Disability Action Yorkshire

03/09/2026

From Illinois to Yorkshire: How a Classic British Farce Supports Our Mission 🎭🇺🇸

In the late 1990s, celebrated English playwright Philip King generously bequeathed the royalties of his plays - including his famous hit farce See How They Run - to Disability Action Yorkshire. Decades later, his legacy continues to provide a steady foundation of support for our vital community services.

We were absolutely delighted to receive a message across the Atlantic from the North Riverside Players, a community theatre group based in Illinois, USA!

After wrapping up a fantastic run of See How They Run, Board Member Sue Matulionis reached out to share a photo from the show. Disability Action Yorkshire even featured in the event programme, telling the American audience all about our work and how Philip King's gift lives on.

A huge thank you to the cast, crew and production team at North Riverside Players.

Have you ever seen or performed in a Philip King play? Let us know in the comments below!

01/09/2026

We are pleased to announce that Disability Action Yorkshire will be represented by our Partnership and Inclusion Lead, Poppy Woodcock at the upcoming Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce meeting on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace.

Taking place on Monday 14 September from 5.30pm to 8pm at the DoubleTree by Hilton Majestic Hotel, the session is a fantastic opportunity for local businesses of all sizes to discover the benefits of EDI and learn how it can be successfully implemented.

Poppy will be sharing practical guidance on supporting disabled team members through simple, effective workplace adjustments. She will be joining an expert panel featuring HR Solutions Yorkshire, Raworths, and Berwins to cover everything from company culture to legal responsibilities.

Whether you run a small independent firm or manage a larger team, this meeting will offer actionable insights to help you build a more supportive and effective workplace.

(Link to book your place in the first comment below)

26/08/2026

Yesterday, our Chief Executive Jackie Snape joined BBC Look North to discuss the deeply concerning news facing families across Leeds as day centre provider Aspire Community Benefit Society prepares to end its service contract.

Day services are a vital lifeline for more than 700 adults with learning disabilities and complex needs across Leeds. They offer a safe environment to build lifelong friendships, participate in meaningful activities and stay connected to the community - while giving families essential respite.

We have immense sympathy for the families living with this uncertainty, as well as for providers like Aspire; social care organisations are operating under extreme financial pressure due to chronic underfunding and rising operational costs.

Social care can no longer be treated as a "Cinderella service" alongside the NHS. If the government is serious about reforming the sector, funding must be increased to match the actual cost of delivering these vital services.

As Leeds City Council searches for a replacement, we hope a single provider can step forward so that friendship groups and trusted support networks aren't broken up.

(Links to the BBC article and full broadcast in the comments below)

25/08/2026

We were saddened, though unfortunately not surprised, to read a recent piece in The Guardian highlighting the everyday ignorance and discrimination faced by guide dog owners. Following a widely reported incident where a blind customer, Joanne Hewitson, was wrongly and repeatedly asked for "identification" for her guide dog, Rosie, at a pub the reality of everyday access refusals has once again been brought to light.

Astonishingly, nearly 90% of guide dog owners in the UK have been refused entry to businesses or services, despite these refusals almost always being completely illegal under the Equality Act. Guide and assistance dogs are not pets; they are a vital extension of their owners, enabling them to navigate the world safely, confidently and independently. Constantly having to justify your presence, prove your disability and fight for basic access is mentally exhausting and damages people's confidence.

The onus should never be on a disabled individual to educate staff on their basic legal rights. We urge local businesses across Harrogate and North Yorkshire to proactively invest in proper disability equality training for their front-of-house teams, ensuring everyone is welcomed without barrier, question or delay.

21/08/2026

Padel is booming across the UK, but are venue operators locking disabled players out before they even step onto the court? 🎾

In a featured article for The Padel Paper, our Trustee and Inclusive Padel Tour UK organiser, Andrew Simister addresses a growing issue across the UK padel boom: new venues opening without basic accessible facilities.

