Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of working on a website for a new and hugely exciting social change movement: Be. Accessible. I attended their fantastic launch last night, and rubbed shoulders with Government Ministers, leaders in the disability world, and plenty of attractive women. Yup, it was a pretty good night all round, really.

The greatest thing about Be. Accessible is that it really is the perfect execution of what I’d hoped to create with this site, Walking is Overrated. And I feel incredibly honoured to have been able to work with Minnie Baragwanath, Qiujing Wong and the rest of the Be. Team to make it a reality!

Anyway, if you haven’t heard of Be. Accessible, check out the website at www.beaccessible.org.nz.

I’m sure you’ll agree it’s awesome.

This is the final edit of some video I took at the 2010 National Disability Conference hosted by the Health & Disability Commissioner – “Making It Easy To Speak Up”. Tell me what you think!

Take 300 young people aged 18 to 25 from 98 countries committed to creating social change in their respective communities, bring them together in Delhi, India for eight days, and what do you get? An amazing mix of colours, cultures, incredible diversity, and the Oxfam International Youth Partnerships Kaleidoscope Conference 2010. From November 21-29, I was one of the very fortunate 300 young people to take part in this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime event in a place I have always wanted to

The 3rd annual Attitude Awards took place at a black tie event on Wednesday 1st December, where some incredible people were recognised for their contribution to the disability community.

The winners were:

• Alex Snedden (Youth Award)
• Jayne Parsons (Courage in Sport)
• Adam Hall (Sport Performer)
• Celeste Strewe (Artistic Achievement)
• Don McKenzie (Hall of Fame Inductee)
• Melrose Kiwi Concept Chairs (Employer Award)
• ACC Supreme award and Spirit award: Melanie Sloan

Check out the videos of the finalists by clicking ‘More’ below.

Hey folks! You’ve only got until November 12 to register for the National Disability Conference, ‘Making It Easy To Speak Up’. Organised by the Health & Disability Commissioner, it’s being held on the 6th of December at the Waipuna Conference Centre, Auckland.

Important documents:

• For registration forms, click here
• Download the conference flyer as a PDF here
• Check out the conference programme here
• Read the conference FAQs over here

Members of the Wheel Blacks will take on celebrities and sports personalities in a charity exhibition match of wheelchair rugby at the Auckland Spinal Unit gymnasium in Otara on 10 October.

The No.8 Celebrity Wheelchair Rugby Match will be held at the Auckland Spinal Unit Gymnasium at 30 Bairds Road, Otara, Auckland at 1pm on Sunday 10 October. To make a donation to the NZRF or to purchase tickets to the event please visit www.no8.co.nz.

Limited tickets to the event will be available for purchase on www.no8.co.nz from 27 September.

Hi guys. Red asked me to write a guest post on my experience of the recent Canterbury earthquake as there hasn’t been much said from a disability perspective, so I jumped (and jolted) at the opportunity. Enjoy and feel free to comment. – Photo courteously of Stuff. I’m usually quite a big fan of shakes; milkshakes, handshakes, even the odd booty shake. But violent, earth-moving, over-seven-on-the-Richter-scale shakes? Not so much. Yet, that’s exactly what I awoke to at 4.35AM last

File this under “effing awesome”. I’ve never seen a sign language interpreter at a gig before, but what an awesome example this is! I love how she doesn’t just stand there signing in a ‘sterile’ fashion, but really gets her groove on. Great viewing, so check out the YouTube clip below!

An open letter to Ticketek and the promoters of the U2/Jay-Z concert being held at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland in November:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I recently rang Ticketek to purchase tickets to the U2 show in Auckland on November 25th, which I’m really excited about. I heard prices of $40 being advertised on the news which was great, and I would’ve happily stumped up $100 for a ticket. So imagine my disappointment when I was told that the minimum cost of a ticket, for a disabled person using a wheelchair, was $179!! Given that I have to bring a support person with me most places I go, and when you add on the booking fee, that brings the total cost of admission to almost $380.

Honestly, I find that borderline offensive. Having recently spent time in Europe, LiveNation and other promoters often subsidise a disabled person’s entry fee to concerts, or that of their support person’s, because they appreciate this exact quandry. I understand you can’t have designated disabled seating in every price bracket, but it’d be great if this was acknowledged by reduced admission like they consistently do overseas!

Why should regular able-bodied folk be able to choose to buy cheap tickets, but people with disabilities are asked to pay through the nose?

I’d appreciate your thoughts on this, as I’m sure the media would, and any changes to this pricing structure would be gratefully received.

Kind regards,

Red Nicholson

This is just so exciting. A group of young people from the UK are organising a beauty pageant for people with disabilities called “Disabled and Sexy”, and I’m not gonna lie – these girls look hot! The pageant is supporting a great cause too, the Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

I find it so so frustrating that disabled people are often seen as asexual beings, thanks in part to the media’s tragic portrayal of us the eternal sufferer. So I’m raising my glass to this lot – I’d love to do something similar down under!

Check out their website for more information.