The Journey
When Clenton Farquharson arrived at Birmingham New Street station to travel to London Euston with two well known train companies he got more than he bargained for.
Clenton, a wheelchair user for the past eight years following an accident, was on his way to a meeting of the Joseph Rowntree Trust Foundation in London where he holds the advisory position as a committee member. Clenton, is known to his peers as the gentle giant whose compassion and outlook on life is ‘let’s just get on with it’ took a final straw on this journey.
Clenton works as the Diversity Consultant for Gallant2000 Ltd. His CV reads like a ‘who’s-who’ in business, which includes him sitting on the Board of many organisations including Birmingham Coalition for Disabled People and E.A.D.E. (Euro Cities anti Discrimination Exchange). Since acquiring his disability he has spent much of his time working with cross sector organisations raising awareness for disabled people’s needs. He has a technique for passing on the information, which allows him to explain the views and approach to disability with humour and clarity. His sense of fun however was stretched to the limits with this journey as he had to travel the whole of it, on his own and in the ‘baggage and luggage’ carriage due to lack of facilities on the train, coupled with a lack of understanding of the railway staff, and to be fair it really is completely unacceptable in this day and age.
The journey to London Euston was one issue, but the nightmare did not end there. His return journey back to the Midlands offered a more interesting and eventful experience. Clenton booked a train from London back to the Midlands in advance with an explanation of his requirements. However when he arrived at the station to get the train there was no room for him and he had to take a later train where the journey took three hours to complete (being on the slow-route back to the Midlands). Since this train did not have a ‘baggage and luggage’ section he had to endure the whole journey ‘wedged’ in-between carriages and located outside the toilet.
If this experience was unique it would be bad enough but unfortunately it isn’t. Following an invitation from a business associate to attend a gala ball in Leicester Clenton and his wife were looking forward to a relaxing and enjoyable time. They arrived at the Hotel in heart of Leicester on Saturday afternoon where his nightmare continued until departure the following morning.
The hotel has facilities for disabled people that you can count on one hand and the comedy of errors included a disabled toilet with a door that is not big enough for wheelchairs to get in. On arrival at reception Mr & Mrs Farquharson were informed that their booking should not have been accepted since they cannot cater for disabled people, despite the fact that it was clearly explained of their needs when placing the booking.
However, since they had arrived it was suggested by reception staff that they would accommodate them. Clenton could have a room on the first floor which would be easier for access and his wife could have a nice room which was situated on the third floor. This was declined respectfully and eventually they were offered and accepted a ‘joint’ room. Clenton’s washing facilities consisted of a sink some six inches square to wash prior to the gala ball. There were no other facilities available for washing.
The gala ball was being held in a first floor gala suite without disabled toilet facilities, the only facilities being available were on the second floor.
Having the call of nature to the second floor facilities then caused another issue for Clenton not wide enough to take a wheelchair therefore a trip back to the third floor room was necessary. This top-notch hotel in the centre of Leicester but it could have been anywhere because sadly it is very typical of the issues facing disabled people every day of their lives.
To take breakfast in the restaurant the next morning a lift was available to the basement restaurant, the only problem being the two sets of stairs that greeted them on arrival. Having led life to the full prior to his accident some eight years ago, he is more determined than ever to bring his experiences to people’s attention with the hope of addressing the issues not only for himself, but also for the many of thousands of disabled people in the UK today.
Service providers eg. train companies, businesses, hotels and other services in the UK need to heed a warning that in just over twelve months time with the new Disability Discrimination Act (part M) in October 2004 this type of service will become illegal and companies will have to make provision for disabled people.
Clenton on the fourth floor of a typical building. These stairs are his only way out if there is a fire.