Shortlist announced for 2007 Awards

We are delighted to announce that we now have a shortlist for The Way To Be Awards 2007. The details of their nominations will be sent to the independent judge who will choose the overall winner







The shortlist is:



Granta Punt and Canoe Hire, Newnham



Lakeland, Sidney Street



La Mimosa restaurant, Thompsons Lane



Lion Yard Car Park Attendants



Papworth Brownie Guides

Many thanks to everybody who sent in a nomination this year - they made wonderful reading.

Congratulations to everyone who was nominated - you have all made Cambridge a better place to live and work.

We look forward to seeing all the participants at the award ceremony, which will be hosted by Councillor Jenny Bailey (photo right), the Mayor of Cambridge.

The overall winner will be announced at the award ceremony in the Foyer of the Cambridge Corn Exchange on November 21st 4.30- 6.00pm.

The presentations will be made by Ruth Everard, who will be back in her home town of Cambridge to talk to us, despite the fact that the innovative wheelchairs designed by her engineer father which took her to Sawston Village College and Long Road Sixth Form College have lead her astray to the City of London via a law degree at Oxford University. (sorry about that, but the truth must be told. Ed)

Treasures of Pleasure and Leisure in Cambridge thanks to the University

The final batch of nominations for TW2B 2007 included two famous assets of the city, and it was good to learn that they are being recommended by disabled visitors.

We have had a nomination for the University Botanic Gardens, and this is the second time it has been recommended for the special tours they arrange for visitors with visual impairment. To quote from the nomination form:

"They offer free monthly guided walks for visually impaired people. These focus on non-visual aspects of the garden and include smelling highly scented plants, stroking bark and bird song. Staff and volunteers are sensitive to the needs of visually impaired people."

I first went to the Botanics soon after I moved here because I signed up as a volunteer for Crossroads and I was given the job of taking a gentleman out in a wheelchair. He knew Cambridge like the back of his hand, but could not speak following a stroke, so I just followed his hand signals, and one day found myself in the Gardens. It was wonderful!

On another occasion he directed me to the Fitzwilliam Museum, only in those days we had to go round the back, via the goods entrance, where apparently this gentleman was a familiar sight, judging from the greetings of various workers on their teabreak.
Nowadays things are very different, I'm glad to say, and as our nominator says:

" The museum is so accessible. The staff are friendly and helpful and the tea and cakes are lovely. I am a disabled person, I love art and this has opened up treasures on my doorstep."

Cambridge residents do indeed have treasures on our doorstep!

Rain or shine, this autumn, what are we waiting for?!

City Council has the Key

Did you know you can buy a RADAR key over the counter at the Guildhall Reception?

They cost just £1.50

No need to get caught out without one!

And it's not just toilets that you can easily use with one of these, but some shops and swimming pool changing rooms have introduced them for disabled customers.

From the Lakes to the Fens

Does anyone else remember a place called Lakeland Plastics, a small warehouse near Windermere station where you could buy freezer bags and all sort of plastic goods?
Well, the small Cumbrian firm has transformed itself, and has a branch in Cambridge which has been nominated by a partially-sighted customer.

Mark went to check it out, and as you can see from the photo (left) he is showing an unhealthy interest in the Hallowe'en catering range for gruesome snacks .

His visit showed good basic facilities for wheelchair users such as level access, automatic door opening, generous circulation space and low checkout counters.

What we could not know until our The Way To Be nomination came in was the helpful and discreet assistance offered to customers who need a bit of help to find and examine the goods.

Thought for the Day: Just as the Lakeland poet Wordsworth spoke of the inner eye that can recapture beautiful sights such as wild daffodils, we know how much it means to disabled customers to remember the kind words, actions and thoughtfulness celebrated in some of our many really great nominations.

Inclusion — A Delusion?

A week in the life of a Guide Dog owning, Braille reading, working lone parent.

