Disability Access News

By Julian Whittle

DISABLED pass holders will still be able to travel free on Carlisle buses before 9.30am on weekdays – even though pensioners will soon have to pay.

Carlisle City Council is planning changes to its concessionary fares scheme from May to save £124,000 a year.

At present concessions can travel free all day. But from May 1, pensioners will have to pay before 9.30am on Mondays to Fridays although they can still travel free all day at weekends.

The restriction on free travel was to have applied to disabled pass holders too.

But the city council’s executive, meeting yesterday, changed its mind after hearing that some disabled passengers would suffer hardship.

Belah Conservative councillor David Morton, who is registered blind, campaigned for disabled travellers to be allowed to travel free all day.

He said after the meeting: “I know of a 44-year-old man who works three days a week and helps out at James Rennie School for two days.

“He earns £15. If he had to pay bus fares, £9 of that would be swallowed up leaving him with £6 a week.”

At first, bus company Stagecoach argued that it could not distinguish between disabled pass holders and pensioners. But it changed its mind after Mr Morton pointed out that tickets issued to disabled travellers were different.

A report to councillors said there had been “a number of approaches” from disabled people and their representatives. These argued that stopping free travel before 9.30am would hit disabled people attending college and those in low-paid work or with early-morning medical appointments.

The council’s deputy leader, Ray Bloxham, said: “This is a welcome step forward for those people with disabilities that are, in many cases, youngsters going to college or other appointments.”

The council is still planning to curtail free travel for pensioners, however.

It says it has to claw back cash because changes imposed by the government will leave it out of pocket.

From April 1, pensioners and other concessions will be able to travel free off peak anywhere in England.

At present they are entitled to free travel only in the district where they live.

The city council will have to foot the bill if a Carlisle pensioner, for example, travels to Newcastle. And it will have to pay if a visiting pensioner from somewhere else in England takes a ride along Hadrian’s Wall.

Labour has pledged to restore free all-day travel for pensioners if it wins control of the council after the elections on May 1.

Carlisle City Council says pensioners and other concessions will automatically be sent new bus passes valid from April 1.

There is no need to apply direct to the council.

Professor Knoles' Class
Issue date: 3/18/08

Sitting in front of the class, Jeannie Felton laughs and says "My motorized wheelchair makes me stand out in a crowd!" But what really makes Jeannie stand out is her determination to live life to the fullest and use her experience with Multiple Sclerosis to help others.

During the month of March, Jeannie Felton, Elaine Kneeland, and representatives of the Multiple Sclerosis Society visited the composition classes of Professor Lucia Knoles to help students understand the experience of living with M.S. and the importance of raising awareness and money to support those with the disease.

Since being diagnosed with MS in 2001, Felton has had to deal with constant fatigue and pain. She said, "I wake up in the morning tired. I'm never not tired" Sometimes the problem is so bad that she has difficulty even holding up her head or breathing. It frustrates her that by the end of a day, "I can't think well. I can't talk well. I can't even stand hearing someone else talk. I love my dog but sometimes I want to hang him when he barks because I just can't stop it." Felton acknowledges that MS can sometimes lead people into depression, when she said "The dark side is always there beckoning me into the pit."

However, Felton fights to live as full a life as possible. She walks, stretches, and does yoga to maintain her strength. Even though she doesn't always need a wheelchair, she uses one to expand the number of things she can do. Prioritizing is also important, as she explains, "What I want to do and what I'm able to do are not the same. So I have to choose wisely because . . . I don't want a wasted day, a wasted moment."

Humor is an important tool Felton and her family use. When she starts having trouble with her coordination and drops things in the kitchen, her children say to the dog: "Look out, Patches, mama's throwing knives again."

When she feels the need for support, Felton turns to her family, the MS Society, and God. She said, "My daughter was 12 when I was diagnosed, and her response was to learn and understand all about it, and she's been incredibly supportive." Members of the MS society have become a kind of extended family for Felton, who explains, "Some of the most gracious and loving people I know are people who have MS and are in the MS Society."

What helps Felton the most is her perspective on life. When she has problems, she reminds herself, "It's not my fault," and "Tomorrow is always a new day." Her relationship with God lets her see MS in a positive light. She said, "I thought I had [God's] will for me figured out, but he changed the plan on me. I don't pray for him to make me well or to make me walk." Instead, Felton believes that "God can take anything or everything and use it for some good." So now she uses each day to make a difference. She said, "My goal today is the one that was written under my picture in my high school yearbook: to help people. One thing about M.S. is that it's made me better prepared to help others."

