York Disability Rights Forum is not linked with any political party. We wanted to ensure that you, our lovely readers and members, know what the different parties think about the city centre access issue… So, in alphabetical order……

We have a few events coming up locally that we wanted to let you know about. To be kept up to date, you can also sign up to our newsletter or follow us on social media. Disability and…

The right to vote has been fought for and so it’s really important that we honour that and get out (or stay home) and vote where we can! But first we need to know we are registered to…

In the third episode of YDRF About Disability Hate podcast, Olivia sits down with Miles to talk about disability hate. They discuss the dangers of labelling, especially of people with hidden disabilities, the potential positive impacts of the…

Do you want to make a difference to disabled people in York? Are you disabled and live or work in York? Join us! We’re an incredible group of committed disabled people who want to improve York. If you…

We are where we are today because of all of our incredible members, Steering Group members past and present and volunteers who have helped us develop policies, procedures and more. Thank you to all of you. Finances Our…

We’re sure you’re all concerned about the increasing cost of living and one of the areas where this is going to hit hard is around food. Eating well is so important to health and quality of life and…

Now in its 6th year, York Disability Week (26th Nov to 3rd Dec), which includes UN International Day of Disabled People on 3rd December, offers something for all.  Almost all events are free to attend and there’s a…

If you’ve been paying attention to local news, you’ll know that Reverse the Ban (a coalition of charities, associations, action groups and other organisations who aim to reverse the ban on blue badge holders’ access to York’s pedestrian…

Listen to our Disability Hate Podcast where we talk to Jennie. She’s kindly written a blog post for us as well. What a complicated thing disability hate is to define or understand. Why would one human being hate…

We recently asked our members and social media followers about their experiences with buses in York. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences. In summary, you told us of multiple occasions on different buses where wheelchair users…

At YDRF we have launched a new podcast to raise awareness of disabled people’s lived experience of disability hate. In the first episode, recorded in May 2022, Olivia sits down with Flick, a disability rights activist, to discuss…

Disabled people have lots to say and we’ve just picked out a few of the incredible TED talks out there. Let us know your favourite disability TED talk in the comments! https://youtu.be/8K9Gg164Bsw https://youtu.be/4WIP1VgPnco https://youtu.be/twaKuhvYpss https://youtu.be/uJr4wGcLNsA https://youtu.be/Mvoj-ku8zk0

Are you LGBTQ+ and disabled? Let us tell you about Quiet Pride! Pride is great, but it can be very overwhelming, and by its nature can’t be fully accessible. So, we’ve been plotting with Portal Bookshop to put…

We want to meet you! As a result of covid, and us setting up in covid, we’ve only managed to meet a few of you in person. We’ve met most of you online and as the temperature (maybe)…

A tweet recently asked what one thing people would like to change about the way society reacts to and perceives self harm. The answers to this question were mainly related to the medical profession and the treatment of…

Thanks York Accessibility Action for this important post about why disabled people may need their vehicle, and how taking away parking is disabling us. Please note, you can download a longer version of this post. This post will…

We recently published part 1 – But you don’t look disabled –  where Lauren introduced herself and talked about not looking disabled. Now, in this blog, she’s focusing on work and daily living. Daily life isn’t that easy….

We’ve been talking to York Ending Stigma recently about their work and also what it’s like to have a physical impairment and poor mental health. Lauren, one of York Ending Stigma’s champions, has kindly written about this, and…

We are very excited to tell you about York Anti Racist Collective’s (YARC) Art Liberation Program, especially as they’re committed to making the workshops inclusive of disabled people! York Anti Racist Collective Art Liberation Program Starting Summer 2022,…

There are a lot of negative assumptions in our society which are damanging to disabled people. Obviously these more negative assumptions affect people’s attitudes towards disabled people. But it has wider impacts on our lives; if you underestimate…

Feeding Tube Awareness Week 2022 runs from 7th till 11th February and is, as the name suggests, a chance to increase awareness around feeding tubes! Helen from the Steering Group has had her feeding tube for a few…

Hazel writes about experiencing feelings of ‘not being disabled enough’ and the effect this has on disability identity. When growing up I essentially learnt that “disabled” only really meant physical things, in fact mainly visible ones. Disability was…

We were recently asked how taxis in York work, or don’t work, for the disability community. This is what you told us. Primarily wheelchair users responded to us so the comments mainly reflect that experience. We are anecdotely…

On 13th January, Executive (made up of some councillors from York Greens and York Lib Dems) were asked to consider the location of barriers around the footstreets, to approve a increased budget to implement the scheme and to…

Our annual survey highlighted three key areas for us to work on; health and care, physical accessibility and attitudes and awareness. Further discussion has helped us get a bit more detail about those areas. We’re holding a couple of…

York Accessibility Action tell us who they are and what they’ve been up to: “In the summer of 2020, City of York Council closed various streets that Blue Badge holders were previously permitted to access, including Goodramgate and…

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…

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…

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…

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…