Hebden Bridge Disability Access Forum Press Release Oct 19

CALLING ALL DISABLED PEOPLE

Do you identify as disabled, deaf or have a long-term health condition? Do you experience barriers that stop you from fully accessing life in the Hebden Bridge area? Getting out and about can be challenging for many reasons: mental health issues, chronic illness, autism, hearing or mobility impairments, communication difficulties. Whatever your personal experience of disability, we at Hebden Bridge Disability Access Forum (HBDAF) would like to hear from you.

There are many ways you could get involved:

  • Tell us what difficulties you have accessing any aspects of local life – places, work, housing, education, care & support services, transport, information, advocacy...
  • Join our google group for members' discussion of access issues
  • Come to our meetings, third Monday of each month at Hebden Bridge Town Hall, 2.30 – 4.30pm

We're a hard-working, action focused, disabled-led group, formed in 2016 to improve access for those who live, work or visit Hebden Bridge, as well as celebrating good practice and finding positive solutions. Our achievements are numerous and include:

  • Producing a step-free access map of Hebden Bridge
  • Giving out 14 portable ramps to town centre premises
  • Increasing Blue Badge parking spaces at Hebden Bridge station
  • Consulting on plans for housing, development and flood alleviation
  • Publicising issues about chronic illness and invisible disabilities

We're a working group of around thirty members and we encourage more people to get involved. Tell us about the most important issues affecting you locally. Much of our work has, and will continue to, tackle the more obvious, physical barriers people face. We'd like to concentrate more on raising awareness and creating better access for those with mental health issues and other invisible disabilities. This is a broad demographic that would include people with learning differences or dementia and Autistic people. If you have lived experience of any form of disability or support those who do, please get in touch.

Contact us on sechbdisabilityaccess@gmail.com or phone us on 01422 844 914

HBDAF is a working group of Hebden Royd Town Council