LPF AGM 2012
 On 30th May 2012, Level Playing Field held its Annual General Meeting at the House of Lords. Opened by LPF Vice-President Lord Rosser, the AGM was a resounding success and received a lot of positive feedback.
A packed-out room played host to an afternoon full of interesting discussion and lively debate. The previous year’s reports and accounts were circulated to those present, and those standing for election to the new Board of Trustees gave brief declarations of themselves.
The undoubted highlight of the AGM was LPF Ambassador June Wratten’s speech on why good access is so important for disabled supporters. June shared her very personal and emotional story about her and Joseph's experiences and of her own personal affinity to LPF, after losing Joseph and why it is crucial that we continue with the work we are doing.
 It was also a pleasure to honour LPF Vice-Chair Gary Deards for his outstanding contribution to the charity over the years. Gary was presented with a commemorative plaque by Paul Darling QC of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, who paid a glowing tribute to Gary’s continued hard work on behalf of LPF and disabled supporters across the country.
In closing the AGM, LPF Vice-President Lord Faulkner described how essential it was for our subject to gain wider exposure and called for greater support. The next 12 months promise to be very exciting for LPF, and with the huge summer of sport ahead it is crucial that the hard work continues .
The LPF Annual Report which includes a plea from the LPF chair, Joyce Cook OBE to all sports governing bodies was presented at the AGM and can be downloaded here. Please do share this report with your colleagues, groups and networks.
 British based European charity gets the first win of EURO 2012
UEFA EURO 2012 – RESPECT Inclusion project
The tournament charity of UEFA EURO 2012, The Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE), has received vital funds from UEFA to continue its work in promoting and delivering inclusive football stadiums in Poland and Ukraine.
UEFA’s EURO 2012 Charity Ticket Sales Programme enabled supporters to purchase high quality seats for various matches at EURO 2012 via a special charity auction. The programme proved to be hugely successful with some seats attracting bids of ten times the face value, resulting in a total of €175k for CAFE.
Joyce Cook OBE, Managing Director of CAFE (and Chair of LPF) comments:
“It’s the most amazing news to hear about the amount raised through the charity ticket auction and to learn that some people had bid as much as 10 times the face value for tickets for our charity project. People really do care about inclusion and improving access for disabled fans and that’s encouraging to know.”
In addition, CAFE has received €360k to carry out work in Poland and Ukraine under the umbrella of the UEFA EURO 2012 Respect Inclusion initiative. The initiative, which is part of UEFA’s wider RESPECT campaign, aims to help ensure that disabled supporters attending UEFA EURO 2012 can enjoy the tournament. The Respect Inclusion - Football with No Limits project aims to support the two host countries in delivering accessible stadia as well as helping to improve access to local businesses (such as banks, hotels, restaurants) so by providing improved facilities and services for disabled people both during the tournament and in legacy. Respect Inclusion has provided new life skills to disabled young people, architectural and media students, as well as preparing reliable access information for disabled fans and visitors of the tournament.
Some of the project’s activities have included the setting up of access advisory groups in Poland and Ukraine and the measuring of access to public spaces and local businesses in each host city and by providing them with advice on improving access to their premises. The project has awarded disability friendly zones and encouraged healthy competition between local businesses. Audio-descriptive commentary was also introduced to the region for the first time in Poland and Ukraine with 50 volunteers trained to provide this service for partially sighted and blind fans at each host stadium during the tournament and at future football matches in both countries. This will enable blind and partially sighted fans to enjoy the match experience more fully whilst leaving a ground-breaking legacy service at each host stadium.
All the access information gathered for UEFA EURO 2012 is available to disabled fans and visitors by the means of a tailor-made online guide published at 3 dedicated Respect Inclusion websites. The access guides are available in Polish, Ukrainian and English.
UEFA has also announced that it will donate €3k to CAFE for every goal scored in the UEFA EURO 2012 tournament and football followers and other benefactors are being encouraged to also donate for upcoming schemes. Donations can be made online or by post and details can be found at http://euro2012.cafefootball.eu/
Joyce added:
“We’re already making a difference with the UEFA EURO 2012 Respect inclusion project - the social and access changes we’ve been able to influence so far in both countries have been ground-breaking but we still have more to do!”
For further information about CAFE please visit the CAFE website
 Right to Ride Action
Together with Disabled People Against the Cuts, Transport for All will be holding a day of action for accessible transport on 19th June. They will be making the case that if the Government are serious about enabling disabled people into work, they must ensure transport is accessible.
