Chapter 3 - continued

The Building Bridges newsletters of the late 1980s provide a fascinating record of the BDRG’s activities, campaigns, meetings, members and workers from 1986 onwards. Bob’s articulate, outspoken and candid campaigning style inspired others in the group to take up issues in a very public way, writing letters, organising events and lobbying external organisations and individuals. Some key activities included:

November 1986: BDRG members join a television discussion on language and disability on the LINK programme; Maria Mleczko and Alun Davies attend a national conference on Centres for Integrated Living.

December 1986: Alun Davies and Bob and Brenda Findlay attend a national meeting of the Liberation Network of People With Disabilities.

March 1987: A protest from BDRG about medical model representation of disabled people by the Manpower Services Commission is taken up by the British Council of Organisations of Disabled People.

May 1987: BDRG attends a lobby of Parliament on the issue of the Disabled Persons Act.

September 1987: BDRG supports a disabled couple fighting for custody of their child in the High court; BDRG challenges the use of the term “spastics“ by a member of the royal family and by The Sun newspaper which repeated the term in its headline when reporting the incident; BDRG criticises the use of the term ‘disabled people’ by the LINK television programme and the underlying politics.

October 1987: BDRG sets out why it is a political organisation and, therefore, does not seek charity status.

December 1987: BDRG enters into a debate with Birmingham City Council around the right of a local disabled couple to buy their adapted council house.

February 1988: BDRG challenges West Bromwich Albion on its assumption that all disabled supporters must be wheelchair users; A debate continues between Anne Rae of BCODP and Bob Findlay of BDRG about the use of the terms ‘disabled people’ (preferred by BCODP) and ‘people with disabilities’ (preferred by BDRG); BDRG joins a debate around the closure of Martineau House, a seaside school, by Birmingham City Council.

April 1988: Discussions begin with both the Birmingham Evening Mail and BBC Radio WM about the use of language to describe disability.

Throughout this increasingly intensive period of campaigning on different issues by BDRG members, one underlying issue remained a constant, right from the Group’s very first meetings and newsletters. This was the aim to establish a Disability Resource Centre run by and for people with disabilities.

In November 1986, BDRG published a special edition of Building Bridges calling for a lobby of Birmingham City Council:

SUPPORT BDRG GIVE A VOICE - TO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Help Build the Lobby

We are now only days away from holding our first major public event as an organisation and there is still much to be done. BDRG is holding the lobby to increase public awareness of the needs of people with disabilities to give ourselves a voice and to press for a new Disability Resource Centre.

Our lobby will only be a success if we, the members of BDRG, make it worthwhile. The more people we have there the greater will be the impact. Members should try to attend if at all possible and we must try to get our friends to join us. Some people will need transport – please let us know as soon as possible so that we can arrange it.

It has not been possible to get a show off the ground and a display of posters and photographs still needs putting together. We have organised a meeting between a BDRG delegation and city councillors to be held:

One o'clock in Room three at the Council House.

We are also hoping for support from national organisations of people with disabilities. Placards are being prepared with these agreed slogans:

DISABILITY IS AN ISSUE

PUT PEOPLE FIRST

SPEAK TO US NOT FOR US

WHAT'S “NORMAL” ANYWAY?

ATTITUDES HANDICAP PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

WE NEED A DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTRE

DISCRIMINATION KEEPS US APART

Maria and I are keen to know who among our members are able to attend the lobby so we can finalise our plans. Please let us know if you are coming.

The time has come to stand up and be counted – can we count on you?

Bob Findlay explained the development of the ideas behind the Disability Resource Centre:

“Just to put things together, I went to London and met a network who were discussing a resource centre; but I want to make it clear that although I thought that was a good idea it wasn’t simply ‘nicking’ the idea from somewhere else.

“My raison d’etre (which I think is still valid today) is that if disabled people are isolated and marginalised and not actually visible then how the hell do you bring them together? How do they know each other exists outside of being bunged into a day centre or isolated in their residential home or whatever? So I thought the Resource Centre would have three functions.

“One, to raise the visibility of disabled people to announce to Birmingham ‘hey we’re here!’ to both disabled and non-disabled people.

“Secondly, to bring in this trade union aspect, I saw it as an organising centre, ie a physical locality where disabled people could come and self-identify, self-organise and, therefore, start to develop a positive self-image of who and what they were.

“And thirdly, of course, is that by having a centre which has various activities that would build the confidence and the ability of the local disabled people to take some control over their own life. Very much a worked out view of what role the Resource Centre would have.

“You had the material badge of the Resource Centre, but the social political aspect and the campaigning and the awareness raising would be done by the Group. That was, if you like, the two-pronged attack.

“So, from 1985, we began to sell our idea to the council, to our organisation and to disabled people and in September 1986 we began our feasibility study by holding a day-long meeting in a day centre in Birmingham.”