|  |  |  |  | | Access Group Success Stories
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| | | | | Victory as Post Office to get Lift
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| | | By Annette Belcher, Stafford Post
Disability campaigners who have been fighting for better access at Stafford’s town centre post office has secured a victory for the less abled in the community. A new lift is to be installed underneath the staircase in the WH Smith store to provide access to the post office, sited upstairs. The tills and the queuing systems downstairs will be moved to the other side of the store to provide better access to the lift. And there will be improved access upstairs for those with wheelchairs and pushchairs by moving two of the pay points. The move comes after Stafford and District Access Group joined with MP David Kidney to fight for improvements to the access for disabled people at the re-sited post office. And the group met with representatives of WH Smith last month to discuss the disabled access at the post office. Derek Boult told us: “I am pleased we have made a breakthrough at WH Smith”. “It is just a shame it has taken us so long to get to this point and a lot of this could have been done months ago. “This has been down to the hard work of our MP and the persistence of the Access Group.” He added. WH Smith confirmed that a new lift will be installed in Autumn, located near to the current till points on the ground floor. | | | | |
| | | | | 17/5/06 - Garden Opened at Wildlife Trust’s HQ
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Express and Star
A sensory garden has been unveiled at a nature reserve in Staffordshire as part of a £130,000 improvement scheme. The garden has been created by volunteers at Staffordshire Wildlife Trust’s headquarters, at the Wolseley Centre in Wolseley Bridge , near Rugeley, over the last year. It was officially opened yesterday by Derek Boult, of the Stafford Access Group which advises on improving access for the disabled. The garden has been made so it is accessible to all, including wheelchairs and pushchairs. Scented, brightly coloured, rustling and edible plants including herbs, flowers and shrubs, all feature. Centre warden Dan Saberton said the plants appeal to all five senses – smell, feel, taste, sight and sound. It has raised beds, different surfaces underfoot, a solar-powered water feature, a pergola, a living willow dome and a mosaic of the trust’s logo, a badger’s head. The trust received a grant from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 
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| | | | | Store Action Joy for the Disabled
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A Stone charity battling to improve access for disabled people in the town has scored a victory this week after a major retailer cleared up their shop floor.
Two weeks ago Stone Access Group told the Post of their frustration at the lack of action to improve disability access at the town's Morrisons store.
In June this year the group visited the Stone supermarket after 20 local shoppers contacted them. Disabled visitors to the store claimed its 'market street' layout stopped them reaching shelves and accessing isles and checkouts because of pallets and other obstacles on the shop floor.
Since October last year, under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), all shops, banks and other businesses have had a legal obligation to provide easy access to their services for all customers. The group, together with The Post, has been 'naming and shaming' those who have not made improvements. But this week the access group thanked The Post after a return visit to the store revealed action has been taken.
Derek Boult, chairman of Stone Access Group, told us: "I went to Morrions again this week and what an improvement it was. They've done what we wanted - we've finally got them thinking disabilities."
Mr Boult told us the aisles have been cleared making access around the store much easier. He said: "Staff there said they had a call from head office following the articles about them in The Post. It is a great improvement."
The group's Stafford branch also scored a victory earlier this year after retailer Willkinsons rolled out improvements the group had recommended to all its stores across the UK.
Mr Boult told us: "Morrisons is another success. They have taken on board that people with disabilities do have difficulties and all they want is their independence when they visit these stores."
Do you want Stone Access Group or Stafford and District Access Group to investigate any stores near you? Contact the Post on 01785 212370 or 01785 212364 or write to us at 35 Eastgate Street, Stafford, ST16 2LZ.
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| | | | | 4/8/06 - Store's Doors Access Success
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Stafford Post
by Lynn Grainger
A Stafford group fighting for the rights of disabled people in the town is celebrating this week after a store "named and shamed" by the Post finally became wheelchair friendly.
Over the past 12 months, an ongoing Post investigation has revealed that many Stafford shops have not complied with the new laws under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which state disabled people should have easy access to their buildings and services.
One store where complaints were made was the town's Argos branch. It's heavy doors meant wheelchair users were left waiting outside for staff to let them in.
But this week, the store has installed a completely new frontage with easy access for those with mobility problems.
Derek Boult, vice chairman of Stafford and District Access Group, was overjoyed at the news.
He told the Post: "This is a super result and we would like to thank the Stafford Post for all your hard work. You have really supported us and I'm sure it has made a difference."
He said: "The frontage now has electric, super-wide doors and staff are right by the entrance, so if anyone is having difficulties getting in, they will be seen."
Derek said the decision of Argos to undertake the work would hopefully set a standard other "named and shamed" stores in the town would follow.
He added: "I am meeting with the regional managers of several other Stafford stores later this week to show them the problems in person."
Argos' Entrance doors. After, with automatic sliding doors, and before with the old heavy manual doors.
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| | | | | Wolsely Centre Access Audit Correspondence
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Dear Marie,
Wolsely Centre
Thank you for your letter of the 13th December 2004 the contents of which we note with pleasure.
At our meeting on Monday 10th January 2005 the members of the Access Group were pleased that you found the access report most useful and that it will help you to continue your work in improving the access at the centre.
The members wish to thank you for the kind donation of £25, which will certainly help us continue our work in the future.
With grateful thanks and kind regards for the donation we look forward to working with you again soon.
Yours sincerely,
Derek Boult
Vice Chairman
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| | | | | OPEN TO CHANGE - Improved Access for Disabled People
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Thousands more businesses and services will be opened up to disbled people as a result of new regulations.
Minister for Disabled People, Maria Eagle, said that too many people had been unnecessarily excluded from too many services for too long.
This Government believes in an inclusive society where everyone has the right to participate fully, Maria Eagle said.
These regulations will ensure that disabled people have access to many services from which they have been unfairly excluded for far too long. Businesses have no need to be apprehensive about the changes. They will have to do only what is reasonable.
Service providers such as shops, restaurants, hairdressers, banks, local authorities and government departments will have to make reasonable adjustments to overcome physical barriers that continue to make access to their services impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people from October 2004.
Maria Eagle reassured business that making the change makes sense.
There are over 8.5 million disabled people in the UK, with an estimated collective spending power in excess of £45 billion a year.
It makes good economic sense, as well as being right to attract as many of these customers as possible by improving access to services, she said.
The new rights build on the duty service providers currently have to make reasonable adjustments to the way they provide services.
Participating
A revised Code of Practise to be published by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) said, "There are 8.5 million disable people in the UK who are often excluded from participating in society because of the lack of access. A visit to the doctor or dentist, the shops, pubs or leisure facilities can be fraught with difficulty and, for some, impossible.
These new rights will not only mean that disabled people can enjoy many of the freedoms and independence that non-disabled people take for granted, they will have a positive benefit for all - for older people, the parent with the pushchair to someone carrying heave shopping. The DRC is here to offer help and advice for businesses and service providers so that they are ready for 2004.
Speaking at the Employers' Forum on Disability Conference, Maria Eagle insisted that service providers must plan now to ensure that physical barriers for disabled people can be overcome from the 2004 deadline.
2004 may seem a long way off, but it isn't. The countdown has begun, Ms Eagle continued.
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