The Way We Roll

Since its launch in 2019, the Valuable 500 has signed up more than five hundred senior executives from worldwide companies and organisations to put disability on the board agenda. So far, so pretty good. But as the Valuable 500 matures, it is now asking more of its members and wants them to report back on progress. It is holding a meeting in Tokyo in December 2025. At the centre of this is our gue...

Our guests this month are Alice Maynard and Richard Hawkes, formerly of Scope, a leading disability charity in the UK. In 2010, Alice became Chair, and shortly after, Richard joined as Chief Executive Officer.  During their time leading Scope, it went through a significant transformation and a turbulent time. Significant changes included closing services used by disabled people, which attracted pr...

Phil speaks of his disheartening recent experiences at A&E at his local NHS hospital. We grapple with the oh-so-simple task of trying to make the NHS better, as it feels like it’s broken, and how that can break us.  A previous guest and friend of the pod, Abbi Brown, was recently trapped in her flat for days. The lift in her block was broken, and although there was another lift, it was beyond...

If we’re lucky in life, we might find a role that makes sense to us and makes a difference to others. Our guest this month has achieved that and more.  A huge music fan, especially of live music, and a disabled person who’d experienced barriers accessing gigs, Suzanne Bull MBE founded Attitude it Everything in 2000. It a charitable organisation which connects disabled people with music and live ev...

We’ve had a show like this before, where we ask what the UK government are doing when it comes to disability and why now. We’re not sure they know what they are doing.  PM Rishi Sunak has ‘started a conversation’ on reviewing Personal Independence Payment, the main disability benefit in the UK. He decided to start this just before the local elections and also knowing it cannot be finished before t...

Admitting shame is a tough thing to do. Perhaps as complex as the shameful experience itself? Clearly, it is not unique to disabled people. Is there something more with us? An additional new perceived weakness, or from internalised ableism, it is hard to ignore but easier to deny. Stigma and societal attitudes can mean we have it thrust upon us if a person, on finding out we are disabled, says, ‘W...

Bristol City Council recently reversed their planned cost-cutting strategy, which would have impacted independent living for disabled people. The UK government recently reversed the proposed closure of ticket offices at railway stations, which would have had an impact on disabled people. Sophie Morgan, the Rights on Flights campaigner, appears to be close to getting legal rights for disabled peopl...

How would you feel if your local authority suggested you move from your home of 30 years to a residential care home because they need to save money? It's something Bristol City Council were proposing for disabled people as they try to reduce their deficit. Although this proposal has been shelved, it might not be the last time we see it. We explore the reasoning, impact and resistance. Becomin...

‘Know your audience and communicate to as many people as you can, including disabled people’, says Sarah Brown Fraser on effective, accessible communication. That Sarah can whittle information down to valuable nuggets might be a consequence of her role as Head of Communications and Policy at the Activity Alliance.  As our guest, Sarah is timely, with accessible and inclusive communications being a...

Our guest is Andrew Miller, the Chief Executive Officer of Motability Operations (MO). Many of you will know of this unique organisation. Indeed, some of you will be customers.  The Motability Scheme leases cars, powered wheelchairs and scooters to more than 700,000 disabled people in the UK. It is the largest car fleet in the UK. Andrew heads up the scheme's delivery, ensuring customers have...

Simon was at the airport recently. He was on his mobility scooter, and his mum was using an airport wheelchair. Looking at the long line in the disabled passport queue, his walkie-talkie sister and cousin decided to move to the non-disabled line. We explore what happened and how it made Simon feel.  The Business Disability Forum has produced a second adjustments in the workplace piece of research....

They say you shouldn’t kick a person when they’re down. It feels right now the UK Government are down. And unfortunately for them, Phil and Simon have found more reasons why they deserve maybe not a kick but a strong toe poke.    Launched in late September 2023, Ask Don’t Assume is the government’s disability awareness-raising campaign. It asks everyone to avoid making assumptions about disabled p...

