Arsenal’s team, led by Disability Liaison Officer Alun Francis, was praised for consistently going “above and beyond the call of duty to promote disability access, and in doing so providing other clubs with an example to follow. They have seamlessly integrated accessibility provision and disability awareness into everything they do.”

The Disability Liaison Team at Arsenal has been awarded the Radar Shaw Trust ‘Accessibility Provider of the Year’ Award, beating off the likes of Legoland and Essex County Council in the process. 

Left Stranded? Can’t Get off the train? Disabled Rail Travellers Say Yes!

A new report has confirmed what many already know - disabled rail passengers are left stranded on trains and platforms because of the continuing failures in the system to book assistance.

Passenger Focus, the rail consumer watchdog, said there had been some improvements since its last survey of the Assisted Passenger Reservation System (APRS) in 2008, but found that the service was still "inconsistent". The watchdog warned that a failure to improve could lead to the industry failing disabled passengers during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

"Mystery Shoppers" were used to test the system and (here come our much loved stats), in two per cent of journeys, the passenger could not get off the train and had to travel to the next station. If that wasn’t bad enough (more stats), on five per cent of journeys, no staff were present to help the passenger board the train. To add insult to injury, the survey also found that staff were only prepared for the passenger's arrival on (stat alert) 65 per cent of occasions, compared with 67 per cent in 2008 - you know how much we like stats at NADS.

Our good friends at the Trailblazers Project run by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign took part in the research work. Bobby Ancil, Project Manager at Trailblazers, said that “We are still hearing of disabled travellers being left unable to board their train or leave at the appropriate station. The need for advance booking 24 hours ahead is also a major cause of frustration for active young people with disabilities – it denies them the chance to behave as spontaneously as friends and peers."

The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) responded by saying that the results had not reflected the “real improvements” that had been made, but a new "improved passenger booking system" will be introduced this summer. OK, so here’s the challenge, when it is introduced, let us know what you think of it. Our contact details are at the end of this Newsletter. Also, if you have experienced particular problems travelling by rail to watch a match or sporting event, we’d really like to hear from you.

More than 8000 Disabled People Apply to Volunteer at London 2012

More than 8,000 disabled people have applied to volunteer at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Although the figure is only about three per cent of the total number of applicants, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) said it was "very pleased" with how many disabled people had put their names forward. 

In all, more than 240,000 people have applied to volunteer at the games, with LOCOG now starting to short-list the "best of the best". Interviews and selection will take place over the next year.

LOCOG said that most of those who have applied asked to volunteer at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. A LOCOG spokeswoman added: "We're thrilled with the response we've had to date from disabled people, with thousands having submitted their application.

"We're committed to making sure disabled people are a key part of the volunteering programme and we're confident that our communications campaign reached diverse community sectors, giving everyone the opportunity to apply.”

Roving Reporters Needed – Apply Here

Ok, so maybe we are not looking for Gary O’Donohue to transfer to NADS from his work as Political Correspondent for the BBC, but we are looking for any budding Roving Reporters out there to come forward.

We already have a super group of people who provide us with a report every now and again but it would be great if there were a few more to help us get a really good feel for what is happening on the ground and in the grounds. We are looking for stories about what is good as well as the bad, so do please give it a try. Who knows, you could soon be giving Gary a run for his money! You can click on the following link to see some of the reports we have already received.
http://www.nads.org.uk/roving-reports_downloads/15.html

British Legion Inside Right helping Veterans

Professional football clubs, including Chelsea, Colchester United, Everton, Lincoln City and Portsmouth, have signed up to take part in the Inside Right Scheme, which is being managed by the Football Foundation.

The initiative, backed by the Royal British Legion, was set up to offer physical activity and social opportunities for younger veterans who are vulnerable, isolated, suffering from mental health issues or other problems as a result of their service. 

The Football Foundation now accepts referrals from health and welfare professionals who know of any young veterans who may benefit from the scheme. For more information, click here or call 0845 345 4555.

Your Online Shopping can help raise cash for NADS 

There was a time when subtitling was scarce, but nowadays we are shocked if it isn’t available. It can, though, be quite interesting.

Pre-recorded subtitles – these have been carefully done before transmission and appear in time with the programme – are a great benefit to many. Live subtitles are a different story. They are made by a stenographer typing words phonetically as they listen to a show, or with speech recognition, where someone talks into a microphone while listening to the broadcast, and a computer recognises their words.

It is the latter version that leads to the use of words that sound similar to the intended one, but can give a very different meaning. It has been reported that during the Queen Mother's funeral, the solemn announcement that "We'll now have a moment's silence for the Queen Mother" became "We'll now have a moment's violence for the Queen Mother."
More recently, BBC Breakfast ran an article about breeding pigs. The journalist explained to the presenters that pigs "love to nibble anything that comes into the shed, like our wellies".

Unfortunately, the computer heard pigs "love to nibble anything that comes into the shed, like our willies". OK, so mistakes happen. But how many children will now be avoiding the pig enclosure when they go on the school trip to the local farm?

News In Brief

1.  Everton make the short list for the Sports Industry Community Programme Award for their Empowering Disabled People Through Football project. Click here to see the full nominations list.

2.  Catford based Wheelchair Racing Club seeks new members.  Click here for more information.

3.  Mencap Events and Competitions. To access details of the Mencap Sports Event Calendar please click here.

4. QPR fans dig deep.  A disabled QPR season-ticket holder has become a mini-celebrity at Loftus Road after fans pledged thousands to help send the youngster for a life-changing operation. To read the full article please click here.

5. Sheffield United FC support local disabled fan.  They have arranged an All Star Team from BBC Radio Sheffield to take on a Blades Legends Team at Sheffield FC on Sunday 20th February in aid of Karl Darby.  For more details please click here.

And Finally - Keep in Touch

NADS takes your views very seriously and we can and will contacts clubs and organisers to make sure that where there are problems, these can be resolved - where things have gone well, we'd also like to give the appropriate words of praise as well.

Your views, more than any, are so important to us. There are a number of ways that you can get in touch with us and you can be assured that if you want us to treat something in confidence, we will respect that.

You can email us at info@nads.org.uk , telephone us on 0845 230 6237, or write to us at the following address: NADS, the Meridian, 4 Copthall House, Station Square, Covernty, CV1 2FL