Saturday – Food shopping – local supermarket has Braille on a number of items now so this makes it easy to find the unsmoked bacon, and the vegetable lasagne ready meal. After lunch Guide Dog puppy walker takes Wade (my Guide Dog), out with her puppy. Take taxi to Funky Fun House to drop off my daughter at noisy 7 year-old’s party. Meet another parent from school who offers a lift to shopping Centre. Trainer shopping. Buy hockey stick and shin pads. Son then practices at home – in the front room! Guide Dog and puppy come back and we puppy sit for the evening.

Sunday – Wade is not up for working today. A 6 year-old dog just can’t take the pace of a puppy! We walk into city centre. Children select a favourite café to go for lunch. As we enter we are told we cannot come in because of the dog. I say we can because Wade is a Guide Dog. We sit and start to select our food. The waitress again states we cannot be there. I say it is the law that we can. The waitress again returns and says she is happy for us to be there, but the manager has said we cannot. Children are totally upset and we leave. They refuse to go into another café. We sit on a bench and they eat hot dogs. We go to bookshop and they cheer up as they spend yet more of their Christmas money on books! How has it lasted so long? I ask if its O.K. for me to go into bookshop café for a hot chocolate. They spot muffins and their mood changes about cafes! The staff are very pleased to have Wade and say how lovely he is. He behaves as a Guide Dog should – thank goodness!

Monday – I don’t like Mondays. However organised the uniforms are, the homework, the lunch, it is still always chaos. We make it on time to school but then a bus passes me a few metres before the stop. It is my lucky day as within 30 seconds another one arrives. It is crowded and I am standing with dog. Next stop a mother wants to get on with pushchair. Driver asks if someone will please assist by moving and allowing me and mother with child to get a seat.

Only 26 emails today, 2 meetings and more paperwork regarding my Support Worker – employed to help me with paperwork! Something crazy about the Department of Work and Pensions creating so much paperwork around their scheme to provide support to visually impaired people who have difficulty with – yes, paperwork!

Between meetings I return to café where I was sent away from yesterday. Owner is there. He is not apologetic, talks over me, and only after prompting by Ann, my colleague, takes the information I have printed off about the Disability Discrimination Act as it relates to visually impaired people and Guide Dogs. I explain that the problem with disability is being refused entry to places, having your children embarrassed about going places because of the fuss that occurs. He says he knows, his mother is disabled.

Tuesday – Stephanie starts work after school. The County Council have funded 6 hours of support to assist me in my parenting role. Childrens homework may now get completed and they will get the help they deserve. She is 23, has energy beyond my understanding, and stains on uniforms, and untidiness is removed in minutes! Paperwork around her employment foxes me again. Have to contact the Rowan Organisation to get help. They are great and patient with my mental blocks about forms. Feel it should be easier for me dealing with this sort of thing at work, but just seems to be worse with so many forms and processes to get my head around.

Wednesday – My long day at work and children are collected by after school club, then go to have supper with their father. Arrive back bickering over who will give cabbage to the guinea pigs! My brother calls to say he is going to have an operation on his knee. The nurse at the hospital filled in a form with him, asked about his blind registration and how much he could see. She then explained he would not be able to drive for 24 hours after the op. He says it will be great if he can drive 24 hours after the op! So many times people ask about your visual impairment and then ask about your driving skills!

Thursday – No work today! I am as usual exhausted and there are so many phone calls and letters to follow up. No email or internet connection on my computer. Second time in two months and yet I am paying a large amount to have reliable broadband service. Cannot sort it as noone here who can tell what the lights on the modem are doing. Bathroom tap is wobbly and dripping – where do I find a plumber?

Friday – get up early as I am being paid by another organisation today to go and do interviews. My son appears, has temperature and a throat that sounds like a rusty saw. Have to phone and say I cannot make interview panel. I don’t suppose they will ask me again. I reassure my son that it is not a problem and say he is my priority, (but could have done with the extra money). He wants to bath the dog. We manage to lift 32 kg dog into bath and have a great time – even the dog. Spend 45 minutes on the phone regarding computer internet connection. Son relays information about flashing lights, screen etc. They say after all this that we need an engineer. So no internet food shopping this weekend. Go to friends house for a curry and discuss the joys of being working lone parents before I leave to go to bed at 9.00!!