Forbes Online posted an article which showed the 7 things disabled people have to think about, which non-disabled types don’t have to. Simon thinks it’s informative and helpful, like an access rider. Phil bemoans why we still need to tell people the basics.  There are big concerning issues relating to disability right now.  Why isn’t the UK Government meeting with the UN about its obligations unde...

In an exceptional show, our guest is the remarkable human that is Sophie Morgan. Sophie often finds liberation on a motorbike. She pops up frequently on TV, presenting Crufts or the Paralympics as a guest on Loose Women or breakfast TV. This past year she’s been promoting her autobiography Driving Forwards: A Journey of Resilience and Empowerment After Life-Changing Injury. She’s a powerful campai...

Can you fail upwards? Aarian Mehrabani from FlawBored Theatre says that is what they have done. With his theatre company co-founders Samuel Brewer and Chloe Palmer, they have created a play that pushes the boundaries of disability arts and arts more broadly.  How has the audience reacted? Do those with a disability react differently to those who aren’t disabled (the answer is sometimes yes)? After...

A bumper show this month. There’s an underlying theme around the erosion or optionality of including disabled people.  What do you do when you’re hotel room isn’t ready…especially when you return to the hotel after a night out at midnight and find out? Move to another room? Not so simple if you’re a wheelchair user. Kat Watkins had this happen to her, and we explore what coulda shoulda happened. ...

Disability talk and debate: what might be the consequences of how we talked about being disabled, reducing benefit fraud, the impact of the digital divide and street harassment, all discussed by Phil and Simon?  What are your thoughts on benefit fraud? How should it be tackled? Are the Tories being absurd or frightening?  Simon recently saw a play, ‘It’s a Mother f**king Pleasure’ at the Soho Thea...

Three disability classics in this months show. It’s Phil and Simon debating and exploring.  Firstly an independent American short film highlights how to ask for help as a disabled person and how best other people can offer it. Called ‘Act of God’, the film explores different strategies and responses in a witty and thoughtful way. It gets us talking and Simon gets moody whilst Phil stays calm and p...

Peter Torres Fremlin joins us this month. He’s a prolific writer and journalist, specifically the Disability Debrief which is a newsletter reporting on disability news from around the world and the people that are making change happen. He has lived and worked in many countries, including Bangladesh and Egypt and worked for several large international organisations such as the International Labour...

Dr Ruth Owen OBE started in the tech industry, then became CEO of Whizz-Kidz, a national children’s disability charity. Two years ago, Ruth accepted a demanding and, some consider, contentious role, becoming CEO of one of the big disability charities in the UK, Leonard Cheshire. Ruth is our guest this month. As we spoke with Ruth, we moved away from her career and considerable achievements to find...

Welcome to the first show of 2023, where Phil and Simon are ready to serve up the year's hot topics! In this episode, we'll discuss everything from the highs and lows of 2022 to the exciting things on the horizon for 2023. First up, we'll be talking about the joys of hitting the gym as a visibly disabled person. It's not always easy, but the gains are worth it (pun intended). W...

Creating change in the world of disability takes many skills. One perhaps less recognised is finding the right word for the right moment. Our guest this month is adept at this and would give Gyles Brandreth a run for his money.  Kate Nash is the founder and chief executive of Purple Space, a professional development membership hub for disability employee resource groups.  Her recently published fi...

Phil and Simon are ripping it up, pushing the conversation, and exploring the boundaries of where we are today when it comes to disability. There’s fun, seriousness, thoughtfulness, respectful disagreement, celebration and controversy We ask why does the ‘life stops after becoming disabled’ idea remain so strong? Phil explores his concerns about Ellie Simmonds going on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing,...

Professor David Turner is a social and cultural historian with expertise in disability, medicine, gender and the body. He is our guest this month.  David’s current research explores the history of disabled people’s political activism in Britain since the eighteenth century. In an accessible and illuminating conversation, he tells us of the earliest known recorded documentation of disability rights...

Our guest is Gordon McCullough, the Chief Executive Officer of the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RIDC). If you’ve not come across the RIDC, they are a well-established research organisation with a panel of more than 3500 disabled people. As Gordon has said, "No business would actively exclude a fifth of its potential customer base, yet many do by not being accessible to disabled...