POSTED: Saturday September 26th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mayor: Deaf and disabled Londoners will be not be left behind in economic recovery

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has pledged that the Deaf and disabled community will not be left behind as London climbs out of recession – particularly as a diverse workforce is helping London deliver the most accessible city and Olympics ever.

Speaking ahead of “Disability Capital,” a major Deaf and disability equality summit and exhibition at the ExCel centre, the Mayor said, “Nearly 1 in 6 people of working age in London have some form of disability and I am determined to seize the opportunities provided by the 2012 Games to help Deaf and disabled Londoners get into work and secure lasting accessibility improvements to London.  We are putting Deaf and disabled people at the heart of our plans for 2012 and beyond.  We must achieve an accessible London.”

Over 600 Deaf and disabled people and equality campaigners are expected to attend Disability Capital at the ExCel centre in London’s Docklands on Friday 25 September.  The event is co-sponsored by recruiters Adecco, Transport for London and Bankers Benevolent Fund.

High on the agenda will be the Mayor’s Economic Recovery Action Plan, designed to help Deaf and disabled Londoners improve their skills and employment chances during the economic downturn.  Skills and employment experts are set to outline the London-wide efforts aimed to reducing the impact of the economic downturn on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people.

The summit will also include a presentation of plans for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, of which one of the projects, Unlimited, will be the largest ever celebration of arts and disability culture and sport to take place in the UK. 
 
Representatives from Transport for London and London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) will discuss what they are doing to make London truly accessible, both for spectators to the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and for the wider city.

Deputy Mayor of London and Chair of Disability Capital Richard Barnes said,
“We want a two-way dialogue with deaf and disabled Londoners and are delighted by the numbers of people wanting to attend Disability Capital.  London 2012 promises to be a showcase of sporting achievement, but with London’s Deaf and disabled community lending their expertise and talent, we’re transforming our city into a showcase for accessibility and inclusivity.”

Disability Capital speakers include:
Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes
Dame Tanni Grey Thompson, British Paralympic athlete and winner of 16 Paralympic medals including 11 golds
Liz Sayce, Chief Executive of RADAR and member of Disability Committee of Equalities and Human Rights Commission
Andrew Little, Chief Executive, Inclusion London
Stephen Frost, LOCOG Head of Diversity & Inclusion
Chris Holmes, LOCOG Director of Paralympic Integration
Steve Girdler, Adecco Group UK&I’s Director of London 2012
Steve Mannix, LOCOG Cultural Programmes Advisor
Richard Browning, Director, TfL 2012 GAMES Transport
Mark Dyer, ODA, Accessible Transport Manager
Wayne Trevor, TfL Accessibility and Inclusion Manager, London Underground
Stewart Lucas, Chief Executive, London Sports Forum for Disabled People
Stephen Golden, TfL, Head of Policy and Strategy, Equality and Inclusion.

Disability Capital Conference 2009
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Disability Capital Conference is now fully subscribed and no futher registrations can be accepted.
Programme
9-10am
Level 1 Registration           
10.10 - 10.50am
Level 3 Equal Life Chances for All             
10.10 - 10.20   Welcome and introduction to the Mayor’s Equality Framework, ‘Equal Life Chances for All’
Chair: Richard Barnes, Deputy Mayor            
10.20 - 10.30   Liz Sayce, Chief Executive of RADAR and member of Disability Committee of Equalities and Human Rights Commission.
An outline of the work of the EHRC Disability Committee and how its approach complements the Mayor’s equality vision for London.               
10.30 - 10.40   Andrew Little, Chief Executive, Inclusion London.
An outline of the work of Inclusion London and how its approach complements the Mayor’s equality vision for London.            
10.40 - 10.45   Stephen Golden, Transport for London, Head of Policy and Strategy, Equality and Inclusion.
Launch of TfL’s Disability Equality Scheme consultation        
10.45 - 10.50   Richard Barnes, Deputy Mayor
Summary and close              
10.50 -11.50am
Level 3 Accessible London – Getting ready for Games time
‘Accessible London’ aims to ensure London is a truly accessible city as it approaches 2012, both for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and for the wider city. This session looks at looks at work being undertaken to deliver an accessible Games, at the Olympic Park and venues and through participation of diverse workforce.

Chair: Stephen Frost, LOCOG Head of Diversity & Inclusion
Heather Andrews, LOCOG Volunteer
Attraction Manager
Chris Holmes, LOCOG Director of
Paralympic Integration,
Dame Tanni Grey Thompson, Britain’s
best-known Paralympic athlete, and winner of 16 Paralympic medals including11 golds
Steve Girdler, Adecco Group UK&I’s Director of London 2012 (conference sponsor)
Q&A            
12.10 - 1.00pm
Level 3 Accessible London, Citywide
In this session we will hear about the work of the London 2012 Access & Inclusion Integration Group, which aims to ensure that spectators to the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, and indeed all visitors to London, have a positive and inclusive experience.

The session will discuss the GLA’s recent consumer research amongst disabled visitors, LOCOG’s work to identify and audit the accessibility of important visitor destinations such as Covent Garden, TfL’s work to improve visitor information on accessible transport across London, and the LDA’s London Open to All programme of tourism industry improvements.

