Annual Report
2025 – 2026
Annual General Meeting Agenda
25 June 2026, 2.00pm – 4.30pm, in person and online
- AGM Business and updates from YDRF subgroups
- Guest Speaker: Anna Bramwell-Dicks, University of York
- Informal Social Time
Chair’s Reflection
By Dr Ashley Fisher
Welcome to our Annual Report for 2025–2026. This year has been full of community action, deep determination, and systemic challenges across York. Together, we have continued to show that disability rights are human rights.
We have celebrated great successes this year. Our Access Group has tirelessly challenged poorly planned infrastructure. We secured funding from the Two Ridings Community Foundation to keep our core work sustainable. We are also preparing for our fifth year of Quiet Pride, creating an essential, accessible space for our intersectional community. With the help of students from the University of York, we created a Social and Human Rights Model of Disability Toolkit that has been shared widely. We were also a joint author with several other local organisations on a report led by Citizens Advice York about the impact of proposed cuts to disability benefits. Naturally, this has had a local impact, but the report was also submitted to our two MPs for York and has fed into the national debate.
However, we still face major barriers in our city. The council’s restriction of Blue Badge holders during the Christmas Markets showed how easily disabled people can be ignored by decision-makers. Structural mistakes at the Station Gateway also show that accessibility is still treated as an afterthought rather than a human right.
I want to say a massive thank you to our Steering Group, our volunteers, and all our members. Your time, energy, and shared experiences give us our collective power. We refuse to give up, and we will keep working to make York accessible for everyone
About YDRF
York Disability Rights Forum (YDRF) is led by disabled people. We work to promote equal access to human rights for anyone with an impairment who lives, works, or studies in York. We are an activist group, not a social club, because we are focused on structural and political change.
Our work is built on three core values:
- Activist: We use a human rights approach to create positive change in our city.
- Inclusive: We welcome all types of disabilities, disabled people, and our allies.
- Open: We freely encourage honest conversations about disability across York.
We firmly follow the Social Model of Disability and the Human Rights Model of Disability. The social model shows that people are disabled by barriers in society, environments, and attitudes, not by their bodies or minds. The human rights model builds on this by identifying disabled people as rights-holders, ensuring that access and inclusion are legally protected entitlements rather than optional acts of charity. Our goal is to dismantle these structural barriers and champion systemic accountability so everyone can participate fully.
Governance & Team Structure
Steering Group
This past year, the following members served on the Steering Group:
- Chair: Dr Ashley Fisher
- Vice-Chair: Eleanor Tew, Helen Jones (temporary)
- Secretary: Marilyn Crawshaw
- Treasurer: Tash Taylor
- Regular Steering Group Member: Elki Houston, Hilary Conroy, Jane Burton, Abi Bubb, Amanda Cooper
We would also like to thank Hazel Kerrison, who is stepping down from the Steering Group. Their dedication, energy, and activism have been vital in helping us challenge barriers and push for human rights across York, particularly for the neurodivergent community.
Remembering Eleanor Tew
This year, we experienced the profound loss of our Vice-Chair, Eleanor Tew. Eleanor was a vital, driving force within the forum, an exceptionally dedicated trustee for MySight York, and a fierce advocate for disability rights across our city. We sorely miss her leadership, her warm guidance, and her unwavering commitment to our community.
We received many generous donations in Eleanor’s memory. We are incredibly grateful for this support. These contributions directly fund the vital, barrier-breaking activist work that Eleanor pioneered and cared about so deeply. She remains an irreplaceable part of YDRF’s history and a blueprint for our ongoing campaigns
Membership
Our collective voice grows stronger as our numbers expand. YDRF membership is open to anyone over 18 who lives, works, or studies in York, identifies as disabled, or stands with us as an ally.
This year, our network of members and allies has continued to grow. By coming together, we ensure that the perspectives of disabled people cannot be ignored in local consultations and planning. We invite anyone who shares our vision for a barrier-free York to join us.
