Transcript

for any inconvenience that this may have caused but I would like to continue forward with the meeting. I am very excited as I know 10 very special people are. So item one a policy for absence. What is your question? Can you? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. And apologies for absence have been received from counselors Ben Coleman, Sally Taylor and Rosenberg, Paul Alexander, Nikos souselas, Patrick Walsh, Jackie Borland, Andrew Dinsmore and David Morton. One further apology for this second meeting Councilor Afonso. Thank you. Are there any declarations of interest? Item three Freedom of the Opera. It is with great pleasure that I welcome, Charles Nodt, he was the chair of the Commission, Kate Bettridge, Victoria Buckner, Martin Doyle, Mike Cannon, David Isaac, Ramona Williams, Jane Wilmott, OBE and Kevin Caulfield. And members members of their family, and friends to the meeting. So I call upon the leader, Stephen Cowan to formally move the report, and it's recommendation. Formerly moved. It's the report and it's recommendations agreed. In recognition of their selflessness of self service to improving the lives of the disabled people in the bar. The council confers the honor of the freedom of the bar. I call upon Councilor Cowan, Lloyd Harris, Atford, Jones and Vaughan to give the speech please. Thank you very much, Mayor. I should begin for all people not familiar with municipal life in setting out that this is an extraordinary thing. It is extraordinary to award any one individual a freedom of the borough. It bequives all sorts of rights, some of them a little obscure. But most importantly, it is a chance for us to say as representatives of the wider citizenry, thank you for what you have done for everybody to enrich our lives and make our borough safer, stronger and kinder. This journey for me started off as a student. I say that in the loosest possible term. I was actually invited by former Councillor Reg Mclaughlin to be a pub on Goldhawk Road, which was specifically designed as fundraising nights for the campaign against cuts, which was run by Kevin and Tara. And I went because why not I wanted to learn, but I didn't quite realise on that first evening in the quiz night what a 20-year journey that would be for me and something that has been one of the most enriching ones in my life. They set about Kevin and Tara and Debbie Don and David Small telling me what the world would look like from a perspective of a disabled person. They talked me about the difference between the social model of disability and the medical model of disability. And they urged me as the leader of a what was at the time viewed hopeless opposition, I might give you some hope. They urged me if ever the people of this borough bequeathed power on us, we should exercise it with everything they had taught me at the forefront. And that's what they have led us to do. Shortly after winning the election, Tara and Kevin agreed to set up an independent disabled People's Commission. Mer, you will remember being one of the proud members of that amazing commission. It's worth nothing to disabled people without disabled people, didn't just change our administration over the last 10 years. I was very proud to hear it being given to Theresa May by a disabled resident living in our borough who happened to be a Conservative Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, but he had given that report to Theresa May and said, we should just do this. And that's, you might say a surprising thing, but it's not when you realise that Tara had given evidence to the United Nations, given evidence for the European Union, and that here we are fortunate enough to have a formidable team of disabled people who have taken the civil rights fight for the wider rights of disabled people everywhere across our nation and around the world, based out of Hammersmith and Fulham. So we celebrate that tonight. We celebrate fierce hearted, smart arguing, compassionate, informed campaigners who have done their bit to change our world out of this bit of West London. So tonight, as we say thank you to Tara Flood, Kate Betteridge, Victoria Brignall, Ali Bedemir, Martin Doyle, Mike Gannon, David Isaac, Ramona Williams, Jane Wilmott, OBE, Kevin Coffield, and indeed, although you've turned down the freedom of the borough for understandable reasons, Madam Mer, sorry, to yourself, Patricia Quigley, we say thank you to all of you who lit that flame and allowed all of us together as allies to carry the torch to change the world forever. This fight is by no means over, but it's a start like all great fights, and it's a start that can have a long path forward. I think we're on the cusp of seeing radical change, and that change will happen because you made it so. I cannot thank you enough and express my personal gratitude for what you have done to teach me. I remember tonight, Devi Dom, who isn't here, but would phone me up and ask me to come to her house while she would explain to me what it was like as she was hoisted from her wheelchair into her chair, and tea was placed into my hand by her PA. There's been many people in this fight, but tonight it's you that we say thank you to, and as you walk out, you're welcome. [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] . [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] . [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] . [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] . [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] The next one on the list, it's Victoria. [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] And the next on the list is Arribotema. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO]

Thank you very much, everyone. Much like everyone else, I'm really, really grateful and blown away by this award. [BLANKAUDIO] The outcome of the report and the work in co-production has meant a lot to me. It's more than what we're doing for the council. Co-production, obviously, is not good for the job. But co-production gave me back the passion that I lost when I lost my sight. The work that I do in co-production now comes from the work of the commission. For those of you that don't know, I now work for the council as a co-production coordinator. [BLANKAUDIO] After the work in the commission, I joined several resident groups working with the council doing co-production. I can't. I can't compete with the NAB. Sorry. Don, will you take it please? Don, please try this. Thank you. I have to really, really congratulate and thank the council for the work that they're doing in co-production. Co-production is a long game. Generally, councils come in for a four-year term and they look for quick wins. It takes great insight and forethought to work for that long game. To plan ahead for, hopefully, God willing, for the current council. But to invest in the future of the borough rather than the future of the council, the party. It's a wonderful thing. I've lived in the borough for a while now, and much like my parents who lived here for many, many years, I'm very proud to be a resident in the borough. Thank you ever so much. