Steve Duncan: Why an inclusive Calderdale matters now more than ever
When I look around Calderdale, I see tremendous strength in our community. Community groups working together, kindness, willingness to help and pitch in, these are all qualities that have carried us through the floods, the pandemic, and now in the cost-of-living crisis. But strength and resilience is not enough unless we ensure every person, whatever their ability, can fully take part.
At our September CFFC Membership event we presented the Calderdale Accessibility Fund Evaluation and it’s something I’m proud that we at CFFC have helped to support and facilitate. It wasn’t simply just a report highlighting where needs to be more accessible in Calderdale, it’s a strong message about how we feel about inclusivity and is part of our vision where Calderdale is a place where accessibility is not just for some people, but for everyone.
CFFC commissioned the Calderdale Accessibility Report, which identified where progress has been made and where there were gaps, and it made recommendations to rectify the issues. We then provided grants for community spaces to make progress, whether that be installing ramps, widening doors, or improving signage.
But for too many people, the small things still add up to large barriers. Katie Clarke from Visits Unlimited summed it up perfectly when she explained that “one small step to a wheelchair user isn’t a small step, it is a huge problem. Add on common issues like a lack of accessible toilets with proper facilities, cluttered routes, and lack of awareness and understanding, and this can make life unnecessarily difficult.”
What strikes me is how powerful lived experience is. When people like Aisha Mir, and Paul Manchi, along with other members of ACDAF (Accessible Calderdale Disability Access Forum) shared their stories and firsthand experiences, everyone in the room could feel the frustration and injustice, they spoke so insightfully about what it means to be in a wheelchair, or have a hidden disability.
They brought to life the very real struggles they face and it moved people in the room so much, people made pledges on what they are going to do to make a difference and make Calderdale more inclusive for everyone.
Inclusion is about more than an inclusive environment, made up of ramps, stairs, hearing loops, quiet spaces, etc, it’s about how we listen to stories and experiences of people with diverse disabilities and then include everyone’s needs in the work we do.
That is the change we hope this Accessibility Fund marks the beginning of. Already, we see organisations stepping up from using social media to share stories of accessibility to auditing their premises, from pledging to improve staff understanding of accessibility to making sure that committees and boards include people with lived experience.
These are not small tokenistic gestures, they are the fundamentals for a culture where inclusion becomes the norm, not the exception.
CFFC intends to continue supporting this work by encouraging partnerships, providing grants, pushing for improvements, and helping all voices be heard.