» interviews

Staging Dennis Potter’s Brimstone and Treacle for a modern audience

Mark Glasgow — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:03:54 +0000

Brimstone and Treacle, Dennis Potter’s play featuring the rape of a disabled woman, caused a storm in the 1970s.

David Starkey: ‘I can be a bit harsh’

Mark Glasgow — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 01:05:57 +0000

When Rachel Cooke went to meet historian David Starkey, often called the rudest man in Britain, she expected it to be war. But that was before she started laughing at his tales of a first date in the Beaver’s Retreat In the afternoon of 3 June, the Queen will mark her diamond jubilee by sailing the Thames from Hammersmith to the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich aboard the royal barge, the Spirit of Chartwell

Visit link:
David Starkey: ‘I can be a bit harsh’

The blind ultramarathon runner who trains alone

Mark Glasgow — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:04:21 +0000

An eye disease left Wheatcroft blind at 18, but by memorising routes he runs unaided and even competes in ultramarathons. Mark Russell joins him for a run and hears his remarkable story The London Marathon will see tens of thousands of competitors take to the capital’s streets this weekend, but for some runners the prospect of covering 26.2 miles just isn’t enough and only an ultramarathon will satisfy their itchy feet.

Read this article:
The blind ultramarathon runner who trains alone

Going out on a date, complete with TV crew

Mark Glasgow — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:35:54 +0000

Patrick Barkham meets Sam and Jolene, who are appearing in a documentary about a dating agency for people with disabilities On their first date at the zoo, Sam discovered that his wallet was empty and he couldn’t pay for Jolene’s drink. Then he fluffed their goodbyes a little by not suggesting what they both wanted – that they should meet again. But he made her laugh, a lot, with jokes about the lynx and the lions, and they both had a great time

Read the original post:
Going out on a date, complete with TV crew

Sickness benefit: ‘They try their damnedest to avoid paying’

Mark Glasgow — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:14:33 +0000

A computer questionnaire now helps determine who is fit for work and who is eligible for benefits. But it is causing misery, with thousands of unwell people locked in a chaotic system of appeals How sick or disabled do you need to be to qualify for state support? Is it enough to be blind or do you also need to be deaf?

Visit link:
Sickness benefit: ‘They try their damnedest to avoid paying’

Homeshare: meet the unlikely housemates

Mark Glasgow — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 01:41:41 +0000

A cheap place to live in return for free care and company: with homeshare, everybody wins.

The rest is here:
Homeshare: meet the unlikely housemates

Legal aid bill suffers seventh Lords defeat

Mark Glasgow — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:41:27 +0000

Peers vote against mandatory advice phonelines after warning that people with learning difficulties will need face-to-face help The government’s embattled legal aid bill has suffered its seventh defeat in the House of Lords as peers voted against the mandatory use of telephone advice lines.

Visit link:
Legal aid bill suffers seventh Lords defeat

Interview: Richard Whitehead

Mark Glasgow — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:30:42 +0000

Able Speaks with GB sprinter Richard Whitehead for exactly 25.88 seconds – coincidentally the same time as his T42 200m winning time from the World Athletics Championships..

How important is sponsorship to your training?
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP came on board to support my transition from being a full time employee within sports development to enable me to concentrate solely on my athletics and my journey towards 2012. It’s great to have this opportunity.

The pressure of having to work as well as train is tough. When I was training for the marathons I was doing 90 miles a week on the road as well as trying to hold down a full time job. That’s tough mentally and physically and then because of that you don’t have any kind of social life with family or friends and the work-life balance is undone. The whole demeanour of an athlete is affected because of that so eventually after years and years it does actually impact on your performance.

How are you finding the change of disciplines from marathon runner to sprinter?
The marathon is not available for me to enter in 2012. So, in 2005 when the Games were announced (and I found out about this), I decided that I would do things my way. I put a team around me that I trust with my career and are the best professionals within their fields. I basically built a team to become successful on the track. I was World record holder for marathon and half marathon before I went to the track with a good team around me. I just made some fine tuning and adjustments; got myself a track coach as well as my overall coach and just transferred the skills.

Why did you change disciplines?
I wanted to compete in the marathon in the World Championships and the Paralympic Games but the IPC wouldn’t let me participate in the marathon because it’s a T46 class which is an arm amputee class. Even though I’ve been racing against people that are more able than me they wouldn’t let me make that transition which I‘m very disappointed about. Sport’s meant to be inclusive but I feel that in Paralympic sports sometimes it’s exclusive. In recent weeks there have been calls in the press for Paralympics and Olympics to become one event. You shouldn’t have to change from 26.2 miles to 200 metres just to participate in a major Games.

