Last month, young journalists at Children's Express (CE) decided to find out what happens when a disabled teenager wants a big night out. They teamed up with 15-year-old Lucy Mason and her trusty wheelchair and hit the tiles to check out the facilities in advance.
| The taxi driver talked about Lucy as if she wasn’t there, huffing and puffing because she wanted a more dignified entrance... |
First stop: Sadlers Wells, London's premier dance venue.
Lucy's initial impressions were very positive. "Its a nice place: spacious, flat and accessible. They've provided wheelchair spaces in the auditoriums, which is quite unusual, even if it shouldn't seem amazing. I've been to venues with better access, but it is an improvement on places where it's virtually impossible to get in the building because there are loads of steps."
However, she was disappointed by facilities which ignored the needs of wheelchair-users. "The doors were difficult to use and the buttons in the lift were too high for me to reach," she said. "There was a disabled toilet, but it was really cramped. They also had a stair lift, but I wouldn't be able to use it on my own. The staff seemed a bit hostile and they didn't offer assistance, but they might have helped if Id asked them."
There was one oversight that could be life-threatening. Lucy explained: "We couldn't find the fire exit anywhere. This definitely needs to be more clearly marked."
Her final verdict?
Could do better.
But Lucy's problems didn't stop there. Enter your friendly black cab driver who'd been booked to take Lucy home:
"Can't I just lift her, save me digging the ramps out of the boot?," he said, adding, "I don't even know if I've got any." He talked about Lucy as if she wasn't there, huffing and puffing because she wanted a more dignified entrance into the cab than being lifted like a baby in a buggy.
"I couldn't believe how rude and ignorant he was," said CE reporter, Marvyn Benoit, 13. For Lucy, it was a typical end to a frustrating evening.
About the team
By editors Clio Turton and Darell Philip, both 17, Stuart Fletcher and Anna Chandwani, both 16, Camille Noriega, 15, and reporters Gabriella Gay, 14, Chris Fletcher and Marvyn Benoit, both 13, and Daniel OBrien, 12. This article was published in Children in Scotland.
For a fuller account of Lucy's day in London, read Can wheelchair-users paint Islington red?
