To celebrate International Assistance Dog Week (May 2-8) the charity Canine Partners has pulled together some of the most hotly contested statements connected to assistance dogs and the vital support they provide. So, paws at the ready, do you think the following statements are TAIL (true) or TALE (lie). · All Assistance Dogs are Labradors. · Assistance dogs are only working when wearing a branded jacket. · You should always approach the owner before going to stroke an assi

Lauren Rowles OBE has received an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University. Described by British Rowing as the ‘greatest Paralympic rower of all time’ when she announced her retirement from the sport last year, Lauren is a two-time World champion and three-time European champion. “To be recognised by a university in the city where I grew up makes it even more special,” said 28-year-old Lauren, who has confirmed she will be returning to competitive sport as a wheelch

Emily White is clearly a writer who cares about a wide range of issues, from climate change to care homes, from single parenthood to society’s inequalities, from alcoholism to abortion to disarmament. She has taken on the gargantuan task of dealing with them all in just 2hrs 20 minutes in Atlantis, an award-winning new play produced in association with Theatre Clywd, now on at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre in West Sussex until Saturday August 15. The sheer number of those issu

This year’s Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland will feature 43 accessible performances, including the highest number of captioned performances, at 21. The world-famous, annual celebration of the performing arts held every August features a curated program of top international artists and ensembles specializing in opera, music, theatre, and dance. Also providing early-career musicians with high-level professional development opportunities, the Festival’s Rising

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust has become the first NHS Trust in the northeast of England to achieve the Royal National Institute of Blind People’s (RNIB) Visibly Better Employer Standard (VBE). The Trust, which runs a major new eye hospital in Sunderland, will display a plaque for the award which demonstrates that it offers an inclusive and accessible workplace for blind and partially sighted people. The new Sunderland Specialist Eye Hospital is set t

A 28-year-old charity volunteer with a rare condition that means he can’t smile or blink has written a book about his experience of ‘growing up different’. Jack Marshall’s debut book, The Boy Who Can’t Smile, is a raw, honest, and often funny account of growing up with Moebius Syndrome, a neurological condition that means he has no facial nerves. Jack was also born without some of the cerebellum part of his brain, affecting his balance and coordination. He is blind in one

Your Story Matters – Help Shape the Future of Living with Disability! Everyone has a story worth telling. At Living with Disability, we've always believed that disabled people should be leading this conversation — not just featured in it. So we're on the hunt for new writers to join us, and to help make our community of voices bigger, richer and more varied than ever. We're growing. We're putting more into our content than we ever have before. And we'd genuinely love for you

Long-distance train operator CrossCountry has launched an industry-first digital Priority Seating Card. The new initiative will make it easier for customers who need additional support to discreetly communicate that they require a priority seat onboard. Free to download and compatible with devices that use Apple Wallet or Android Wallet, the new digital card represents a new option for customers who may benefit from priority seating where available. The initiative complements

Learning disabled artists in Leeds have rallied to secure the future of a charity amidst rising costs and funding cuts. Pyramid, which supports nearly 60 people with learning disabilities and autism to discover the arts and develop as artists every year, delivers more than 1,500 hours of creative workshops while contributing to leading research on inclusive arts. Despite the significance of this work, Pyramid finds itself at a crossroads as it faces an increasingly cha

Lerner and Loewe's beloved masterpiece My Fair Lady will already be familiar to most of the audience coming to see this summer’s show at Chichester Festival Theatre. Its success, therefore, depends on elegance, wit, impeccable vocal performances and the actors’ ability to deliver timeless comedy with the subtext of surprisingly sharp social commentary. So, the first major plaudit has to go to Stuart Burt CDG CSA, the show’s Casting Director, who has assembled an absolute drea

The independent charity Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) has joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower network. The move marks another step by HRP to be a charity for everyone and to reduce barriers so more people can experience and enjoy its historic sites. The globally recognised Sunflower symbol helps make the invisible visible, offering a discreet way for people with non-visible disabilities – such as autism, chronic pain, dementia, anxiety or sensory sensitivities – to in

Tickets for a charity event celebrating inclusion and showcasing adaptive fashion have gone on sale. Back Up, a national charity supporting people affected by spinal cord injury, will host the Front Row fund-raising event in London on September 24. Styled by fashion and style consultant Lisa Wisdom, 10 incredible models who have been affected by spinal cord injury will be the stars of the show. Spinal cord injury can happen to anyone, at any time. Every two hours, someo

High street footwear retailer schuh is showcasing emerging creative talent by teaming up with a young adaptive fashion company for Disability Pride Month. Radical grassroots label RECONDITION has taken over the retailer's prominent Manchester Market Street storefront for July and turned it into a window on the world of adaptive fashion, which makes designs more accessible for disabled people. It is the first time that schuh, which launched its community window project ear

The National Deaf Children’s Society is urging the Government to transform children’s hearing services in England, warning that delays in identifying and supporting deaf children can have lifelong consequences. The charity’s new report, Early intervention, lifelong impact. A call to redesign children’s hearing services in England, sets out vital recommendations to improve services following the findings of the independent Kingdon Review. Audiology services play a vital role

A new documentary created by disabled young people from Glasgow will premiere as part of the Glasgow 2026 Festival. Celebrating the athletes, coaches and volunteers who are helping make sport more accessible, inclusive and transformative across the city, the film will be screened as part of a ten-week celebration of Glasgow’s world-renowned culture, creativity and people. Produced by disability arts charity Speech Bubble Drama, Gamechangers follows the stories of young di

TV star Mat Fraser (pictured above) is asking people across the country to share their memories and experiences of the Disability Arts movement as part of a national heritage project. Mat is supporting ‘Cripping Culture: A Journey into Disability Arts Heritage’, a major new project run by disabled-led charitable arts organisation, Disability Arts Online, supported through funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project aims to save the stories of the Disability A

For the first time, more than 41,000 blind and visually impaired children in the UK could benefit from a breakthrough that will make block coding accessible for them. New screen reader compatibility has been launched in Microsoft MakeCode, removing barriers that have long prevented many blind and low vision pupils from taking part in block-based coding alongside their classmates. Developed in partnership with Micro:bit Educational Foundation and the Blockly team at the Raspb

A theatre company that features an integrated cast of actors with disabilities both visible and invisible is to stage Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. The classic satirical tale, tackling Victorian society’s obsession with social status, marriage, and superficiality, returns to The Actor’s Church in Covent Garden, London, on July 21, 22 and 24. Founded by renowned actor Mark Beer (pictured above), Dramaiocht Productions is one of the first theatre companie

Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft CBE has received an Honorary Doctor of Sport from Leeds Beckett University. The award is in recognition of her outstanding achievements in sport, her contribution to disability sport and inclusion, and her ongoing collaboration with the university's Carnegie School of Sport. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Hannah is one of Britain's most successful Paralympic athletes. Competing in the T34 wheelchair racing classification, she has won ni

Congratulations to Georgina Colman (pictured above) and Seth Richardson whose pioneering disability savings platform was recently recognised as one of the world's most innovative affiliate partners.   Purpl, the UK’s first money-saving platform built by disabled people, for disabled people, was selected for the prestigious Awin Power 100 list from a vast network of more than one million active partners in 35 countries. Created to reduce the £1,095 average extra monthly costs