At the double! A new lease of life for Sue and Anthony

IT’S DOUBLE delight for Sue and Anthony Peel after they took delivery of new lightweight wheelchairs, thanks to the Steve Morgan Foundation

The couple, who live in Northwich, were both finding it difficult to manoeuvre their manual wheelchairs But they could only afford £2,500 of the £16K cost of the new DaVinci chairs with powered trike adaptations so in stepped the Steve Morgan Foundation’s Enable Fund Anthony, 55, said: “The new wheelchairs are amazing and have really improved our quality of life

“We are very grateful to the Steve Morgan Foundation We can’t wait to start getting out and about again ”

Debbie Corbett, Enable Grants Manager at the Steve Morgan Foundation, said: “The Enable Fund was set up to help people like Anthony and Sue

“Being mobile is something most of us take for granted We are delighted to to help ”

FREEDOM: New funding will help disabled people all across North Wales

On the road to independence

THE FDF Centre for Independent Living, previously known as Flintshire Disability Forum, has been helping disabled and disadvantaged people for more than 20 years.

Based in Mold, they originally focused on Flintshire and Wrexham but 18 months ago expanded to cover the whole of North Wales

To help with the increased demand, the Steve Morgan Foundation has awarded

£78K boost for blind group

the charity £53,000 over three years towards the salary of the chief officer Current chief officer Jan Thomas said: “The Steve Morgan Foundation has supported us for the last six years Without the Foundation the charity would have closed

“We get up to 20 referrals a day so the demand is there We guarantee to respond within 72 hours, reassuring disabled people that help is on its way ”

WIRRAL Society of the Blind and Partially Sighted has been awarded more than £78,000 by the Steve Morgan Foundation

The group support around 300 people every month, providing practical, social and emotional support

Over the past year they have witnessed a surge in demand for their services

As a result, the charity applied to the Steve Morgan Foundation for £78,726 to pay the three-year salary of a supervisor for the day-to-day running of their Birkenhead centre

Ruth Dixon, projects manager at the Steve Morgan Foundation, said: “The centre has been extended and transformed into a bright, welcoming building It’s a focal point of the community and is a lifeline for its users ”

The group also runs an eye unit at Wirral University Teaching Hospital

No

PLANS to remove guards from trains, cut staff and shut ticket offices will stop many disabled passengers using the railways and put lives at risk, the Transport Minister has been warned

The warning was delivered to Mark Harper – who is a former minister for disabled people – along with a petition backed by more than 90 organisations

Reforms proposed by the Government would also be discriminatory, insists the National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK)

Reports have suggested the measures are likely to see about four fifths of ticket offices closing, whie campaigners led by the Association of British Commuters have called on the Equality and Human Rights Commission to take “urgent action” on railway staffing

NFBUK said the Government’s proposals were “unacceptable, unsafe and unworkable”

Organisations backing the petition include disabled and older people’s groups, and others representing blind and visually impaired people

NFBUK member Kevin Greenan, from Middleton, Greater Manchester, said he would not be able to use trains if there were no guards on board

He said: “I wouldn’t know where the train was coming from or going to and sometimes the station announcements aren’t very clear because they are automated “

Sarah Leadbetter, NFBUK’s campaigns officer, said lives would be at risk if the Government went ahead with its plans

Only a few days ago, a blind friend of hers was left badly bruised when she slipped between a train and the platform at an unstaffed station and had to be grabbed by another passenger before she fell onto the tracks

A DfT spokesperson said: “The safety and security of all rail passengers will always be top priority on our railways

“We are working with industry to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from behind ticket offices and onto stations to provide more face-to-face help and assistance ”

How rights were won

THE story of how a social movement helped bring about the landmark Disability Discrimination Act is to be captured for future generations.

A four-year project will tell the unique social history of the disability rights movement in the UK, which had a crucial role to play in the passing of the 1995 law.

Shape Arts has been awarded an £840,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to create an accessible and interactive website dedicated to the movement.

The project will add to the National Disability Arts Collection & Archive, created by Shape Arts through a previous Heritage Fund enterprise in 2018.