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A disabled Conservative campaigner who is battling to save the Independent Living Fund (ILF) has accused her own party of avoiding the “hot potato” issue of social care. ILF-user Mary Laver travelled from her home on the edge of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to […]
A disabled charity boss has described the “uphill battle” she has faced in trying to persuade the NHS to improve its wheelchair services for disabled children. Ruth Owen, chief executive of Whizz-Kidz, told her charity’s fringe meeting at this week’s Conservative […]
A Tory MP has accused independent living equipment providers of “profiteering” by charging “eye-watering” prices, and described his frustration at failing to persuade Asda – a previous employer – to launch a range of cut-price disability aids. Philip Davies told a […]
Disabled people have been urged to press their own local authorities to debate coalition plans to close the Independent Living Fund (ILF), after a council voted to demand a rethink, following a campaign led by disabled people. Councillors in Bristol voted […]
A disabled artist is launching the UK’s first network of holiday cottages, all of which will be wheelchair-accessible and identical in every detail. The first Flat Spaces bungalow should be in place later this year beside a steam railway in the […]
New research funding could see disabled people become pioneers in a “new industrial revolution”, according to a user-led organisation. The funding has been secured by Disability Rights UK (DR UK), the University of Salford and the University of Dundee, for a […]
Disabled sports stars and campaigners have praised Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, pointing to impressive levels of access and the successful integration of mainstream and para-sports events. Disabled competitors from the five para-sports that were included in the games – athletics, powerlifting, track […]
Three disabled people have won permission for a new legal attempt to derail the government’s planned closure of the Independent Living Fund (ILF). Stuart Bracking, Gabriel Pepper and John Aspinall want the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to withdraw its […]
Only a small proportion of local authorities in England have put plans in place to ring-fence the money they will receive when the government shuts down the Independent Living Fund (ILF) next June, according to a new survey. Just 10 of […]
Disabled people’s organisations are in danger of becoming “servants” of their local authorities, as the government encourages them to compete for the right to provide council services, a user-led forum has warned. North Tyneside Disability Forum (NTDF) is concerned that council […]