Wider Group Membership
Here is a list of groups and boards we have representation on:
- Age Friendly York
- Community Transport Group
- Digital Friendly York Partnership Group (formerly 100% Digital York Strategy Group)
- Direct Payments Group
- Enhanced Partnership for Buses
- HealthWatch York Steering Group
- Holocaust Memorial Event Steering Group
- Human Rights & Equalities Board
- Learning Disability Partnership (CYC/ICB)
- LiveWell York Partners
- North Yorkshire Disability Forum
- Regional Stakeholder Network
- Tourism Advisory Board
- York Access Forum
- York Climate Commission
- York Disability Week
- York Hate Crime Partnership Group
- Yorkshire and Humberside Crown Prosecution Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel
- York and Selby Police Independent Advisory Group (currently vacant)
Having a voice in these groups is vital to ensuring that disabled people are part of any conversation and their needs are reflected in the decisions these groups take.
Subgroup Activity Reports
Access Group
By Marilyn
The Access Group, formed in March 2022, has again had a busy year campaigning for equal access to the built environment, transport and services in York.
We send representatives to York Access Forum, Age Friendly York and the Enhanced Bus Partnership. We also have occasional links with York Civic Trust’s Transport Advisory Group. And we have been very pleased to develop closer links with the North Yorkshire Accessible Transport Group over the year, with their Chair, Ian Lawson, attending our meetings. Over the last year we have continued to monitor policy decision-making and planning applications (and submit objections or comments on the latter such as the Wilton Rise footbridge), make submissions to council on access-related areas (such as on the Rougier St proposals), attend meetings and workshops and speak in public participation slots at Council meetings.
We were pleased to support the proposals to retain blue badge parking in the area where the Castle car park now is, following the proposed closure of the car park itself. We were also pleased to support the council’s recent proposal to trial a Residents Day for the 2026 Christmas Markets. This will allow all residents a break from the intense activity of the markets and, importantly, enable disabled people and Blue Badge holders to be able to access the city centre more easily. We know it’s a compromise (only one of the BB routes will be open, for example) but, as we have said, ‘it’s better than nothing’. This development followed from vehicle access to the ‘footstreets’ traffic, including BB holders, being severely restricted during the 2025 Christmas Markets on terrorist prevention grounds. YDRF was one of the groups that met with the North Yorkshire Police Chief Constable to try and change his mind on this but to no avail.
We have continued to press for improvements to the access plans for the Station Gateway (outside the train station) and be watchful for how they are being implemented. We have raised concerns about, for example, the early lack of lighting at the bus stops, at the poor temporary signage, the introduction of charging for Blue Badge parking and, most recently, about the placing of the new HVM bollards in the middle of tactile paving and the poorly sited and designed seats (the design and placing of which had previously been agreed but not imparted to the contractors who installed them!). We also attended the workshop on the future vision for York rail station itself.
We’ve attended a number of meetings about the York Central development where there have been many improvements needed to pay attention to access. This work will be ongoing. With the support of volunteers from York Human Rights City Network, we produced a poster, two-sided flyer and a longer guide for pushing our views on ‘Creating a More Inclusive Transport Strategy for York’. Do ask us for printed copies if you haven’t already and spread the word. Now that the Mayoral Combined Authority has announced that it will be developing a Local Transport Plan for York and North Yorkshire, we will be getting ready for responding.
We’ve continued to press for improvements to access to buses in the city, following our involvement in the council’s Task and Finish group that created a ‘tracker’ document of areas for action by the bus operating companies and the council. It is hugely frustrating that responsibility for this was to be passed to the Enhanced Bus Partnership which then failed to meet and more recently switched to a six monthly meeting schedule! We raised concerns about this which have to date only partially been attended to. We won’t give up!
We continue to have periodic meetings with the person responsible for the Blue Badge team at the council and are pleased that she is reporting directly on progress to YDRF members through our newsletter. There have been some resulting improvements to the council’s website and to the processes involved. We are also pleased to have set up a ‘Blue Badge Bay Watch’ initiative, inviting anyone to report abuses of blue badge bays to the Access Officer at the council. Such abuses are far too common and we’re keen to help stamp them out.
Some members contact us directly with their experiences and the access challenges that they’ve encountered. We welcome this, and we take them up where we can. Reporting helps us build a picture of access needs in York. So please keep them coming!
We also have our own webpages at https://ydrf.org.uk/access-subgroup/ on the YDRF website where you can see copies of our public statements and so on. We meet online monthly for about 90 minutes. Sometimes it feels as if we make little progress: sometimes it feels like we make a real difference. Do think about joining us – we’d very much welcome new faces!
