Disability Equality Scotland Welcomes New Staff and Trustee

Disability Equality Scotland Welcomes New Staff and Trustee We are delighted to welcome Ian, Pamela, and Sonya to our staff team and Zara Todd as a new director on our board. A big warm welcome to Ian, Pamela, Sonya, and Zara! Zara Todd – Director   Zara Todd is a disability activist, researcher, trainer, and facilitator. She is based in Edinburgh with her husband and two cats. Originally from London Zara has been involved in disability activism since childhood and co-founded the European network on independent living’s youth network. She is passionate about equity and inclusion and particularly interested in
Read More

Webinar: Low Emission Zones and Blue Badges, Wednesday 24 May 2023, 2:00pm to 3:30pm.

New Webinar: Low Emission Zones and Blue Badges, Wednesday 24 May 2023, 2:00pm to 3:30pm. Low Emission Zones have been introduced in the city centres of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow to improve air quality and people’s health. Vehicle restrictions will begin in Glasgow from 1 June 2023, with the other three cities following in 2024. Blue Badge holders are exempt from Low Emission Zones in Scotland. In partnership with Transport Scotland and Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA), this webinar will provide you with the very latest information on the work to introduce the Low Emission Zones, as well as the
Read More

Webinar: Discussing the Future of the Accessible Travel Framework – Wednesday 8 February 2023

Webinar: Discussing the Future of the Accessible Travel Framework – Wednesday 8 February 2023 In partnership with Transport Scotland, Disability Equality Scotland hosted a webinar for our members in relation to the ongoing review of the Accessible Travel Framework. This webinar took place on Wednesday 8 February 2023. The webinar was hosted via Zoom and was supported by captioning, as well as British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters.
Read More

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Accessible Travel Framework Research and Evaluation Project

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Accessible Travel Framework Research and Evaluation Project Disability Equality Scotland (DES) is a national membership organisation focussed on the needs of disabled people and disability groups/organisations and led by them and their lived experiences. We want to hear about your experiences of accessibility, inclusion, and equality – both good and bad! Across the various projects of the organisation, this information helps us when we meet and work with key decision makers, to best represent the needs, desires and views of the disabled community and to ensure that Scotland is accessible and inclusive for all. This
Read More

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Easy Read

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Easy Read Easy Read versions can support more people to read and understand your information.  Reaching a wider audience – what organisation doesn’t like that? It’s mainly used by people with a learning disability, but Easy Read is also useful for people with other communication difficulties including: people who find reading difficult people with cognitive impairments such as dementia people with hearing impairment whose first language is British Sign Language (BSL) people who do not speak English as their first language It’s often a go-to document for anyone to get the main points of a
Read More

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Hate Crime Charter

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Hate Crime Charter As a national membership organisation, Disability Equality Scotland (DES), is continually focussed on the needs of disabled people and disability groups/organisations. One of our most significant projects over the last couple of years has very much built on this lived experience by members (and others) in the challenges of using public transport and of being a victim of hate crime. There is currently no single accepted definition of the term ‘Hate Crime’ however Scottish Government and Police Scotland use this definition: “Any crime which is perceived by the victim or any other
Read More

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Inclusive Communication Spotlight

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Inclusive Communication Spotlight During our 20 years as a national Disabled People’s Organisation, we have made sure that ‘accessibility’ is considered in the widest possible sense. This includes making sure that there is an awareness and understanding of having information available in accessible formats. It is also about having communication support available when required. This approach is known as ‘Inclusive Communication’. It is a way of ensuring that as many people as possible can be included in an interaction. It allows people to use whatever ways of understanding and expressing themselves which they find easiest.
Read More

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Young Membership Spotlight

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Young Membership Spotlight We want to help start a wider discussion about the experiences of young disabled people in Scotland and we need your help. Our Young Membership category space for people aged 12-17 is important as young disabled people are underrepresented within work on both youth and disability which further marginalises them. There are not a lot of spaces where young disabled people can discuss topics that are important to them and this is what we are looking to build. Through having a youth membership space, young disabled people will be able to discuss
Read More

Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Access Panel Spotlight

Disability Equality Scotland at 20: Access Panel Spotlight Disability Equality Scotland celebrates its 20th anniversary this year – a milestone for the organisation and for disabled people in Scotland. Throughout the past two decades, Disability Equality Scotland has been working hard to ensure that disabled people have access to the same opportunities as everyone else. That work though simply couldn’t have been done without the Access Panel Network. Access Panels are the heart and soul of Disability Equality Scotland and  the 20th anniversary is a chance to recognise and celebrate the contribution of they’ve made in ensuring that disabled people’s
Read More

Disability Equality Scotland Turns 20!

Disability Equality Scotland Turns 20! Today (Saturday 4 February) Disability Equality Scotland celebrates our 20th year as a National Disabled People’s Organisation! To mark the occasion, our Convener Kayla-Megan Burns introduces a week of activity to celebrate our members, Access Panels and the projects that we are involved in. Video transcript: “Hi everyone, I’m Kayla-Megan Burns and I’m the Convener of Disability Equality Scotland. I’m coming to you today as it’s the 20th Anniversary of Disability Equality Scotland. Over the next few days, we’re going to be sharing lots of content with you about the development of the organisation across
Read More