Wheelchair users ignored by Stagecoach

[wheelchair-man]

I have recently moved to Alcester and got stuck in Stratford Upon Avon on xmas eve and have contacted Stagecoach about access on buses to and from Alcester and they do not provide any low floor buses at all for Alcester! I have a bus pass which I can't use and it cost me £19.10 to get from Stratford to Alcester! This is not fair and instead of answering my questions at Stagecoach he kept accusing me of shouting but I'm hard of hearing and can't help talking a bit load! On the letter I received it says they advertise their low floor buses but it must be the worst form of advertising cause unless you have a timetable for every service it is impossible to find out which buses are low floor and then it's not guaranteed! I am an independent person who likes to do things on the spur of the moment but that freedom has been took away from me and I feel like I am a prisoner in Alcester with expensive shops to shop in like Waitrose! Oh yeah and when I was in Stratfords train station I could not use the men's toilet cause there is a step into it and the women's toilets were so narrow I got stuck in the doorway and emptied my bladder before I could get in! Why is access in Stratford still in medieval times where disabled people are hidden away from society and no wonder my friends are scared of going out! I wish people would be more understanding instead of being offensive and defensive! It could be anyone who becomes disabled so trust me we need everyone's help to complain, people fight for this country and become disabled and then get treated like an inconvenience!

[wheelchair-man]

I've just had a phone call from Stagecoach by a patronising man who just wanted to quote the rules which in my opinion is just rubbing salt into the wounds and after a lot of waffle he told me that Alcester will not have an accessible bus until 2012 but he said he doesn't have to bother until 2017! I hope one day the bosses at Stagecoach get to feel how bad it is to be stuck in a wheelchair, not forever mind cause I'm not that cruel! So if anyone feels angry please make a complaint to the authorities like the people in the council or Stage coach or the newspapers!

[Gladys]

Yes, I'd do as Lex suggests- ring the council and follow it up with a letter to them but make sure it is copied to your MP. This is entirely wrong. Not only have you been discriminated against because of your disability but your dignity has been compromised and you were left vulnerable. I too have a disability but it hasn't (so far) left me wheelchair bound and I can drive. I think you should also ring your PCT and ask if there is a Health Visitor (HV)assigned to the disabled. Some areas are fortunate in having these resources. If there is one assigned to the elderly, she would be ideal.(I'm not suggesting you are elderly at all) The elderly bring about a need for a whole load of support mechanisms and a HV dealing with them would know very well how to help even if it is accessing help for you such as adequate transport for example.

[wheelchair-man]

Thankyou for your responses. I've contacted the council at Warwick and Stratford and they just say it's down to Stagecoach. I contacted Sir John Maples and his secretary was very nice and she says she will look into it but I just think she will be fobbed off just like I was! One thing I wanted to do was chain myself to the buses but I'm sick of fighting, literally! I've found out recently there is no access upstairs in the town hall in Alcester so wheelchair users are lifted upstairs still in their chair but I'm in an electric wheelchair and no way would I want to be carried! So it means people like me are not allowed a say in council meetings, so disabled issues can be overlooked as usual. I'm a religious person and although I'm not a Christian I do love to pray in places of worship and don't care what religion it is but there is no access for wheelchair users in the church unless there is a way of getting in around the back of the church, but I checked all the doors and they were all locked, whilst the entrance with steps is open most of the time! It reminds me of victorian times when they wanted to keep us locked away from view! Even both doctors surgeries are a nightmare to get in cause it's really hard to keep a door open when your trying to manouver the chair into the surgery and stretching really hurts my spine! I can't believe that Alcester is so backward when they spend so much money on flowers etc! It reminds me of an eastern story about someone cleaning a bird cage and forgetting to feed the bird, so Alcester is more concerned with presentation rather than the functional aspect of Alcester! Flowers are more important! It's a shame it wasn't bombed in the war cause then they wouldn't have stupid listed buildings! I'm not into people getting hurt by the way so please don't missinterpret me! I'm 43 by the way and my son is in the parachute regiment while his father is a burden on society and I paid my taxes and national insurance when I could work! We would be better off getting rid of national insurance and going private but they do like to spoil the public services by wasting money on crazy management and paperwork plus the different departments don't communicate with each other!
To be honest the list of things wrong is unbelievable and if people knew the whole truth they would be so frightened of becoming disabled, everything I get and got, I've had to fight for and the stress makes me physically sick and depressed. I have multiple tumours on my spinal cord (about 30 benign tumours) which cause me to be in chronic pain so everyday is pure hell but I keep my pain inside because I don't want pity off people and because of this my GPs have let me down so many times now and speak to me like I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, I've recently changed doctors and am hoping they might understand! I apologise for moaning and hope people understand cause all I'm trying to do is make people more aware of how hard it is when we are supposed to live in this liberated compassionate society, with all these cut backs there is no hope at all for the future! The laws which were put in place to make society more accessible for the disabled are not enforced at all, from stupid parking to access into buildings, it is a waste of time making the laws and all it did was raise my expectations and now I feel let down completely! This is the major problem with me, having false hopes! I'm not into comparing us with other countries at all because they all have their positive and negative things if you look deep enough!
A big thankyou to all who care!