Lynne Hester

Nominate Cambridge sportspeople

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Sports Awards 2007 have rolled around again and nominations are now open for the

• Sports Performer with a Disability

award, which carries a prize of a £100 grant towards their development, a trophy and sports kit.

Nomination form (PDF, 260kb) from the Living Sport website.

Do the Funky Flamingo

communitycare.co.uk has a great story about a visit to Cambridge's Funky Flamingo club, which is a regular night club held at The Junction venue, organised and run by disabled adults and young people from Cambridgeshire and beyond.

David Fry of United Response (who are a national organisation which supports people with learning disabilities or mental health needs to live in the community) travelled from London for an all-day fundraiser. He says:

There was karaoke and live music, which I love because I am a big music fan. They were raising money so they could throw a Halloween party as well as fund Funky TV, a TV channel for people with learning disabilities.

The best thing about the event was how friendly it was. I like doing lots of different things in my spare time with all sorts of people. But sometimes it's nice to go to a place where people with learning difficulties are very welcome.

One of the first people I spoke to was Amanda Kleherer from the charity Inspire, which organised the event. She says: "Funky Flamingo isn't about being different or exclusive," she says. "It's meant to be just as much fun whether you have a learning disability or not. I've got friends who came to our club night and didn't know anyone who had a learning disability before, but they ended up loving it."

When I was younger I didn't know about anything like this. I think it would have been really fun if I'd been able to go to events like this and meet new people. I talked to a man called Darren Moore, who performs at the events as a Tom Jones impersonator and also helps organise them.

Darren says: "My advice to everyone would be 'get involved'. It takes a lot of organising, but they train you to help and it's all worth it. I've had so much fun."

Much more about the Club, what's on, what's planned for the future and how to get involved on the busy Funky Flamingo website.

Wheels on Fire : Mayor Bailey visits the Dragon's Lair

One of the sponsors of TW2B Cambridge 2007 is local engineering firm Dragonmobility, and the Mayor of Cambridge, who is herself an engineer, went along to see how they make their distinctive brand of life-changing wheelchairs in a small workshop behind the Aldi carpark on Histon Road.

Dragon wheelchairs are a unique combination of physics and psychology. It seems to be as important to identify the right person and the right family as it is to engineer the individual seating and steering mechanism.


Young Irving is a good example of this, and he met Mayor Jenny Bailey during her visit, demonstrating the freedom that a Dragon chair can give to a child with disabilities, even if that includes the freedom to make mistakes as well as friends, have accidents as well as have fun!

Ruth Everard, is another example, although in her case the technology that gave a her the chance to be defiant at storytime in Trumpington playgroup when she was four has since then enabled her to get a law degree from Oxford and a high-flying job as a solicitor in Canary Wharf.

Cambridge Hospitality To Be Proud Of

Last year TW2B awards attracted several taxidrivers and small shops. This year we have two Cambridge restaurants on the list of nominees, which is good news if you like good food!

We have had a nomination for La Mimosa restaurant, and by coincidence my father chose if for his 86th birthday lunch this week, so I was interested to meet Dom the proprietor and see his team in action.
Certainly the place is physically accessible, in a lovely location by the river at the end of Thompson's Lane.

The welcome was very warm and staff very attentive, and as it happened my father had rather overdone his eardrops and couldn't hear properly, but the waiter was very courteous and it was clear to me that customers with hearing problems are in safe hands as well!

We have also had a nomination for Brown's in Trumpington Street. I myself was pleased to see this one come in, as I was invited to lunch there by a friend some years ago. MS meant that my friend used a powerchair and had difficulty with his speech, but it was noticeable that the staff at Brown's addressed him throughout as he was the host, (he was paying, after all!) and we had a most agreeable meal. Obviously their tradition of good manners continues.

The ramp and automatic doors make it physically accessible of course, but as ever it is the attitude of the staff that lead to a nomination for TW2B.

If anyone reading this has personal experiences of Mimosa, Brown's or any other businesses featured in this blog, please do add your comments or make a nomination.

