Senior Department for Infrastructure managers experience travel with disabled people
Date published:
Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has thanked members of the Inclusive Mobility and Transport Advisory Committee (IMTAC) for facilitating Disability Equality Training for the Department's senior management team.
Liz Kimmins said:
"There is a lot of good work ongoing across both the Department for Infrastructure and Translink in this space but there is always room to do more. Inclusivity and putting people at the heart of everything we do is one of my department's 'Foundations for a Better Future’ programme and that is why I have tasked my officials to consider what else can be done."
The training provided officials with the opportunity to travel around Belfast for half a day with a wheel-chair user and people with sensory impairments to get a first-hand understanding of the barriers they encounter on a daily basis.
The Minister added:
"When we talk about accessibility, we are talking about dignity, equality, and the ability to live without barriers. There is no substitute for actual lived experience and I want to thank everyone who was involved in facilitating this very important training."
Barbara Fleming, who led one of the groups, said:
“The difference now compared to 26 years ago when I was first disabled and trying to use public transport is worlds apart because I can move about almost the same as non-disabled people - but there is further work to be done in a number of areas, including societal attitudes and street furniture.
“Today was important because it’s a practical way of helping people to fully understand the experience of disabled people as we use public transport and navigate the city centre.
“It’s one thing to be told the way it is but it’s another thing to actually see it and experience the natural barriers that disabled people come across.
“This training enables people to have a better understanding of what it is like for a disabled person. Everyone that takes part in training like this is important because people are not an island - they have family and friends - and hopefully they will talk with them about what they have seen. That’s how we will change attitudes and hopefully the unpleasant situations that I come across get less and less.”
WATCH: Wheelchair user Barbara Fleming takes the Department's senior management team out on disability awareness training https://youtu.be/CEII5Kvo8u0?si=MKNLVS5BWBV4M6z_
Notes to editors:
- Photo caption: Barbara Fleming took the group around Belfast using various public transport options to show the transport challenges facing disabled people.
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