Tony
Tony grew up in an extended family with mixed-ethnic backgrounds, where actively taking part in movements for social justice and equality were the norm, including campaigning against racism and homelessness in East London. This continued as a student as a member of CND and campaigning against apartheid.
Nevertheless he doesn’t recall having much knowledge or exposure to the barriers faced by Disabled people until his late 20s, when he had an enforced career change due to a long-term injury and health condition. This led him to (rather naively) try and stop all desk and computer-based work and retrain as a careers adviser, supporting people going through similar experiences and issues such as lack of access and discrimination.
Learning about Access to Work, assistive technology and how a ‘one size fits all’ approach doesn’t best serve everyone’s needs, he learned to look at the world of work more flexibly and gradually moved back to writing for a living. He joined an organisation called Skill which promoted opportunities for Disabled people in education. He wrote a series of careers guides for Disabled people including Into Higher Education, Into Teaching and, after watching the Beijing Paralympics on TV, an Into Sport guide to coincide with the run up to London 2012.
When Skill suddenly closed (two weeks before his son was due to arrive!) Tony volunteered to try and help transfer a grant from the Department for Education to the soon-to-be-formed Disability Rights UK. As part of this he attended meetings with the CEOs and senior managers of the three legacy organisations, initially just taking minutes in fundraising meetings. When the grant was successfully transferred, he was offered what he thought would be short-term freelance work, but this extended to education policy work, student helpline cover and writing fundraising bids. Eventually in 2015 he joined DR UK as a staff member. One of his most formative experiences was being the lead bid writer on behalf of the consortium of DPOs which was successful in gaining the £5 million contract to run the DRILL research programme. This was the start of learning about co-production and the wider range of issues experienced by Disabled people experiencing marginalisation in various ways.
Bethany
Bethany has been Disabled since birth, due to a rare congenital chronic illness. Since then, Bethany has developed several other disabilities due to her medication and the progressive nature of her impairments. She is also visually impaired and is currently waiting for an ADHD assessment. Bethany’s childhood was chaotic, and although she often felt unfairly limited by her health, and resented the responsibility it brought, she also felt very strongly the need to challenge assumptions about her ability and prove everyone wrong.
She had the privilege that her hidden disabilities often meant she faced less explicit discrimination out and about – but faced the barrier of not being taken seriously, because she didn’t “look Disabled”, alongside barriers in education, employment and healthcare settings. Bethany grew up in The Salvation Army, as both of her parents ran local community support services and churches, which exposed her to injustice from a very young age. As a child, her Christmases were often spent at homelessness shelters, and on several occasions, her family lived with individuals who had nowhere else to go.
It was instilled in her from an early age that you help others, and that was always what she wanted to do. However, her understanding and experience of disability – and how we best support each other – was from a very individualised and medical context. It’s only as an adult, and since being exposed to the DPO sector, that she developed an understanding of the Social Model and the Disability Rights Movement.
While studying Politics at University, Bethany campaigned to improve inclusion and accessibility on campus and across EDI policies. She founded a campaigning group that provided consultancy to University management, delivered training to the Student’s Union, and facilitated peer support for Disabled students. After graduation, she was looking for a job in the disability sector – but at the time didn’t understand the difference between a DPO and a non-representative charity. She applied for both, and will always be grateful that she ended up at DR UK.
Stephen
Stephen Brookes MBE gained a civilian MBE in the 1990/91 Gulf War ‘Ops Granby’ awards before becoming physically disabled in an accident in 1997. He was however born with a depressive nature and was chronically dyslexic neither of which was recognised nor supported in his childhood. After a period of shock and life changing response to his enforced disability in 1999 he bit the bullet and undertook a course at Coventry University gaining a BA First Class Honours in Political Communications in 2002.
For over 10 years Stephen worked in many areas of the Criminal Justice system on Hate Crime matters. In 2007 he established the award-winning Disability Hate Crime Network. His long term (almost anorak) interest in transport gained Stephen the appointment in 2018 as the Minister for Disabled People’s Rail Sector Champion.
He worked with the Office for Disability Issues, which he views with dismay knowing its absolute failings, but more in line with his aims he is a member of various Disabled People's organisations and charities including being an Ambassador for Disability Rights UK.
Stephen uses the skills gained through his degree and networking experience as a Disabled person who depends on public transport is involved in pragmatic and realistic resolve to change transport access issues. He works on panels advising Transport Focus, various CPT companies as well as all the major rail industry stakeholders including the Rail Ombudsman Network Rail, ORR the DfT as well as the many train operator companies on a range of accessibility matters, including establishing pan disability reference groups for various rail operating companies working on inclusion and awareness training and raising.