Eileen Kneeland is a 45-year-old mother of two college age boys. One day in 1999 she felt ill, and two days later, she couldn't walk. She had been a swimmer and played field hockey at Holy Cross and worked at a hospital after graduation. Now she is living with Multiple Sclerosis.

Since her diagnosis, Kneeland has kept a positive attitude. She said, "When I first got sick I was in Fairlawn Rehabilitation [Hospital] for six weeks learning to walk again. And when I got my first weekend pass, my husband took me out to Tatnuck Bookstore, rolled me in my wheelchair to the doorway and went back to park the car. And I remember saying: 'You're going to park me here? At least you could park me next to the self-help section where I could read something interesting while I wait.' And I remember thinking at least I can laugh."

Kneeland recognizes that the key to coping is making adjustments. At first, she said, "I stayed at home and worked on my art, but I missed people, so I had to get out and keep trying jobs." One thing was holding her back: "It's very embarrassing for me to be in a wheelchair-I'm a very proud person. But then I realized I didn't want to let it keep me from being out in the world." So she asked herself, "What am I going to do to take advantage of my strengths, to help people, to have fun, and to make this an opportunity?" She realized, "This is an opportunity. What you learn from this will affect everything you do."

Now Kneeland works with a district attorney as a victim's advocate and said "now I'm helping other people in a much worse situation that I'm in. Now I'm off to the next adventure."

In fact, MS has helped Kneeland take a more adventurous approach to life. "I think: 'What the hell? What do I have to lose?' I was always afraid of flying, but last year I said to my mother: "Let's go to Ireland. If I'm nervous, I'll take a pill." And now I love flying!" She concluded, "[M.S.] does damage our bodies, but it does not damage our spirits."

Posted By BRENDAN WEDLEY
Posted 12 hours ago

An accessible children's water play facility could be the next project partially paid for by the Tollington Park Endowment Fund, the city arenas, parks and recreation advisory committee decided yesterday.

To get the project approved for funding from the endowment fund, both city council and trustees of the fund must sign off on the proposal.

If approved the fund would pay about $387,000 over the next three years towards the estimated $700,000 water play facility, city staff told the committee.

Coun. Shirley Eggleton supported the recommendation that will go to city council.

"It's something in this day and age that we need. Accessibility is extremely important to the children," she said. "Anyone can play in this facility and join in."

Public works manager Peter Southall told the committee the fund has about $2.1 million.

The city uses the fund's accumulated interest to help pay for eligible projects.

Gordon Tollington established the fund with a $100,000 deposit in October 1995.

Tollington, a retired General Electric engineer, died in 2001. He established the fund to assist in the betterment of all city parks. The Tollington Bridge in Beavermead Park was the fund's inaugural project in 1998. The trust fund contributed $85,249 to the project. The city used $382,257 for the completion of a high-level pedestrian bridge over the Trent Canal to extend the Rotary Trail just south of Trent University.

An accessible children's water play facility would offer outdoor water facilities in the summer for children with a disability, staff state in a report.

Rogers Cove on Little Lake has been identified as a possible location for the play facility.

SMH Mark Metherell
March 19, 2008

THE Rudd Government, shamed over the carers' bonus debacle, stands accused of an uncaring attitude to disabled people fighting unfair dismissal.

Hundreds of the disabled who have been sacked are seeking to be heard by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission but will have to wait longer because the Government has axed special funding for their cases.

The Government has removed $1.8 million in funding targeted to help disabled people caught by the removal of the unfair dismissal provisions under Work Choices, says the Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes.

"On the one hand the Government is saying we need to get people with disabilities back in employment, but on the other they are taking away money which protects the same people being discriminated against at work," Mr Innes said.

An irony was that the special funding for the commission had been instituted by the Howard government to protect those with disabilities when it axed unfair dismissal laws. The new Government was now axing the funding but not yet restoring the protection against unjust sackings.

Mr Innes said typical cases included those who were dismissed after being disabled because of an accident at work.

Since 2006 when the unfair dismissal provisions were removed in the Howard government's Work Choices legislation, the number of disability cases before the commission has jumped from 560 to 802 in the following year. Cases this year are expected to top 900. The cut in funding meant commission staff would have to be pruned and a backlog of cases would mean claimants may have to wait up to a year to have their cases dealt with.

A spokesman for the federal Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, confirmed that the Government announced last month "a reversal of spending by the previous government that formed part of its extreme Work Choices laws, which were expected to increase complaints of breaches of human rights.

"The abolition of Work Choices will ease the pressure on HREOC that was expected to be caused by these extreme laws."