How’s your training going for?
I won’t peak until June/July time. At the moment we’re in winter training so it’s quite hard – lots of long sessions on the track which is good for me. The longer the sessions, the better for someone with my (marathon) background in endurance running. The gym sessions are also quite heavy. My training has changed from doing 35 hours on the road to more specific work on the track and the gym which I’m enjoying. It’s a different challenge.

What’s next?
I’m a mature athlete now and some people say that at my age I’ve ‘peaked’ and that there’s not going to be much more coming from me but last year I broke the World Record at Crystal Palace. I want to keep pushing the barriers and try to take disability sport to the next generation of athletes even if they’re athletes that aren’t motivated by gold, silver or bronze or world records but are just motivated by pushing the boundaries and being as successful as they can.

The 2012 Games are in London. Does that add to the pressure?
The pro’s (of a home Games) are that it gives an opportunity for athletes to give back to their local community (and their friends and families) by being able to watch them at the highest level. The other pros are the exposure and access to media that we’ve never had before. I see London 2012 being the biggest Paralympics ever and off the back of that I hope that disabled people in the UK will benefit from a more inclusive society where people understand that Paralympic athletes are just disabled people that are pushing the barriers within their specific activity.

Tanni Grey-Thompson: ‘My years of experience of dealing with bias against disabled people’ – video

Mark Glasgow — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:07:54 +0000

Disability campaigner Nicola Clark talks to Baroness Grey-Thompson, Britain’s most decorated paralympian, about growing up with spina bifida and her new role as a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords.

Warwick Davis talks about disability: transcript

Mark Glasgow — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:31:31 +0000

Actor Warwick Davis tells campaigner and blogger Nicky Clark about growing up with dwarfism and how it has affected his life Warwick Davis I don’t think I ever noticed that I was short, there was never a moment when I woke up and thought “my goodness, me, I am different to everyone else”. But I suppose it is when you get to about eight or 10 years old, you start to notice the difference between yourself and your schoolmates, who are by that age about twice your height.

Read the original post:
Warwick Davis talks about disability: transcript

Jo Whiley talks about disability: transcript

Sally Bercow: ‘My son has autism, and I’m very proud of him’ – video

Mark Glasgow — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:31:27 +0000

Disability campaigner Nicola Clark talks to Sally Bercow, whose eldest child Oliver is autistic, about finding out about her son’s condition Sally Bercow Nicola Clark Richard Sprenger Christian Bennett

Sally Bercow on her son’s disability

Mark Glasgow — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:31:22 +0000

Transcript of interview with Sally Bercow, who talks to disability campaigner Nicky Clark about her eldest child Oliver, who’s autistic Sally Bercow Well I suspected that there was something up with Oliver when he was about six months old. Becaues he would fixate on an object in the distance and not look at you and his eye contact, even at six months, was a bit skewed and I thought there is something a bit odd here

Read this article:
Sally Bercow on her son’s disability

Jo Whiley talks about disability: transcript

Mark Glasgow — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:48:41 +0000

The broadcaster tells blogger and campaigner Nicola Clark about how her family has been affected by her sister’s learning disability Jo Whiley I don’t think that people have an idea what caring entails, I really don’t, because, you know, it is utterly exhausting. Someone probably like yourself or like my mum and dad, they have Frances 24/7 so just little things like she does not like them to watch television. So the new Sherlock is on or something like that and everyone else goes “great, let’s watch Sherlock”, and you will have Frances going, “No don’t watch telly, no not watch telly, don’t watch telly”.

Read this article:
Jo Whiley talks about disability: transcript

Funding older people’s care: there’s no ‘sticking plaster solution’

Mark Glasgow — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:56:26 +0000

Michelle Mitchell, charity director general of Age UK, is calling on the government to embrace radical proposals on paying for elderly care Any day now, David Cameron will decide on Dilnot. The verdict on whether the government is to go ahead with reform of long-term care funding, as recommended by a commission headed by economist Andrew Dilnot , rests formally with the coalition cabinet, but the key to that will be the prime minister’s instinct

Read the rest here:
Funding older people’s care: there’s no ‘sticking plaster solution’

Nicky Clark: the accidental activist battling disability hate crime

Mark Glasgow — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:34:38 +0000

She took on Ricky Gervais on Twitter and won. Now Nicky Clark’s new films show disabled celebrities fighting stigma Nicky Clark came to activism by chance, and discovered a knack for it. Had life turned out differently she might have been an actor, rather than a carer and an articulate disability rights campaigner: “It’s been very organic, but I suppose I have always been someone who got cross,” she says

Originally posted here:
Nicky Clark: the accidental activist battling disability hate crime