How My Journey Began

Accessible Calderdale means everything to me. My name is Aisha Mir. I am a single disabled mum of 3 children, 1 girl and 2 boys. Although I was not born disabled, in 2011 I had an accident and after that I slowly started to lose my mobility and was bedridden for a year and a half. The wheelchair became my life and gets me out and about, keeps me independent and helps me be a mother to my kids.

I’ve had to learn the hard way all by myself, with lack of support from anyone. My whole life had turned upside down, and I ended up in a bad way physically, mentally and emotionally. Then one day I just thought to myself what kind of role model would I be to my children? Then I thought I will not give up! Instead, I wanted to help other disabled people and show them what is possible and how they can get out and about.

Volunteering to Improve Accessibility in Calderdale

I then joined Wheelchair Enabling Society and started doing voluntary work with them to make a change in Calderdale, which I did for a few years. Soon after I finished, I set up a small organisation called WAY (Wheelchair Accessible Yorkshire) with a friend called Ali. The idea was that we would go out and about to different places across West Yorkshire with our cameras to look at the accessibility. The reason behind establishing WAY was because of my own experiences of not being able to rely on Google Search to find places to go. Google would say some places are accessible but when I did more research or went and visited, I found out that they were not always accessible and often there would be barriers in the way.

Sharing Accessibility Information Through Blogs

After we had been to different place we would go home and write blogs on the various places and venues so other wheelchair users could learn where to go and get active too. Our friend Graham set up the computer stuff for us until Covid hit, prices rose, which made it exceedingly difficult for me financially as a single disabled parent. I could not afford the petrol anymore and we sadly had to stop.

Why I Love Being Part of Accessible Calderdale Disability Access Forum

I am one of the volunteers in ACDAF. I am very passionate about what I do. This group has opened my eyes to so much knowledge and challenges from a different point of view on how we treat all different abilities, old and new. We are the people with real life experiences of pan-disabilities who meet at least once a month trying to look for ways of improving access and inclusion for everyone in Calderdale. We all get together to create a welcoming environment.

Working With Calderdale Council

We also work with the Calderdale council to help them save money and make various places accessible for all, like the leisure centre, train station, town centre plans, Victoria Theatre, and the A629. ACDAF, is a private membership group with a group of volunteers who have their own lived experience of disability. Our public Facebook group is called Accessible Calderdale, which is where all our hard work is shared and publicised.

Our Work With Visits Unlimited

I love being a member of ACDAF because we don’t just talk! We get things done. Our website is www.visitsunlimited.org.uk. Visits Unlimited CIC is a national organisation and provides training and access audits across the country. The aim is to be effective, whilst Broadening Horizons and Creating Memories.

Visits Unlimited hosts our Accessible Calderdale Project. We have done so much work together with making Calderdale more accessible and inclusive for all. Chris our auditor is disabled and has done reports on most of our local parks, museums, canals, transport, and countryside, as well as tourist venues, cafes and charitable organisations.

My Dream: Calderdale Fully Accessible for Everyone

We still have a long way to go, which I know it will not change overnight. If we all work together, at least the next generation will have more of an outdoor/indoor access in and around Calderdale than we do now. We are all human and deserve to live like everyone else. My dream is to make Calderdale more accessible for all.

Meet and Eat — Bringing People Together

We bring local disabled people together in different accessible venues and hold sessions that we have named Meet and Eat. These are open to all disabled people, anyone with a long-term health condition or who has mental health challenges. We invite care agencies and carers too. We get free lunch provided which is a bonus due to many disabled people living in poverty. At the sessions we do different activities and invite professionals and services to meet with us. We get to meet amazing new and familiar people whilst having a laugh too. We all stand for disability rights, accessibility, safety, community acceptance, independent living, quality of life, full and active participation in society, equal access to education and employment.

Let us all continue to work together to make Calderdale accessible for all!

Here is a link to a video showing Aisha creating a collage https://youtu.be/Bdz24vYGY-0?si=RKUgcMRvrqhGqpNz