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Stop letting down disabled people! Local charity responds to House of Lords
report
NATIONAL disabled people's charity Revitalise; which runs the Sandpipers respite
holiday centre in Southport; has responded to the House of Lords report:- "The
Equality Act 2010: the impact on disabled people" and echoed its call for
society to become more inclusive and accessible for disabled people."
The charity is citing a number of recent studies which back up the Lords
Committee's finding that the 'Equality Act' and public venues are failing in
their duty of care to disabled people.
In a study of visitor attractions, Revitalise found that just 17% of the UK's
most visited attractions had all their staff trained in disability awareness and
65% of disabled people had decided against visiting a tourist attraction because
they found their accessibility information to be insufficient, confusing or
difficult to obtain.
The charity also found similar problems on the high street, where over half
(55%) of disabled people had experienced negative or unwelcoming treatment from
shop staff.
Most recently, Revitalise discovered that the world of sport fared no better.
The charity found that only 3 football clubs in the Premiership; the world's
richest football league; had the recommended number of spaces for wheelchair
users, in accordance with guidelines that have been in existence for over 10
years.
In the light of its own research and echoing the recommendations of the Lords
Report, Revitalise is urging all public venues to up their game when it comes to
their obligations under the Equality Act and stop letting down disabled people.
Revitalise Chief Executive Chris Simmonds said:- "This new report makes very
sobering reading indeed. It has been 6 years since the launch of the Equality
Act and only four years since the huge outpouring of public goodwill towards
disabled people during the 2012 London Paralympics. Now, in the run up to the
Rio Paralympics, it is very disheartening to find that however far we think we
have come in making society more open and accessible for disabled people, we
haven't come nearly far enough. Can our public venues really afford to ignore
the needs of disabled people? The spending power of disabled people is worth
around £212 billion annually to the national economy, but public venues risk
losing out on this valuable income by not making simple and reasonable
adjustments for disabled people, as they are obliged to under the Equality Act.
So there is an economic as well as moral argument for public venues to do more
for their disabled customers. Disabled people have every right to expect the
same choices and opportunities as anyone else; is this too much to ask?"
Revitalise is a national charity providing respite holidays for disabled people
and carers, combining 24 hour nurse led care with a real holiday experience, at
Sandpipers and 2 other accessible UK centres. Excursions are an integral part
of the experience and Revitalise makes a thorough assessment of the
accessibility arrangements of each destination to which it takes its guests.
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