Neurodivergence Group
By Ashley
Following the completion of their intense co-production work on the local All Age Autism Strategy with the City of York Council and local health partners, the Neurodivergence Subgroup transitioned its focus this year toward internal community connection through its dedicated, closed Facebook group.
While the group has operated more quietly this year to give members space to rest after major policy contributions, our network remains a vital hub for community strength, mutual aid, and future grassroots activism
Quiet Pride and LGBTQ+
By Helen
LBGTQ+ and disabled
We led a teach-in about disability justice as part of Queer Mutiny, which is a mutual aid powered alternative to commercial Pride events. It focuses on community engagement, education, support and more.
About 12 people joined the class which looked at disability joy, how disability and capitalism are tied together, unpicked unconscious ideas about care and talked about how we can strengthen mutual aid in York.
Quiet Pride
This August will be the 5th year of Quiet Pride!
Quiet Pride is a space to celebrate being LGBTQ+ whilst being quiet! It aims to be radically accessible, whilst acknowledging this is aspirational. We have BSL interpreters available all day, there is level access with lifts to all areas, as well as accessible, gender neutral toilets.
Disabled LGBTQ+ people need a space to celebrate their wonderful, intersectional identities. A lot of Pride events are fantastic but aren’t accessible in various different ways. For example, they may be really noisy, have flashing lights or not be wheelchair accessible. These are just some examples of how Pride events can exclude LGBTQ disabled people.
Each year, Quiet Pride has grown and developed into a fantastic community event that centres creativity and wellbeing focused activities.
Quiet Pride 2026 will include a make-up workshop for trans women, talks, a clothes and book swap, art activities, yoga and more.
Stop Disability Hate Crime
By Marije
Marije Davidson and Marilyn Crawshaw have continued to raise awareness of disability hate crime and support, and the experiences of disabled people.
We have been meeting with North Yorkshire Police to review hate crime data and to take practical steps to increase reporting. For example, we have added information about ‘We Care’ to our webpage. This is a scheme to support disabled people who might need help or assistance when out and about. We have been attending the York Hate Crime Partnership meetings and continue to raise issues around accessibility of support services. Marije attended the Yorkshire and the Humber CPS Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel. The panel reviews finalised cases that have been through the criminal court process. It helps to raise awareness of how decisions are made and identifies trends and issues. In December 2025, the annual Disability Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel considered cases involving an autistic victim and a deaf victim.
We ran a stall at the York and North Yorkshire hate crime conference (October 2025) and the York Disability Week Information Fair (December 2025). Our stalls attracted a lot of interest including how to improve accessibility of reporting and support for disabled people and we encouraged organisations to become a hate crime champion for North Yorkshire Police.
A student at York St John University and volunteers from York Human Rights City Network have continued to support our work. Please visit our website (https://ydrf.org.uk/hate-crime/) to listen to their podcasts (https://ydrf.org.uk/podcasts/) and read their work.
- Michaela spoke with Callum, Helen and Seraphim about their experiences of researching disability hate crime in York.
- Christina sat down with Anya, founder of Purple Circle support group in York how prejudice in employment affects people with epilepsy and what can be done about it. Christina also shared her experiences of living with epilepsy in an excellent blogpost, available at https://ydrf.org.uk/2026/02/05/living-with-epilepsy/.
- Millie created a guide to help navigate the national Disability Hate Crime resource, available at https://ydrf.org.uk/ydrf-guide-to-the-disability-hate-crime-toolkit/. This resource was co-produced by Dr Leah Burke of Liverpool Hope University with disability groups.
We also have a place at the York and Selby Police Independent Advisory Group but we have not been able to fill it. If you are interested in improving police services for disabled people, and would like more information, please email marije@ydrf.org.uk.
Key Campaigns & Impact Highlights
Outside of our monthly steering group and subgroup meetings, YDRF has taken direct action to challenge systemic barriers and shift public perceptions across York.
- Public Advocacy and Statements: We have publicly challenged council budget cuts and access restrictions. We stood firm against decisions that exclude Blue Badge holders from the city centre and supported the Residents’ Rest Day during the Christmas Market on a trial basis.
- Creative Collaborations: We worked closely with the York Human Rights City Network to create our ‘Creating a More Inclusive Transport Strategy for York’ materials. We also partnered with students from York St John University to produce research and resources.