While padel prides itself on being one of the world's most social and welcoming sports, the physical infrastructure is failing to keep pace. From brand-new clubs built without accessible toilets to step-only entrances and social areas with no lift access, disabled players are far too often left outside looking in.

Equal access is a legal requirement under Part M building regulations, but more importantly, it is about dignity, fairness, and ensuring sport is truly open to everyone.

As Andrew writes: "Disabled people play padel. The question is whether the industry genuinely wants them to be part of its future."

Read Andrew's article in full on The Padel Paper (link in first comment)

Disability padel campaigners Andrew Simister says many of Britain’s clubs are still not upholding their responsibilities on inclusion.

19/08/2026

Yesterday we were delighted to stand alongside Tom Gordon MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough to celebrate some incredible news: the government has officially announced the removal of time restrictions on disabled bus passes across England!

This is a massive victory for independence, fairness and common sense.

Under the old rules, disabled people in North Yorkshire and across most of the country could not use their bus passes before 9am on weekdays. That meant unnecessary financial and physical barriers for anyone trying to travel to early morning work shifts, college, school drops or medical appointments.

As Tom so rightly put it: "Disabilities don't start at 9 o'clock, so neither should disabled bus passes."

This national campaign started eighteen months ago at a when local disabled people raised the unfairness of peak-time restrictions during a Roundtable discussion with Tom (organised by Disability Action Yorkshire). Since then, thanks to persistent pressure from Tom, our team and disabled campaigners across the country, the government listened.

Public transport is a cornerstone of independent living. We are thrilled that disabled people across the UK will soon have the freedom to board a bus at any time of day on their own terms.

A massive thank you to Tom Gordon MP for his relentless commitment to this cause, and to every single person in our community who shared their lived experiences to help bring about real, lasting change.

How will having unrestricted bus access make a difference to your daily routine? Let us know in the comments below!

19/08/2026

Hello, have you heard the good news?! Today, it has been announced that the disabled bus pass time restrictions have been removed!

🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊

Last year, within a few months of being elected, ​I shared my experience in front of everyone in the Harrogate Town Council chamber room, bringing to the forefront of what having a restriction on the disabled bus passes meant to me.

​As a Deaf individual, I am required to navigate my life with systemic hurdles and more often than not, more than once a day. Putting that aside, the society we coexist in, tells me repeatedly, that people like me have to abide by the rules and fit in, but we must accept being held back. I have never accepted that, and instead of just sobbing on my sofa and waiting for the next morning, I am now seeing a momentum of people like Jackie Snape and Tom Gordon MP and others like me sharing our experiences and working together to achieve massive wins like today.

Please take this message home; every single one of you are beautiful, loved, valuable and do not cry alone; speak up and speak out on every single invisible wall.

The walls are dropping one by one, and I will continue to be a part of this fight until we achieve true, uncompromised inclusion.

19/08/2026

18/08/2026

We are absolutely delighted to hear that the time restrictions on bus passes for disabled people are to be removed.

This will make such a difference to disabled people needing to use public transport for work, education appointments - and getting on with life in general.

We are indebted to Tom Gordon MP who has fought to have this changed with such compassion and tenacity since hearing first hand from local disabled people how this has adversely affected their lives.

What an amazing result!

13/08/2026

Next year, Disability Action Yorkshire will be celebrating a milestone - our 90th anniversary!

To celebrate this incredible history and look ahead to the future, we will be launching our 90 in 90 campaign!

We are looking for 90 kind volunteers to raise £90 each in honour of our 90th year.

If we reach our goal of 90 volunteers, we will collectively raise over £8,000 to directly support our services and training programs. It’s a brilliant, bite-sized way to make a massive difference.

Can you help us?

Whether you are an individual supporter, a local business looking for a fun team-building challenge, or a school group wanting to get involved, we would love to have you on board.

We want to hear from you! Comment below with your most creative fundraising ideas, or drop us a line if you’re ready to put your name down as one of our 90 champion volunteers for next year.

Let's work together to make our 90th year the most impactful one yet!