Chair: Terry Miller, LOCOG General Counsel
David Morris, LOCOG External Inclusion Strategy Manager
Dan Biddle, Four Group, access
consultant for LOCOG
Richard Browning, Director, TfL 2012 GAMES Transport
Deborah Evans, LDA, Senior Tourism Development Manager
Q & A          
1.00pm - 2.15pm Break / Lunch / opportunity to view exhibition stands          
2.15 - 3.15pm   Skills and Employment, Level 3
The Mayor has acted to support Londoners through the recession in his Economic Recovery Action Plan, and his recent ‘Equal Life Chances for all’ pledges to support the development across the London economy of diverse markets, workforces and suppliers. This best practice session looks at initiatives to increase participation and develop levels of skills and employment for excluded groups including disabled people, particularly during this time of economic downturn.

Chair: Henry Abraham, GLA Head of Economic Development, Community Safety and Equalities to introduce approaches to stakeholder participation and service delivery and briefly highlight the Mayor’s approach.

Stephen Evans, LDA, Director of Skills and Youth. LDA programmes and initiatives demonstrating new ways of achieving better employment outcomes for excluded groups, including disabled people.

Keith Faulkner and Chris Melvin, London Skills and Employment Board (LSEB) members will share their experience of tackling the challenges to improve skills and employment opportunities for deaf and disabled people from the perspective of the LSEB’s aims and their work as leaders of two leading skills and employment providers.

Caroline Allen, Principal of Orchard Hill College,
speaking about the ‘Learner with learning difficulties or disabilities’ (LLDD) strategy for London and how it will be moved forward by the Regional Planning Group for London after the closure of the Learning and Skills Council.

Fred Payne, Chief Executive, Bankers Benevolent Fund. BBF is an occupational benevolent fund and is soon to embark on a trial initiative with Barclaycard and Leonard Cheshire Disability that will benefit people with disabilities and special needs. (conference sponsor)

Q&A     Arts and Culture, Level 2
This session will include a presentation outlining plans for ‘Unlimited’ the largest ever celebration of arts and disability culture and sport to take place in the UK. Unlimited is one of the key London 2012 Cultural Olympiad projects and showcases of new work will be held along the South Bank, in and around Olympic venues and across the UK each year until 2012.

In addition the session will include a presentation reviewing the work carried out over 6 years for the Liberty Festival, in particular the new work by deaf and disabled artists it has helped to create.

Steve Mannix LOCOG, Cultural Programmes Advisor
Bradley Hemmings, Director Greenwich and Docklands Festivals and Producer of Liberty Festival)
Jenny Sealey MBE, Artistic Director, Graeae Theatre Co
Maria Oshodi, Director, Extant
Terry Braun, Extant
Q&A    
3.15 - 3.45pm   Tea break              
3.45 - 4.45pm   Accessible Transport, Level 3
Transport Accessibility is one of the most important issues for disabled and Deaf Londoners.
This session introduces TfL’s priorities for the next 3 years and lets people know how they can contribute to the development of TfL’s Disability Equalities Scheme

The Olympic Development Agency (ODA) will deal with legacy transport improvements
Chair: Stephen Golden, TfL Head of Policy and Strategy, Equality and Inclusion
Wayne Trevor, TfL Accessibility and Inclusion Manager, London Underground
Alice Maynard - Chair of TfL Independent Disability Advisory Group (also Founder and MD - Future Inclusion consultancy)

Mark Dyer – Accessible Transport Manager ODA
Q&A     Sport, Level 2
The session will introduce themes from the ‘Sporting Future For London’ Plan, to include a discussion regarding the provision of sport for disabled people in London.

Speakers to include:
Simon Cooper, GLA Head of Sports Unit.
Stewart Lucas, Chief Executive, London Sports Forum for Disabled People        

MEDIA ACCREDITATION
Media wishing to attend, or find out more, please email communitydesk@london.gov.uk;
or call 020 7983 4071 / 4599.

Notes to editors

1.         Media interested in attending should email communitydesk@london.gov.uk ASAP
   
2.         Disability Capital is part of Disability London, a major event that takes place at ExCeL London on 25 September, which also incorporates No Limits, the disability trade and consumer exhibition. For more information, including schedule and speakers, go to www.disabilitylondon.co.uk.
   

3.      The Mayor recently published a survey into the capital’s most accessible attractions commissioned in partnership with Direct Enquiries, The Nationwide Access Register. For more information, go to www.london.gov.uk/mayor/publications/2009/07/direct-enquiries.jsp.

4.      The Mayor published his equality action plan ‘Equal Life Chances For All’ earlier this year, a new approach to equality and inclusion. For more         information go to: www.london.gov.uk/mayor/equalities/framework.

5.      London Underground recently produced an accessibility guide and map of the network to make it easier for people with mobility issues to choose the      stations where access is easiest. Visit www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/accessibility-guides/default.aspx.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Press information / images available from Hong Ling Dyer on 020 7983 4635
GENERAL PUBLIC/NON-MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Call the Public Liaison Unit at the Greater London Authority on 020 7983 4100
DUTY PRESS OFFICER: For out-of-hours media enquiries, please call 020 7983 4000

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Keywords · London 2012 · Boris Jonson · UK · LOCOG · Richard Barnes

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Name: London 2012 Press Office
Organization: London 2012
Email:
Phone: +44 (0)203 2012 100
URL: http://www.london2012.com/index.php

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