The warmth of Mill Road's culinary melting pot

Last year we had several neighbourhood shops nominated for TW2B award, and the other week I went to visit one, Al Amin in Mill Road to see what it was like. I was immediately struck by the extraordinary range of food on sale, and the friendly welcoming staff who managed to help customers without being 'pushy'.

You certainly don't have to be disabled to enjoy shopping at Al Amin, but I could easily see why they were nominated last year by a regular customer whose shopping they carried home free of charge after an operation made things difficult, and at other times she reported "they make a point of putting my shopping in two evenly balanced bags so that I carry it easily".
It's this sort of practical help that we want to encourage!

Good Sports - Team Games

I follow the 3 great team sports, Rugby Union, cricket and Association (as the rules were formulated in Cambridge) and in 10 days this month I witnessed the access at 3 great grounds.

First there was the Trent Bridge test match, the Nottingham ground has buildings of mixed ages and room for disabled spectators at several places. During one visit I was given rather inadequate seating, where the person I attended with could sit any nearer than 15 metres from me, but on this year's visit I had a prime seat. In a new stand, with lift service to every floor, we sat 5 metres from the commentary box and at the same level. This did mean the seating fell from us at a steep angle, giving a slight sense of vertigo (though there was railing to prevent sudden falls). We sat listening to the commentary on pigeons, buses and Spitfires and seeing the action from the same perspectives as Aggers, Boycs, Angus Fraser and Sunil Gavesker, who we bumped into in the lobby behind the stand.

In fact the only inaccessible place was the pitch, which had been a duckpond the day before and so we did not see those past and present Northamptonshire greats Panesar, Kumble and Ganguly until 3pm. So a ground with mixed access, but certainly some positions which could not be faulted.

The next trips were to Twickenham, to see first Wales then France prepare for the World Cup. Twickenham welcomes disabled guests, providing free tickets, good parking and a range of facilities. Up to 18 months ago the stadium had 3 main seating areas, alongside the pitch, in the corners at the top of the lowest tier of seating which was a wonderful view and well sheltered and on the halfway line underneath the second tier of seating. Yet with the completion of the ground seemingly the first tier corner seating has disappeared, leaving only the climate exposed pitchside seating. Pitchside seating is good because you see the players up close, but because it is slightly lower than pitch level, once the ball is away from you, you have no perspective of where the ball is, or how the players are in relation to each other. I'm surprised the Twickenham access consultant, planning and building control officers allowed this removal of choice as Part M of the Building Regulations say no adaptation of a building can be made that worsens disabled access.

Then the last visit was to the `New' Wembley to see the forces of good, Chelsea Football Club play the hoards of hell, the Red Devils of Manchester United. Its not an impressive stadium, being in an industrial estate and bland on the outside. Yet for the disabled visitor it is superb, parking has to be booked ahead, but all the approach footways are smooth, signage is clear and obvious, all gates have disabled entrances, all foodstalls have disabled queuing points, the area between the gates and through to the seating is wide, high and not claustrophobic and the seating has great comfort and views for disabled person and companion alike and out of the elements. I could not find a fault with my day and Chelsea showed the charity element of the Community Shield, but allowing MU to win on penalties.

The Cambridge premier grounds of Fenners, Grange Road and the Abbey Stadium all match up in their own ways to these national ones, does anyone have any comments (I have been to them all infrequently).

2007 Awards Nominations

We are now receiving nominations for the 2007 award, and will be publishing them as they come in. We hope readers who also know these people and places will write in with their experiences in support of nominees that they would like to see win.

• The management team at Cherry Hinton Village Centre
• Papworth Everard Brownies
• Cambridge Dial-a-Ride
• Chathura and the staff at the Co-op on Hills Road
• The postal tape service run by CamSight
• The care team at 112 Wulfstan Way, Queen Edith's
• John Loader, senior volunteer at the session for visually impaired swimmers, Chesterton Sports Centre
• Lawrence and his team at Granta Punts, Newnham Road
• The Pavilion, Impington Village College
• Brown's Restaurant, Trumpington Street

There is still plenty of time to have your say: nominations will be counted until 1st October, so make your Way To Be Awards nomination now.