Activists are asked to meet at the House of Commons at 2pm, and then invite their MP to travel with them by bus to the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the umbrella body for all bus companies in Covent Garden area (about a 15 minute bus journey). Even if your MP can’t make it, they need as many wheelchair users, blind and partially sighted people, deaf and other disabled people to all need to use the same buses at the same time. For more details see here.
 Strudwick’s Stroll
Last year before the Football Conference AGM Director Andy Shaw undertook a 15 mile walk to raise money for LPF. His efforts were rewarded by donations from various sources to the amount of £600.
Following his success this year on the 8th June prior to this year’s AGM a 16 mile walk around Newport was conquered. Leading the charge to raise money for LPF and the Haemophilia Society was Football Conference Manager Dennis Studwick with support from Andy Shaw and PR manager Alan Alger.
Anyone wanting to make a donation towards their combined efforts should send a cheque payable to ‘Football Conference’ for either of their chosen charities to c/o Fraser Tooley, The Football Conference, 3rd floor, 31-34 Wellington House, Waterloo St, Birmingham B2 5TJ. For those that do not identify either charity the donation will be split 50/50.
LPF would like to thank Dennis, Andy and Alan for all their continued support.
The SGSA - accessible and inclusive sports grounds
Attending football matches and other sporting activities is an integral and vital part of our culture and tradition. Football grounds vary greatly in capacity from a few thousand to many that host tens of thousands of spectators. The last twenty years has seen many new stadia being built and all different because of their location, scale and site factors. But common to all is the need to provide well designed, managed and operated facilities that meet the expectations and demands of spectators with disabilities, all of whom wish to experience and enjoy the thrills and excitement that football matches can deliver.
The Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) was established to build on the success of the Football Licensing Authority (FLA) and is the is the only UK Government funded body responsible for advice and guidance on spectator safety at sports grounds in the UK and overseas. We work in partnership with others to help to create the conditions for safe and enjoyable experiences for all spectators at football and other sports grounds.
The full article recently appeared in Football Club Magazine and can be read here.
 Roving Report- Champions League Final 2012- FC Bayern Munich v Chelsea, Allianz Arena, Munich 19.05.12
Matthew from Chelsea DSA sent in a roving report from the Champions League final detailing the complete experiences of his day trip to Munich from leaving Gatwick to returning the next morning. The report provides detailed information on access for a disabled fan visiting the Allianz Arena and experiences of the sporting experience. To read Matthew’s report please read here.
Essex Disability Football
Essex County FA Senior Development Officer John Manning hopes the local disability football fraternity will draw enthusiasm from Roy Hodgson’s Three Lions side at Euro 2012 by trying out at the next England Football Talent Event on Saturday 7th July at Shenfield High School in Brentwood.
Just days after a potential tournament-clinching final in Poland and the Ukraine at the start of the month, experienced coaches will see who has what it takes to be the next disability football star from 1:30 to 4:30pm at the second of two Football Association regional events this summer, with the first due to take place in Newham on Saturday 23rd June.
‘Dream It! Believe It! Achieve It!’ is the message behind the England Talent Days, which are open to both boys and girls. They offer the opportunity for children in school years seven to eleven - in key stages three and four - to find out more about local opportunities to play as well as The FA’s England and Great Britain Disability football squads.For more information see here.
DSA Newsletters
Yeovil Town DSA and Leicester City DSA have recently published their Newsletters. To read them please use the links below:
Leicester City DSA Newsletter
Yeovil Town DSA Newsletter
News in Brief:
Tanni Grey-Thompson warns about Paralympic legacy:
For more information see here.
Inclusive Sport Investment:
Britain’s greatest Paralympian, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, has teamed up with Sport England to launch an £8m fund to get more disabled people playing sport. For more information see here.
Supporters Direct new Chief Executive:
Supporters Direct confirmed the appointment of David Lampitt as its new Chief Executive effective from 25 June, for more information see here.
Supporters Direct’s annual conference is being held in London in conjunction with the Football Supporters Federation as The Fans Weekend on the 7th and 8th of July. For details & registration for the Fans’ Weekend, visit the Supporters Direct website
And Finally:
Can any of readers assist a gentleman who has written to us requesting information on fresh water coarse fishing venues that are accessible to disabled anglers especially those in North Wales. Any feedback on this request please email info@levelplayingfield.org.uk.
And finally, keep in touch
LPF takes your views very seriously and we can and will contact 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@levelplayingfield.org.uk telephone us on 0845 230 6237, or write to us at the following address:
LPF, The Meridian, 4 Copthall House, Station Square, Coventry, CV1 2FL.
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