RICHMOND DISABILITY WORK RECOGNISED

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 18th Jun 2003

Councillor Serge Lourie, Leader of the Opposition on Richmond upon Thames Council

Tireless work by Richmond Council has been recognised at a major awards ceremony.

The Council won the "Positive About Disability Award" by local businesses. In the European Year for Disabled People campaigners hope that Richmond's work will serve as a "wake-up call" to organisations in the borough.

Councillor Serge Lourie, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group said "I am delighted that our staff's hard work has been recognised publicly. However, we have a long way to go before we meet the full requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act"

The Chairman of the Richmond Disability Forum and Managing Director of the Disability Resource Team, Maurice Press, said: "This award should serve as a wake-up call to organisations and business in the borough to encourage them to take on disabled people."

The award recognises best practice in disability awareness as the Council has striven to offer services to people with a range of disabilities that make their lives easier. The award has been given to the Council's Environmental Protection and Customer Services Department.

Some of the innovative initiatives that helped win the award include:

• Travel and transport directions for the visually impaired – in partnership with Describe Online, a pilot scheme on the Council's website to help the visually impaired travel independently to the main Council offices in Twickenham.

• Disability Access Audits – setting and achieving a target of March 2003 for completion of audits on all Council buildings (excluding schools) accessed by the public.

• Cemeteries and Chapels Access – as a result of the audits, giving priority to remedial works at Twickenham, Teddington and East Sheen cemeteries to enable easier access for people with mobility and sensory impairments. These include ramps, improved lighting, induction loops and appropriate seating space within the pews for wheelchairs.

• Access works – establishing and implementing a programme of improvement works to make all Council buildings "accessible."

Lucy Brazier, the awards organiser, said: "Richmond's success was due to its winning work in developing access for disabled people and its record in employing people with disabilities to work within the Council."

Martin Esom, Richmond Council's Assistant Director for Environmental Protection and Customer Services, said:

"This award is a tribute to our staff, who have worked hard and developed creative solutions to the challenges faced by disabled people.

"It's vital to remember that disability takes many forms. Only 5 per cent of disabled people use wheelchairs, so we have worked to ensure that everyone can gain access to the services of the Council."

For further information about the Awards please call Lucy Brazier on 07974 247 816.