Southampton Centre for Independent Living

As someone involved with SCIL for many years, one thing characterises what we are, and that is that we don’t like to see grass growing under our feet. This particularly true of how we work with businesses, to help encourage them to see the value of Disabled People, both as customers and employees. Now we want to move the goalposts again…

But first: A brief history of our work with businesses: First came ‘partnership’ meetings:These meetings involved ’support’ organisations and one or two big businesses. We all agreed what a jolly good idea it would be for all sizes of businesses to see the value of Disabled People. The trouble was we were preaching to the converted. The businesses that we wanted to get to, didn’t really want to get to us! After all, they were too busy trying to make money.

Then came ‘Barriers to Business’, SCIL organised a £20k conference in 2002 aimed at promoting ‘the business case’ to business. We got several businesses to say how great Disabled People were at improving their profits, we also got the Minister for Disabled People in. The conference was memorable for 2 things (1) a huge polystyrene graffiti wall, and (2) SCIL proves it can pull off these events. However, we still attracted more of ‘the converted’ than those that we wanted to convert.

Most recently… The Business Awards - This was built on the ‘if you can’t beat them’ principle. Businesses like being slapped on the back and receiving trophies. We reasoned that other businesses will look at the winners and say ‘we want to win that award next year’. Well, after three years the awards have been a very successful method of publicity for SCIL and sponsors loved them. But, we still really struggled to persuade businesses to get nominated.

Whilst all these events have been good for SCIl in some respects, it does feel like we have flogged a few dead horses along the way. So, where next - SCIL is not known for quitting…

We now have developed a plan to ‘mystery shop’ businesses and statutory services that Disabled People should have the same rights to access as everyone else. We want to develop an annual survey of how local businesses are treating Disabled People. We want to get Disabled People to visit these organisations incognito, and develop a way of assessing how well or bad these organisations are doing to include Disabled People. By publishing our findings we feel we might instil a mixture or fear and competition in them which will result in better outcomes for us as Disabled People. 

Tell us what you think? We’d love to know.  PS: It is ideas like this that show just how very different we are from the enemas of this world that are only interested in doing things that make them money - SCIL like taking risks and we will not be going away real soon… Take note.

This article was written by Ian Loynes - Chief Executive of SCIL.   

BT, Flybe, Southampton Solent University and Hampshire Constabulary are just some of the winners of this year’s SCIL Disability People’s Business & Community Awards 2006 – organised by the Southampton Centre for Independent Living (SCIL). The awards’ main sponsors were SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) and HSBC Bank PLC.

The Awards Ceremony, held at the Rose Bowl on 16^th November and presented by TV News Presenter Debbie Thrower, was aimed at mainstream companies in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight that have shown that they are continually striving to provide an inclusive service to disabled people within the community.

The winners of the Disability Equality Awards were as follows:-

Entertainment & Leisure: Chamberlayne Leisure Centre

Hospitality: La Vista Restaurant

Transport: Flybe 

Services & Utilities:BT 

Public Services:Southampton Solent University

Equality Achievement Award for Employment: Civil Service (Royal Navy) 

Award for Outstanding Equality Achievement: Hampshire Constabulary (PLOD scheme) 

Award for Outstanding Newcomer: LA Fitness  

Hampshire Library Service also received a ‘Highly Commended’ certificate for their efforts to make their mobile library fully accessible. 

One of the most popular choices was the ‘Judges Award for Outstanding Equality Achievement’ which was presented to Hampshire Constabulary’s PLOD (police link officer for deaf people) scheme

.

Janet Marshall, one of the judges for the awards, said  “The PLOD scheme in particular is a great example of working to break down the barriers between the police and Disabled People in the community,  empowering Deaf and hard of hearing people and to be able to use services and contribute to the community in a way that in the past has been denied to them.  PLOD set up an excellent and easy to use SMS service in Hampshire which then went on to influence other police forces across the country, giving greater access for deaf and hard of hearing people as well as people with speech impairments.”

Guests at this year’s event were also treated to comedy from Laurence Clark and table magic during their lunch.   Other supporters of the event included South West Trains, Hampshire County Council, B&Q, Southampton City Council, Hampshire Constabulary and the Ordnance Survey. 

