The London Conference

Karen Raey chaired the conference and began by introducing the Vice President of Amicus MSF Section, Jack Warner. Jack welcomed the project as a crucial part of the unions campaigning and equality agendas. He said he was appalled to hear that we live in a country where more than half of our disabled population does not have a job.

Jack is clear that Disability Champions can help this situation; "the combination of good reps supported by there union can make fundamental change... full participation is our vision".

The next speakers came from Scope, the Cerebal Palsy charity. Campaign Manager Ruth Scott said how much Scope welcomed and supported our project and how it linked in very well with their recent report 'Ready, Willing and Disabled'.

Margie Woodward said she was delighted to hear people promoting the social model; "it's like a breath of fresh air" she told conference. Margie spoke of her experiences as a disabled worker in a speech that people described later as 'inspiring'. "I'm sick of being told I'm a health and safety risk" she said. "People make all kinds of assumptions about the cost of adjustments, the main thing I need is someone to wrap an elastic band around my ball point pen so I can grip it better". She concluded her contribution by reminding us "It's incredibly important that we all work together".

Once again the final speaker of the morning was Dave Parr who presented an overview of the project and the current state of play. We have now identified over 50 Champions and the training programme has begun.