Free Internet Training in Cambridge

If you live in Cambridge you can make use of Cambridge Online City's e-Learning Centre. It helps anybody with any kind of disability to use the computer and access the Internet. They can offer one to one support, individual learning plans at the Hester Adrian Centre in Chesterton and also at other venues throughout the City.

Cambridge OnLine is a charity working across the East of England helping disabled people use computers by providing training and advice to individuals and groups. We provide accessibility assessments & advice, one to one training, and we have a full range of adaptive equipment for people to try.

• Find out more

Interested in Volunteering?

Cambridge OnLine urgently need additional volunteers to help support our learners. You don't have to be a computer expert. You just need to give us 2 hours a week - morning or afternoon - to help guide a learner as they explore computers and the Internet in our relaxed and fun e-Learning Centre. Training, expenses and satisfaction are available. Phone or email Sue now to fix a time to come for an informal visit. 01223 300407 or help@cambridgeonline.org.uk

Blue Badge

I've just had the privilege of paying £2 to renew my Blue Badge, but there are more worrying concerns for Cambridge Blue Bade holders. Disability now did a recent survey, with Gerri Bird
http://tinyurl.com/39uy5m

I've also had concerns raised over the news that the County Council is considering changes to access and parking in Cambridge.

http://tinyurl.com/245mx5

Read the report
http://tinyurl.com/3c39q

Cambridge Folk Festival

Having failed to get there myself, do any disabled people have comments on the facilities at the Folk Festival last weekend?

Pointing in the Right Direction

How often do you hear people say "If only I'd known that earlier, things would have been so much better!"

Well, it is impossible for ordinary people to read all the leaflets and keep up to date with all the useful websites, but there is a group in Cambridge who make it their job to do so, with the aim of helping disabled people and their carers.

Directions Plus are based near the Cambridge Science Park, and the team of professional advisors and volunteer helpers have helped a lot of people over the years.

Gerri Bird of Directions Plus was nominated for TW2B in 2006 by a grateful couple whom she has helped to get benefits to which they were entitled.

Only 125,000

Having heard a little about disabled people buying expensive, but adapted vehicles and selling them on at a profit I found this interesting BBC page about 1978. It claim there were only 125,000 disabled people in Britain, now the government estimate is nearer 10 million. This means the definition of who the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) applies to has increased over time.

http://tinyurl.com/yqjb2b

Other Awards

Its always good to see people you vaguely know or even know win awards. This linked article about Cambridge man Martin Sabry, shows another award for technology to help disabled people. It is this type of technology that we hope gets recommended for The Way To Be Awards.



I don't know Martin, but I know his mother.


http://tinyurl.com/2fy2gm

Disability and accessibility websites links

Here's some websites and blogs which cover disability and accessibility issues. As always, the usual disclaimers apply! — (we're not responsible for the content of other websites)

• TechDis
  leading educational advisory service, working across the UK, in the fields of accessibility and inclusion.
• Royal National Institute for the Blind: web access centre blog.
• BBC | Access 2.0
  This is a BBC blog all about their work on accessibility.
  
• Ouch! is the website for the BBC Radio Show. It has a long blogroll of blogs by disabled people.
  
• Accessify Forum
  This is one of the few online forums devoted to accessibility. Very geeky!
• Disapedia
  To provide all the community, information and resources any disabled individual could want or need.
  
• WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind) is committed to improving the Web for disabled people.
  One service the site offers is a screen reader simulation which will give you an idea of how a blind person might use the Web. Other services include a distractibility simulation, which shows how a person with a cognitive disability might see the Web, and a low vision simulation.
  
• The Gimp Parade
  Feminist disability politics and cultural analysis.
• But You Don't Look Sick?
  Magazine about living life to the fullest with any disability, invisible disease, or chronic pain.
• Disability Studies, Temple U.
  Cool stuff in the world of Geography, Disability Studies, and Educational Leadership. Based at Temple University in Philadelphia, with contributors from coast to coast. Check out our 'Notable Blogs' list - your portal to the disability blog world.
  