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you. If we don't move on to the next, it will now know Williams. Thank you. I'm going to ask you a few words. Do you need help? I was quite surprised I got this award. I almost didn't answer the phone because it came from a withheld call. I decided to answer it. So I would like to say I'm truly honored to be -- I'm truly honored to receive this honorary freedom of the borough award. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the council for their recognition and support. I also want to say that I'm also very grateful to the people that I've travelled to meet and I'm very grateful for those who nominated me for this prestigious accolade. I am grateful for the opportunity that was given to me to be part of the disabled people commission and the other projects I was involved in. I would like to give a special thank you to Stephen for the leadership and dedication to creating a more accessible and inclusive borough. For all residents, it is a privilege to be a part of this community. One thing we must remember is co-production is very important for disabled people. Through doing this project, I've been able to go on and do other co-production work to be for people who live with sight loss so other organizations can be inclusive and not think of disabled people after they finish their projects. And I'd like to say thank you. Next is Jane Wilmots. Thank you, everyone. I'm absolutely astonished to be joining a wonderful group of people to receive the freedom of the borough. It is an absolute privilege to do that, to receive it. And thank you. All these years, I have worked with many colleagues, right across the borough. I have been involved in so many projects, three of them I'm very proud of, in co-production. I have been co-chair of the Thomas Moo Thurm civic campus, where we are trying to be very inclusive. Now, the reason why I'm proud to do this is from Steve Carl, who told us he wanted this civic campus to be fully accessible and inclusive. He also wanted it to be a place where people feel safe and welcome and included. I'm also very proud to be co-chairing an amazing group of residents to try and make our street involvement more inclusive. I'm very proud to be trying to inspire the planning department to get developers to be ruthlessly inclusive. Being ruthlessly, ruthlessly, ruthlessly inclusive is a mantra, because it means that nobody can get out of it. It's everybody's responsibility. And it's a very short time for really thinking, everybody thinking things through from the perspective of disabled people. So I'm very proud to be a visible and thank you. Thank you, and I'm very proud to be a visible and thank you to the members of the community. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Alex. Wow, it's one evening. I'm so delighted personally, to receive the freedom of the borough. I've been a borough resident for a half of my life. And I love living in Shebber's Bush and amongst such a feisty bunch of disabled people that we were on the Disabled People's Commission. I think this evening provides an opportunity to celebrate everything that we've achieved together. And as we know, it is not often that 10 local disabled people get recognized in one go for our contribution to leading on public policy. It is probably another first for Hammersmith & Follum. I like the groundbreaking work of the commission itself, that it was the first local area based Disabled People's Commission in the country made up of just 10 local disabled people having ideas, telling it like it is, planning solutions for ourselves and other Council. I was very fortunate to be employed by the Council to the policy and practical support to the commission, and then work with Tara as co-production for strategic strategic lead on co-production until I retired in December. Local people across this country have fought for over 50 years for a right to independent living, a right to have a day to day life like our non-disabled peers, and to have as much choice and control in our lives as possible. And that's not much to ask. This award for me is at the heart is local disabled people campaigning, has always been strong in the borough. And when we first met Steve, Councillor Caron, he was the leader of the opposition, as we campaigned long and hard against the previous Conservative administration, who were consulting to implement a new charging policy. That policy would charge disabled residents for essential support and services to live independently in the community, even though they had a manifesto commitment in 2006, not to charge, they started that consultation, shortly after being in office for just a few months. The policy was eventually and disgracefully pushed through, and we constantly reminded politicians that disabled people are voters. Our position was if the policy is bad, it doesn't matter who the decision maker is, we are going to resist. Councillor Caron and other councillors supporting the campaign with slogans such as 12 pounds 40 an hour, just for a shower, and it saw Tara being removed disgracefully from the town hall council chamber by security guards on the instruction of the previous inspector leader, as she argued against the decision to start charging. So, really this evening, really highlights, just how far we have all come from those dark times over 10 years ago. Councillor Karen made a commitment to abolish charging in the local election manifesto in 2014. And as a result of that, we are the only local authority now in England that does not charge painless disabled people for requiring support to leave to lead lives. You can see that it's vital that disabled people are involved in making policy. And who says campaigning never achieves anything. I like to think of that decision as an early example of shared decision making co production, though we didn't think of it like then, where residents identified the discrimination and the barriers that charging brings and the leader and Councillors agreed and published the policy and council officers implemented it so we can see that we couldn't do it if we didn't do it all together. Personally I'm delighted to be given the freedom of the borough, especially here in the Irish centre. Although I was a little bit disappointed that the freedom doesn't come with any sheep grazing rice, as, as my parents were from rural Ireland. My mother from briefly in County Mayor, and my father from county government. And it would definitely increase my family poll ratings. So joking side, I'm particularly pleased to have my brother Vincent here today, and my cousin James who came from County Mayor today to celebrate with me. Thank you so much to everyone who supported me. You know he was supported all the campaigning, which was, was tough times and I think we were treated with a lot of disrespect and some of it was really unpleasant. And thanks for the support all the work along the way. Thank you for this work. That's the end of tonight's special council meeting. Thank you everyone for attending or watching. Yeah. All right. Okay. Thank you. Please come to for a drink while we. The other the meeting. Thank you. Remember. Yeah. Thank you.