transport, after a five-year delay in deciding whether to license a more accessible type of black cab. Coventry city council has been accused of breaching discrimination laws over its long-standing refusal to licence larger, more accessible vehicles as

Activism and Campaigning

February 14, 2014 0

Disabled people’s manifesto calls for ‘drastic change of EU policy’

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Millions of disabled people have been thrown into poverty and social exclusion by the European Union’s attempts to recover from the economic crisis, according to Europe’s leading disabled people’s organisation. The European Disability Forum (EDF) spoke out as it launched its manifesto for the upcoming European elections, laying out six policy priorities that it

Activism and Campaigning

February 7, 2014 0

Self-advocacy group seeks answers from People First England project

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Plans to set up a new user-led organisation for people with learning difficulties in England have been described by an existing national group as “divisive” and “damaging” to the self-advocacy movement. Disabled activists Gary Bourlet and Kaliya Franklin told last month how they were hoping to raise more than £50,000 to set up People

Activism and Campaigning

February 7, 2014 0

High-heels, swallowing the lies, and a bedroom protest

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High-heels, institutional abuse, independent living, a bedroom tax protest, and a blunt challenge to the idea of pity… The subjects of the 800 images created by disabled people for the Postcards from the Edge project range across themes of communication, discrimination, hope, loneliness, independence, despair and what it means to be human. The project,

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