Introducing our outspoken new columnist,Brad Francis – who this month has praise for Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony, and condemnation for an individual found guilty of defrauding the Access to Work scheme…
ondon 2012 got off to a thrilling start last month with Danny Boyle’s rousing celebration of Britain’s creative brilliance. Even ‘Her Madge’ joined in, accompanying 007 for a magical night of history, spectacle, and above all, humour. From Brunel toBean, from to Beckham to Bond and beyond; we had it all, in all its Britishness – bravo Mr. Boyle!
Hey world, you know the cool music and movies, the literature, the industry? We made it all, even the wibbly wobbly web. Oh, and we also lavished £10 billion of your public money on staging this extraordinary event. Hurrah! Albeit at a time when the country does not actually have a spare £10 billion of public money to lavish. Huh?…
Still, when all’s said and done, the London 2012 Olympics and [at the time of writing, upcoming] Paralympics are both joyous affirmations that life is worth living, an optimistic statement made with stadia, sportsmen and coloured rings hanging from Tower Bridge.
So let’s hope that Jenny Sealey (Artistic Director at Graeae Theatre Company) and Bradley Hemmings (Artistic Director of Greenwich and Docklands Festival) can showcase the talents of around 50 performers in the London 2012 Paralympic Games opening ceremony – called ‘Enlightenment’ – with the same verve and stimulus as Boyle’s gig, albeit, I suspect, without the same £26 million budget.
I expect that Enlightenment will usher in a spectacular Paralympic Games that challenge people’s perceptions of human endurance. Moreover, a Paralympic Games where all can witness the inspirational spirit of triumph over adversity. The ‘labelled as disabled’ tag is incongruous, and with the world watching, this is our moment to stand tall (so my physiotherapist tells me) and feel proud of who we are.
So, big up the adult volunteer cast of more than 3000, the children volunteer cast of over 100, and a further professional cast of 100 plus, with backslaps and group hugs allround to the bigwigs at the Arts Council England for stumping up the dosh!
On the take
As an image-conscious disabled entrepreneur and stroke survivor, I was further ‘enlightened’ myself this month to learn about the fortunes of one Barry Brooks – a fraudster who claimed he was wheelchair-bound and had managed to fiddled some £1.8 million from the Government’s Access to Work (AtW) scheme to fund a luxury lifestyle. He told officials of his incontinence and inability to climb stairs in order to fund his extravagances, only to be later caught dive-bombing into a swimming pool, scuba diving and even driving a Rolls-Royce!
As far as friends of the 49-year-old Brooks knew, he had been knighted for his work in support of disabled charities – but he had bought the title online. Brooks had set up a business aimed at helping disabled people find work, enabling him to swindle the aforementioned £1.8m, by submitting bogus claims for travel, support staff and office equipment. A neurologist, Dr Michael Gross, who examined Brooks was quoted as saying that his only condition was one of “Elaboration to deceive – otherwise known in medical terms as ‘malingering’”. Brooks was subsequently found guilty of conspiracy to defraud and currently awaits sentencing.
The AtW initiative is a truly fantastic resource for disabled professionals that wish to set themselves up in business and those already in work. It provides financial assistance in the form of a grant, which can be used to purchase essential equipment and other forms of support required by the beneficiary to make a success of their business or role.
While I was setting up my own fledgling marketing consultancy, the scheme provided me with a mobility scooter and adaptations for my car that gave me the freedom and confidence to network in safety, which is essential part of establishing any business, whether you’re disabled or not.
