It is great that physically disabled people can attend and enjoy so many more events than they used to. Incredibly, if you can navigate the tents and muddy fields, you can now use a festival-ready off-road mobility scooter at Glastonbury!

We thought we would take a look at the other disabled friendly considerations that the Glastonbury festival made:

The site

There is little they can do about the site itself. Glastonbury festival is spread over green fields and farm land – so the weather plays a huge part in how accessible the site is to everyone.

Campsite

There was a disabled campsite located onsite, with special facilities, run by an experienced team who were on hand throughout the festival.

Campervans

If you can’t camp, but wanted to go to the festival, there were some spaces available for campervans and caravans in the disabled campsite.

Toilets

There were adapted toilets at locations throughout the Festival site.

Viewing Platforms

There were viewing platforms at the some of the stages with access ramps, for use by disabled festival goers.

British Sign Language Interpreters

DeafZone were onsite offering a free Interpreting service.

Event Mobility

Event Mobility was hiring out both electric and manual wheelchairs.

It all goes to show – don’t let disability get in the way of living your life how you want to. If you can get there and get around – enjoy yourself!

What made it all the more special was when the main headline act made a heartfelt plea during his performance at Glastonbury asking for increased accessibility for disabled people.

“Make It Accessible”

Stevie Wonder said,

“I want you to encourage the world to make things more accessible for those who are physically challenged. Make it more accessible. Let there be nowhere that I can’t go being blind, that someone cannot go being deaf, someone cannot go being paraplegic or quadriplegic. Make it accessible so that we can celebrate the world as well as you can.”

Stevie Wonder is a United Nations Messenger of Peace and has often spoken out for the rights of disabled people.

You are SO RIGHT Stevie – thankyou!

Blue badges have been in the news recently – and not for good reasons. The blue badge scheme is a lifeline for many people. It enables people with serious mobility issues to park closer to where they need to go. They can also park free of charge in some cases, and park longer than more able-bodied people are allowed to do.

This makes sense as someone who has problems with their mobility, will often take longer to do tasks like shopping, and by the very nature of having a mobility problem cannot walk as far as other more able bodied people.

Recently it was reported that Welwyn Hatfield Council has decided to charge disabled motorists for parking in Welwyn Garden City.

We are not aware of any other councils who have taken this shocking decision. It could mean that in this case the council is breach of the Disability Discrimination Act, by placing blue badge holders at a disadvantage.

City Mobility will be very interested to see how this case unfolds. We understands that Councils sometimes have to make cuts, but this should surely not be at the expense of disabled people who – to be honest – have enough to contend with.

Most people use their blue badges honestly and considerately. They appreciate the benefits that owning one can have.

The BBC reported on 20th May that there has been a crackdown on fraudulent use of blue badges in Gloucestershire.

Fraudulent use of blue badges can mean that a stolen badge is used. Estimates state the 6000 blue badges are stolen every year, usually by people trying to avoid parking fees. This can be particularly lucrative where parking fees are high. There is even a black market in selling stolen blue badges.

The other very common way of blue badges being misused is when someone lends their blue badge to someone who is not entitled to use it.

We have all seen this happen – someone parks up in a disabled bay, then jumps out of the car, and rushes into a shop. It is annoying, and simply wrong. It is also illegal.

Some people do not care that their action could mean that another person cannot legitimately park, in a space designated for them.

You can report fraudulent use of blue badges to the local councils parking department. You can often do this anonymously. I use a walking stick and walking is very difficult for me. My Blue Badge is very important to me and I would never misuse it and agree the law needs to be tightened up but not at the expense of disabled people.

On 18th May 2010 the BBC reported that a disabled pensioner had been ordered to pay £13,000 in compensation after she hit and injured a shop worker on her mobility scooter.

More details of the case:

The BBC report states that a shop worker was hit by Mrs Brown’s mobility scooter and her knee was injured. In January this year the County Court in Denbighshire found Mrs Brown liable and ordered her to pay compensation and legal costs.

As the £13,000 is a very large amount of money, the Court agreed this week that Mrs Brown can pay the debt at £100 per month over the next 12 years. This will mean she does not have to sell her home in order to pay the compensation.

We understand Mrs Brown will appeal against the Court’s original decision.

This story really adds weight to the argument for having insurance when you are using your scooter.

If a scooter user has suitable insurance, then any accidents that they cause whilst using the scooter are covered and the insurance company pays any compensation awarded. Likewise if anything should happen to your scooter, be it where someone else is at fault or even if it is damage caused by bad weather, then you could be covered as well.

It is certainly food for thought, and too many cases are happening where someone is left seriously out of pocket after an accident. At City Mobility we always recommend that people take out suitable mobility scooter insurance.

The Sunday Telegraph today revealed how bad some councils are at improving homes for the elderly and disabled. Something we are sadly aware of here at City Mobility.

Some councils are taking up to 8 years to provide, often simple mobility aids such as handrails to disabled and elderly people. Mobility equipment is so important for many people – it can mean they keep as much of their indepenence as possible and can help to delay, limit or stop a deterioration in their condition.

About 40,000 people a year in the UK are awarded a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) so that their home can be adapted for them. This usually means things like ramps, stairlifts or handrails.

The really sad fact is that some people are waiting so long for mobility equipment that they can wait no longer and are forced to give up living in their own home and move or are moved to care homes. We think this is totally unacceptable and is the reverse of government promises that vulnerable people, such as the elderly and disabled should get more support to stay in their own homes.

Carole Cochrane, Chief Executive of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, said the failings meant elderly and infirm people were being left trapped for years, often unable to move around even within their homes.

She said: “We see many elderly people finding themselves, effectively, a prisoner in parts of their homes as they wait for basic equipment. It is unacceptable that people have to wait so long for adaptations to their homes.

The Daily Telegraph report was by Laura Donnelly, Health correspondent, and was published 02 May 2010

The House of Commons Transport Committee said that a review of mobility scooters in 2005 has been forgotten about and urges for better figures on the use of scooters in the United Kingdom.

MP’s are wanting rules on mobility scooters to be clarified and are suggesting a driving test for users. This follows recent news of accidents involving the scooters.

The majority of mobility scooter users drive with due care and attention. It is just a few people who do not consider other people when driving their scooter.  As of 2010 there is no compulsory assessment or ‘driving test’ to see if someone is fit to drive a mobility scooter. It is estimated that there are over a quater of a million mobility scooters in use in the UK. Whilst some can travel at up to 8mph (12.8km/h) and weigh up to 150kg. Other scooters are lightweight, portable and are designed for indoor use or driving along the pavement. These mobility scooters do not go faster than 4mph.

Kevin Clinton from Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) said “Given that it is difficult to predict what other forms of mobility scooter or EPVs will be invented in the future, we also believe that if they do grow in popularity it may be necessary to develop some basic construction and use requirements. However, at the moment we are not convinced that there is enough evidence about the likely popularity and benefits of mobility scooter or EPVs to justify the cost of creating such a regulatory system for them.”

So in please read The Highway code for mobility scooters before using a mobility scooter and remember that safety always comes first.