Disabled group run by disabled

Press, 3 November 1984, Page 12

Disabled group run by disabled

A new group to represent the disabled was formed in Christchurch this week, and most of those in charge are themselves disabled. The Disabled Persons Regional Assembly was formed at a public meeting organised by the Christchurch Co-ordinating Council for the Handicapped.

Mr Barry Hawkins, director of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, is the new group’s president and Mrs Sue Smith is vice-president. Mrs Smith is a disabled mother of three and a part-time worker at the Disabled Persons Centre’s information service.

Nine of the 11 committee members are also disabled.

One of the new committee, Mrs Rosemary Carr, said it seemed the group was “really going to be a special partnership” between the able-bodied and disabled.

Mrs Carr, who is also chairman of the Council for the Handicapped, said the council would probably be wound up at its next meeting later this month. It would not be good for two such similar groups to coexist, she said. The new group would take over the council’s work such as the total mobility scheme, monitoring access for the disabled, and promoting community awareness of the needs and in-

terests of the disabled. A special concern of the group would be the needs of the housebound disabled, including those permanently in institutions.

The new group had a variety of people involved in decision-making because it was oben to both individuals and groups. Council membership had been restricted ’to organisations, she said. !■’ ■ • •

The assembly, which will meet for the first time in a fortnight, -would also give disabled persons a national voice because it would be a branch of ! the national Disabled Persons Association, said Mrs Carr.