[Gladys]

Well, What a useless bunch at the council although I'd say you contacted the right people but I would follow it up in writing to prove it so no one can 'forget' a phone conversation. I think if it is copied to all concerned; they will all know the topic and who has been contacted. All singing from the same hymn sheet then.
You are still a young person in medical speak. Whilst fighting is trying and tiring if you don't then you don't get what you deserve and need and no one will hear, so carry on. Don't ever give up if you believe in something. I wonder if there's a government body that is tuned into this scenario. Have you found one? Ask at the CAB and or the library- they should know. I think you can go online to CAB and or phone but the library may mean a visit. Any venture out to town must fill you with dread- the thought of the difficulties getting to where you'd like to be and the obstacles that lie ahead. I do know some of this but not to the extent you experience it. 2010 and we have 'evolved' as far as this. I should say 'devolved' :D

[wheelchair-man]

I just can't fight anymore, I've spent the last 4 days being sick and feeling sick in a way that completely destroys one! When I speak to certain people they get defensive and give excuses and when they realise I'm not intertested in excuses they start looking for something to attack me with like my housing officer who accused me of shouting because I have a loud voice instead of showing compassion! I'm a bit deaf. I've been in my property a month now and still have no wheelchair access my cooker won't fit into the gap so it was a pot noodle for xmas dinner, which came back up! I've got a strick diet and cannot eat most prepared food, oh and my microwve oven was stolen! We are just numbers/statistics to those in authority!

[Gladys]

This is an awful existence and just what I would say your MP should be hearing. Write these very things down in a letter to them. I would also suggest contacting the SAs- you may already know of the great help they are but if not I think they'd be more than helpful.

[wheelchair-man]

Good news they came out to give me access today and widdened the gap for my cooker! It's a shame I had to fight for it, I can relax now, thank God! All I've got to do now is sit at the bus stop until 2012...lol! The access into the church is not the biggest problem for me but the low floor buses from Stagecoach would really improve my life and mean I can get to a train station cause I love going to different places instead of staring at the same things everyday. I've got a new carer today aswell for help with a social life which is wierd because today was unbelievable for getting things done, my house was very busy today, even my washing machine was repaired today. I can't express enough how relieving it is! Sometimes it feels like happiness is a relief from suffering!

[Gladys]

Good news. Keep it rolling though- write those letters. I also think you should speak to your Church- they have amazing powers to help and resources too. If they knew how miserable you have been left, they'd help. You have to ask for help though- do it.

[Shizara]

Gladys is so right, this is indeed very good news and definitely, keep those letters rolling in. Don't forget to keep us updated because your experiences might also be seen by others who are having similar experiences and society needs people to fight for rights. - You shouldn't have to, but too often if we don't fight we don't see any changes. On a plus note, all sorts of people find us on the internet, perhaps your local council members or even MP might see this more public recognition of your plight.