- Amplifying Lived Experiences: Our blog and podcasts have highlighted vital community voices. This includes powerful pieces on navigating employment barriers while living with epilepsy.
Treasurer’s Report
By Tash
Executive Summary:
Our balance as of 20/06/2026 is £2,827.65 and we have remained above £1.6k for the entire year. For our organisation’s purposes and budget, this means we have been in a healthy financial position and remain so. We are confident in the continuation of our plans and projects, and that our finances won’t be a barrier to the work we aim to do.
Income vs Expenditure:
From 20/06/2025 to 20/06/2026, our income was £1,996.82 and our expenditures were £1,203.87
Throughout the same period, out of those expenditures, £301.76 were specifically on accessibility costs, such as BSL interpreters, and printing/stamp costs for our physical newsletter. The rest of the expenditures have been on running costs (insurance, web domain, online newsletter distribution service), room hire costs, hosting costs (fees paid to Social Change Nest via the Open Collective), and leaflet costs.
Future Outlook:
We are continuing to look for funding opportunities via funders where we fit the criteria, and that has been our focus this year. Our Treasurer applied for three different funds, and we were successful in getting one of them. This was a £1000 grant from Two Ridings Community Foundation for running costs, accessibility costs (e.g. BSL interpretation and printing costs), and Quiet Pride costs. This grant is on track to be spent by the beginning of December when we are due to submit our report to Two Ridings Community Foundation.
Although we do not focus on fundraising, due to a variety of reasons, we did receive lots of generous donations following the death of our Co-Chair, Eleanor Tew, whom we have sorely missed on the forum, and whom many people throughout York have missed as well. We appreciate all our donations, even if we don’t have the infrastructure in place for thank you cards for everyone, we are still grateful!
It remains that our finances are healthy and due to the grant from Two Ridings Community Foundation, we have been able to pay more people for workshops during Quiet Pride this year, which is fantastic news as we use individuals and groups with lived experience, and we are a believer in paying people for their labour and time wherever possible.
We aim to keep our reserves above £1.5k and hope to secure more funding for the next year, either for running costs or project costs. We have no fixed targets, as we aim for sustainability above all, including keeping our income proportionate to our volunteers’ time and workload, and to prevent burnout. A rough target would be around £1000 income for the next year.
Additional Information:
We are aware of some difficulties with claiming expenses through where we are fiscally hosted on the Open Collective platform. As Treasurer I arranged an interview with them to explain how people are finding it inaccessible to submit expenses to us, and having to make an account creates an extra hoop to jump through that some organisations or people are unwilling to do. They have taken on board feedback regarding the platform and I have been told they have received similar elsewhere, too. Please do contact our treasurer at tash@ydrf.org.uk if you have any difficulties with the platform.
A reminder that all the forum’s finances are publically available and transparent, and you can navigate to our Open Collective page from our website to look at our finances, including income received and all our expenses. This has always been an important part of how we conduct ourselves and ensure public accountability. https://opencollective.com/york-disability-rights-forum
Looking Forward
As we look toward the coming year, YDRF will focus our activist energy on three core pillars of disability rights. We will continue to challenge local barriers and campaign for systemic change across York.
- Access to Care: We will push for public bodies to respect human rights and provide dignified, equitable healthcare systems that fully support independent living.
- Access to the City: We will actively campaign against environmental barriers, ensuring that York’s streets, transport networks, and public venues are fully accessible to everyone.
- Access to Community: We will build stronger networks by creating welcoming spaces where disabled people and allies can connect, share experiences, and support one another.
Following the fantastic success of our first open social event in December, we are excited to host another community gathering soon. Bringing people together builds our collective voice and reminds us of the strength within our community. Keep an eye on our newsletter and website for updates on our next social event!
We are also looking to bring new people onto our Steering Group. The Steering Group guides our activism, shapes our key campaigns, and ensures our work remains firmly led by disabled people. We are an open, friendly, and supportive team. We welcome disabled people from all backgrounds, as well as allies who share our commitment to human rights.
If you would like to bring your unique perspective, skills, or lived experience to our leadership team, we would love to hear from you.
Get in Touch: To express your interest or ask any questions about what the role involves, please email us at hello@ydrf.org.uk. We are always happy to have an informal chat and share more about how we work together!