Keep up to date with the latest news and contributions from Forum members and guests!
The Forum is made up of a wide range of people with different disabilities and experiences and we want our blog to reflect that. As such, you might hear from someone with a visual impairment in one post and someone with epilepsy in another.
If you have an idea for a blog post, get in touch! See our blog submission guidelines for more information.
Helen has been looking into the rise in cashless shops and venues and how they might affected disabled people.
With Covid came a reluctance to handle cash. From a risk management perspective it made sense to ask people …
AccessAble helps disabled people to find accessible venues and are here to tell us a bit about their work with City of York Council.
In November 2020, when City of York Council renewed their partnership with AccessAble, they committed …
Last night, we held a meeting to talk about what you want us to work on in the coming year. Our annual survey helped us establish three priorities:
Health and CareAttitudes and AwarenessPhysical Accessibility
The discussion doesn’t stop now, if …
Last night in York, the lives of many Blue Badge holders were changed forever. A devastating vote from Exec means the permanent exclusion of Blue Badge holders from the footstreets area.
If you haven’t been following, catch up on …
Helen has been reading a lot of reports about the footstreets and she wanted to tell us about one in particular, the Martin Higgitt Associates report which includes some sensible ways forward and some interesting data. We read …
The North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner elected in May 2021 resigned on 14 October 2021. On Thursday 25 November you can vote for the next Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) for North Yorkshire. As we did …
Yesterday night, there was a meeting that lasted over 4 1/2 hours. It was considering additional information which had been requested at the meetings on 25th October. Once the information had been considered, the councillors were asked to …
Today’s guest blog post comes from the In With The Bins campaign and talks about the need for sanitary bins in men’s toilets.
Note: Cis is short for cisgender which describes a person whose gender identity is the same …
Jamie has kindly written a guest blog for us, talking about the footstreets issue specifically around a Freedom of Information request he made. You have the right to ask to see recorded information held by public authorities and …
Dyslexia Awareness Week was held at the start of October but as anyone with dyslexia knows, it’s about much more than one week a year!
My name is Lydia and I was diagnosed with dyslexia and irlens syndrome at …
The footstreets issue continues to be an important issue for many disabled people and Blue Badge holders. We mention both groups as we know not everyone who is disabled has a Blue Badge, and not everyone who has …
Thanks to Olivia, who has written about our first online event about Disability Hate Crime.
York Disability Rights Forum (YDRF) hosted its first online Disability Hate Crime event on Thursday 14th October. Its aim was to raise awareness of …
There’s some exciting things coming up! Book through the eventbrite links, or email hello@ydrf.org.uk. York Disability Week is 27th November to 4th December and the programme will be out soon so keep your eyes open for that!
How …
We have another guest blog from the lovely Pippa, this time she’s talking about working with a disability; the challenges and the rewards. She’s also part of a team which are running an online career networking event especially …
Ambulatory is a bit of a mouthful but it just means you can get around on foot.
Open Country is a Yorkshire-based charity with over 30 years of experience in enabling disabled people to access and enjoy the countryside. …
City of York Council have yet another survey out about the footstreets extensions. We fully appreciate that it’s exhausting responding again and again, especially when the topic hasn’t really changed.
However another way of having your thoughts raised is …
If you’ve been paying attention to the news, or recieve Universal Credit, you are probably aware that the £20 increase in Universal Credit is being cut. If not, we’ve got a quick summary:
In March 2020, as the country …
National Hate Crime Awareness Week runs from 9th to 16th October with the purpose of raising awareness of Hate Crime. York Disability Rights Forum has taken this opportunity to raise awareness of Disability Hate Crime. We formed a …
The footstreet issue has dominated our activity for the last 17 months and, as we’ve had the same conversations repeatedly, we thought it’d be good to set out clearly the reasons the council has put forward for making …
Being a good ally to any community is an ongoing process. It requires being open-minded, reflecting and learning from that. Even as disabled people, we need to work at being a good ally.
How to be a good non-disabled …
Disability hate crime is on the increase
As part of Hate Crime Week, join us to find out more about disability hate crime, including how to report it and how you can be an ally to anyone experiencing it.
When: …
Edited to update: Dial & Ride do run to the city centre, the information we used for this post was based on their website at time of writing.
Whilst Shopmobility and Dial & Ride are great services which are …
Image: Diagram labelled ‘Wheel of Power/Privilege’ showing the different degrees to which a person can be marginalised or have power over others in society based on their characteristics.
In the centre is the word “power”, and on the outside …
Helen has a condition which causes chronic pain, as well as periods of severe acute pain and is here to tell us about Pain Awareness Month.
Before we get any further, if someone tells you they are in …
One of our members, Jamie, tells us about cycling as a disabled person and an upcoming event in York:
I’ve been an everyday cyclist in York – simply because it’s the fastest and most convenient way of getting …
We’re pleased to welcome volunteers Olivia and Kirsty to York Disability Rights Forum!
Olivia has recently graduated with a degree in Criminology at Anglia Ruskin University and is aiming to do an MA in International Criminology in autumn 2022. …
On 28th August, a letter appeared in York Press from Councillor Andy D’Agorne making a statement on ‘York’s Blue Badge battle’. York Disability Rights Forum would make like it very clear, we do not want a battle, we …
Helen loves reading and disability activism, and enjoys reading about other people’s experiences of disability. Today she takes us on a quick tour of her bookshelves:
The War on Disabled People by Ellen Clifford offers a comprehensive look at …
Yes, once again, we have presented a statement to the council on city centre footstreets… Despite it being over a year since we first spoke at a council meeting on this very topic…
On this particular occasion, it was …
Bill has recently set up York Access Hub and is here to tell us a bit more about it:
“I’ve been disabled with ME for the last fifteen years, after a long army career and working in various businesses …
It’s that time of year when many young people are getting exam results and thinking about their future. But what if you’re disabled or chronically ill?
York’s very own Pippa Stacey is here to tell you more about her …
Objections to the footstreet proposals must reach City of York Council by 6th August. To make this easier for individuals, we provided templates and have recently reached out to other organisations in the city for their support. We …
Past Blog Posts
- November 2021 (9)
- October 2021 (10)
- September 2021 (8)
- August 2021 (4)
- July 2021 (5)
- June 2021 (7)
- May 2021 (2)
- April 2021 (8)
- March 2021 (4)
- February 2021 (5)
- January 2021 (3)
- December 2020 (5)
- November 2020 (8)
- August 2020 (3)