Wheelchair users are being discriminated against every day, in all walks of life - education, work, homebuilding and social life. They are being denied access to buildings, venues and premises that other people in our society enjoy. Non-wheelchair users are often unaware of the obstacles wheelchair users face. Wheelchair users may want to join in with things but are being denied the opportunity to. The world puts up so many barriers . For instance, going to the theatre is an experience enjoyed and cherished by many families, especially during the festive season. However, like many other activities, theatres and shows often fail to be wheelchair accessible. Although the accessibility of venues has improved, wheelchair access is often forgotten, or indeed never thought about. I acquired my disability in 2010, and was plunged into a World that I didn’t know existed. I found that I couldn’t go here, couldn’t go there, couldn’t do this, couldn’t do that. It’s torture. The Equality Act describes disability as a ‘protected characteristic’. However, the Act is neither monitored nor enforced. If I think someone is in breach of the Act, it is up to me personally to raise a court action. As the majority of wheelchair users will be surviving on DLA/PIP, this means that this is outwith the realms of affordability for most of us. Is it deliberately cost prohibitive? This Act is nothing more than lip service – a façade to wrongly give the impression that the Government gives a damn. I was concerned about the number of premises which appeared to be inaccessible in the City Centre of my home town of Edinburgh, so I undertook my own accessibility survey. The results revealed some gobsmacking figures. I surveyed 130 properties on Lothian Road/Bread Street/Grassmarket on the West side of the City Centre. A massive 95 (73%) are NOT wheelchair accessible. This is Edinburgh, home of the Edinburgh International Festival and World famous Hogmanay celebrations and Scotland’s capital city, in the 21st Century. It’s appalling. This means that I would have to raise 95 court actions! Everyone who asked what I was doing during the survey made the same comment – “I thought everywhere was/had to be accessible now/these days”. I am not niaive to believe that this situation is confined to one City. The issue exists in every village, town and City, UK-wide. Wheelchair access needs to be a pre-requisite of planning permission for old AND new buildings. Inaccessible premises change ownership, undergo extensive refurbishment and re-open as ‘newly opened’ businesses, and are still inaccessible! How is this being allowed to happen?

Over 65s are as likely if not more likely to need these payments as their younger counterparts. As people get older their joints and body become less able to cope with public transport especially if they have disabilities, but they also need to be able to remain independent in order to maintain their quality of life.

Children with autism need extra support to enable them to play football and participate in other sports and activities. This support isn’t available in mainstream activities. Children with autism and adhd benefit from physical activities and feeling part of a team also boosts their self esteem. Children with autism deserve the same opportunities as other kids to participate in football and other activities.

Pretty much everybody who has had the assessment has ended up with ' 0 points ', but head injury is not like usual disibility. Most people who have suffered a brain injury can walk & talk etc & come across as normal at first contact. We all have memory and concentration problems & an extreme lack of motivation, unable to cope with stress or confrontation, amongst other problems that I can't actually think of off hand, which makes us basically unemployable. It is so stressful resulting in people giving up or going into extreme depression, often resulting in the unthinkable. I myself had to leave my home in Leeds & move close to family for help & support. It took a couple of years to get things sorted & I was given over £4000 in back pay cos they realised they were wrong in their decision - 8 months later I had to go for another assessment, exactly the same results & my ESA stopped again. Unfortunately the Dr at my surgery that was a specialist in head injury & helped to get the decision reversed has left & the disibility hub in Redhill which also helped, has closed. I can't cope with things myself so have left it cos the last thing I want is to go into a depression again, which unfortunately is inevitable. Thanx to Llidl & charity shops I can still live to a bearable standard, but we are talking about living on £10 a week for food & spending a lot of time at my mum's, especially during winter because at home I rarely have the heating on, cos I simply wouldn't be able to afford it. If anything could be done to make the government aware of the problems they have caused it really would be appreciated Thanx Stacey Godsell

My wife Leanne is only 45 years old and is suffering with a multitude of life changing health issues, the one that depresses her is the liver issues which is making her body retain fluid, causing her weight to spiral out of control...unstable type 1 diabetes is making it virtually impossible to lose the weight, other health problems are not making it easy for her ie COPD, limphodema, kidney problems, IGA (no immune system) fybomyalgia etc. The council said I have to pay for a wet room to be built in our council flat as I work, over £5000 I'm having to pay for this just so my wife can bathe... I work hard, pay all our Bill's but because I work I'm penalised, it's so wrong.

I have read too many stories of assessors telling lies and ignoring things which confirm provided evidence and are in the claimants favour. I recently experienced this for myself. My assessor was rude, ignorant and her behaviour verged on abusive. This is wrong! If anybody else came into my home and treated me the way she did, I would call the police but I felt forced to comply with her because she held the keys to the support I need. I am a vulnerable person, yet the DWP has no safeguarding measures in place which protect me or other vulnerable people from abusive assessors. Also, if the DWP insist on putting ill and disabled people on trial, shouldn't they take on practices used in courts which make the process fair??

The UN committee on disability rights have asserted that the UK government have systematically failed to meet its commitments to the disabled. The outsourcing of PIP assessment constitute a significant part of that systematic failure.

This is a crucial topic that must be addressed more, this is because 1 in 5 people will have some sort of disability. There are 11 million people with disabilities in the UK and there are unfortunately only 5 disabled MP's. This is why i would like to change this and allow everyone to be represented in the UK.

It is unfair that local residents and visitors who cannot use stairs should have to make their way to other stations. We demand a lift be installed to correct this injustice.

I am a support worker and much to my shame I had not thought of this until a tenant mentioned it this week as she likes to be independent, she likes to be involved in all aspects of her life and you would think this would be an easy one. Anyone with sight difficulties would have to go around carrying a magnifying glass to see most of these dates. A simple fix would be for food manufacturers to increase the size of these labels.

Although now retired the bond between Dave and Jarvis is extremely powerful. Not only has Jarvis been a wonderful guide to Dave but he has been and continues to be a great ambassador for the charity. In his time Dave has filled many volunteer roles with Guide Dogs as a branch chair, Volunteer Liaison Officer for the region, a speaker and fundraiser as well as organising the regional Guide Dog carol Service. Jarvis is a very nervous dog who frets when not around Dave yet Guide Dogs are using his welfare as a reason to remove him. How would removing him be good for that welfare in his old age. Jarvis is well known throughout the Church Of England and is known and loved by so many.

My Son has missed out alot of his childhood which should be "the best days of our lives" and he's only 8. He's got a disability along with other issues that have an impact on his life and being able to socialise with his peers. He was out of school for a while with very little support from the Local Authority which meant me having to go off work to care for him. He's been waiting for 5months for an appointment with CAMHS with no help or support in the mean time. It's not fair that our youths are being failed big time, especially the ones that may need the extra help and support than others!