Supporting UK Disability History Month (UKDHM)

The month runs from 16 November to 16 December and is an opportunity to focus in on disabled people’s history and struggle for equality and human rights and to reaffirm our commitment to raise awareness and fight for the rights of disabled people across all of our communities. The theme this year is Disability, Children and Youth.

Councillor Irim Ali, Newcastle City Council Cabinet Member for a Dynamic City, and the council’s equalities champion, said: “Disability History Month is a chance to raise awareness and recognise our diverse disabled communities across the city, and gives us an opportunity to lead the way in promoting and enabling access and inclusion to both our city and the services we provide. By valuing and listening to the lived experiences of our diverse communities, businesses and partners, our vision is to make our great city one of the most inclusive and accessible cities in the world.

We have signed the Newcastle Street Charter, which strives to remove the barriers disabled people face in our city and sets out actions and commitments to tackle these barriers. We have also signed up to AccessAble which provides residents and visitors with a detailed accessibility guide for a range of venues within the city.

Newcastle also has a wide range of services on offer for disabled children and young people with specialist teams who are responsible for the assessment and ongoing support for children and young adults up to the age of 25.

Our drive and commitment to inclusion is not just rooted in our legal responsibilities, we have a moral obligation to lead by example and to unite our partners to address the challenges that limit what people can do and become.”