• The 4th Avenue Blues
  I am a 34 year old man living with and experiencing paranoid schizophrenia. Here I write about my daily travels through life and living with a mental illness.
• Disability Rants
  Step in and read some of my trials and tribulations of life as a wheelchair user.
  
  
  

The local punt firm with a heart of gold

If your idea of punting in Cambridge is crowds of assorted students, tourists and local people weaving around and falling in the river, you may think it's not for you, but think again ……

Down a beautiful backwater you will find a family firm renowned for their friendly, helpful attitude, especially to people who are a little anxious about getting in and out of a punt.

Lawrence Austen and his team were nominated in 2005 and again in 2006 because of their outstanding care for wheelchair users, people with learning disabilities and the elderly.

Nominations have come from a German studying at long Road Sixth Form College, a Canadian holidaymaker and a club visiting Cambridge for the day.

Many residents always recommend the Granta because they know it is an independent firm which can be relied on to look after their customers and give them a day to remember.

http://www.puntingincambridge.com

A week in Somerset

I've just come back from a week in Somerset and did the usual bus driver's holiday of checking the local access facilities and comparing them to those visitors to Cambridge would encounter.


I stayed in a farm cottage, which though not perfectly accessible has won some government access awards. See http://www.doublegatefarm.com/



We stayed in near Wells and in sight of Glastonbury Tor. Last year they were filming Hot Fuzz in the City and so we dutifully watch the said DVD while in the locale. Wells Cathedral and Bishop's Palace do their best to give access to their medieval constructions. Though the Wells and Mendip Museum has very little access to their collections.

http://www.wellscathedral.org.uk/



I visited a couple of regional attractions. The SS Great Britain, which is one of the first steam ships, rather than a British wing of Hitler's regime and was designed by Brunel. Brunel was an incredible engineer turning his mind to trains, ships, railways and bridges, one man doing what 4 seperate companies would do now. I wondered what access inventions he could have been nominated for for the Way To Be Awards if he were our contemporary. The ship is in dry dock, though a lift can take all to an underwater experience to see the hull of the ship. Both the museum and ship have good disabled access and the SS Britain is well worth a visit.

http://www.ssgreatbritain.org

The New Orleans Bedroom at the American Museum

Another visit was to the American Museum near Bath. I didn't know what the museum would hold and it is housed in a stately home. The collection was of American antiquites, including those of the first peoples and of all periods since the arrival of the Europeans. Within the house are actually rooms from Wild West taverns, settlers farmsteads and southern plantation houses.

http://www.americanmuseum.org/


Mark J Taylor

Swimming for All

Swimming for All at Chesterton Sports Centre

Another 2006 nomination was for the management team at Chesterton Sports Centre, who went to great trouble to make it possible for local blind and partially sighted residents to enjoy the benefits of going swimming.

The photo shows the swimmers who go along on Tuesday afternoons at 2.opm. As well as the usual lifeguard, regular volunteers are on hand to provide any help required by partially-sighted swimmers. Don't worry, someone will look after your guide dog!

http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/ccm/content/sports/citysport-brochure/chesterton-sports-centre.en

Welcome to The Way To Be Awards blog

I am Mark Taylor and I am the Access Officer at Cambridge City Council. I work in the Planning Department, because an important part of my time is spent in looking at planning applications for new developments, and advising people on how best to make changes to old buildings.

Although helpfulness and consideration are as old as mankind, some changes needed legislation, and that's what the Disability Discrimination Act (the DDA) did in 2004. Now all services, businesses and public buildings have to consider how everyone, including people with disabilities, get in, join in and find their way around.

Businesses nominated for The Way To Be awards in 2006 included a lot of shops and taxi drivers, which is not surprising when you consider how important it is to be able to get where you want to go, and to buy the things you need. Everyday things that many people take for granted, but the people who nominated our 2006 heroes didn't take them for granted and we will be featuring them on this blog over the coming weeks.