Following the shortlist for SCIL Disabled People’s Business and Community Awards being announced, we are pleased that for the four other awards, members of the public will have the chance to have their say in which businesses deserve to win the awards.

Ian Loynes, chief executive for SCIL, said: “We have opened the vote to members of the public because they will be the people using the shops, pubs and restaurants around Hampshire. With their votes we hope to reflect the good experiences they are having and reward some of those establishments that they believe have gone above and beyond the call of duty.”

With the help of the Daily Echo, YOU have the chance to nominate in four categories to help decide which company has gone above and beyond the call of duty and ensured that disabled people are treated equally.The categories open for readers to nominate in are: the Disability Equality Achievement Awards for Best Hospitality, Best Independent Retailer, Best High Street Retailer and a new award the Judges’ Award for Outstanding Newcomer.

Echo readers can vote in four categories:

BEST HOSPITALITY AWARD - Pubs, restaurants, hotels, fast food, cafes etc
BEST INDEPENDENT RETAILER - Butchers, florists, greengrocers, fashion, hardware, corner shop etc
BEST HIGH STREET RETAILER - Supermarket, department stores, DIY store, bookshops, chemists, jewellers etc
THE JUDGES’ AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER

Speaking of the new award, The Judges Award for Outstanding Newcomer, Ian Loynes said: “We have created this new award to champion new companies that have gone the extra mile to include disabled people both as customers and employees within their business. This award will stop the big corporate companies crowding out the newcomers who often have the best ideas.”

You can complete the nomination form here or e-mail your nominations to access@soton-echo.co.uk.The closing date for nominations is November 3.

What do a football club, a university, a bank and the Royal Navy have in common? They have all been named as one of 16 short-listed organisations for the SCIL Disabled People’s Business & Community Awards 2006  sponsored by SEEDA and HSBC. 

The Awards are aimed at mainstream companies that have shown that they are continually striving to provide an inclusive service to disabled people within the community. SEEDA’s Area Director for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Kathy Slack said: “SEEDA is very pleased to be one of the main sponsors’ of this event.  We value the importance of promoting disability equality in the workplace and recognise how it can be used as a source of cultural, social and economic enrichment.”

The shortlisted nominations are as follows:-

• Entertainment & Leisure Category:  Chamberlayne Leisure Centre, Mill Chase Leisure Centre, Gang Warily Recreation Centre, Southampton Football Club.
• Transport Category: Flybe, National Express, Stagecoach
• Services & Utilities: BT Group, Northern Rock, First Choice
• Public Services: Hampshire Library Service, Hampshire Constabulary,  Isle of Wight Council
• Equality Achievement Award for Employment: Royal Navy, Northern Rock, Southampton Solent University

The winners of the categories for Hospitality, Independent Retailer and High Street Retailer will be chosen via a ‘People’s Vote’ in the Southern Daily Echo.

The Ceremony will be held at the Rose Bowl, Southampton on 16^th November 2006 and awards will be presented by TV News Presenter Debbie Thrower. Laurence Clark, fresh from his success at the Edinburgh Festival, will also be entertaining the 150 guests with his sharp comic wit before the Awards ceremony begins.

Other supporters of this event include B&Q, Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council and South West Trains. 

We are pleased to announce yet another major sponsor for SCIL’s Disabled People’s Business and Community Awards.

South West Trains is now the 6th organisation to lend its support to this exciting event however we are still seeking additional sponsorship to guarantee the event will be the biggest and best that we’ve ever staged. There are various sponsorship packages available so if your organisation would like to lend its support, then please contact us for more details.

As predicted, we are receiving completed nomination forms on virtually a daily basis so, it looks already like there will be some healthy competition in most categories. however don’t let that put you off from downloading a nomination pack from here, and your organisation could be winning an award when Debbie Thrower announces the winners on the 16th November at the Rose Bowl.

We are pleased to announce that we have received our 1st nomination form back for this year’s SCIL’s Disabled People’s Business and Community Awards that will be held on the 16th November 2006 at the Rose Bowl in West End, Southampton. Unfortunately we can’t tell you which organisation submitted the form but suffice to say, we hope there will be many more dropping through our letter box in the next few weeks. But don’t worry if you haven’t received a nomination pack or you’ve simply mislaid it you can download a nomination pack from here. The closing date is the 15th September so you still have plenty of time