Membership as at January 2008
Neil Betteridge - Chair
Neil developed rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 3, which had a major impact on his life for the next ten years or so and continues to inform all his work. Since completing his research degree in 1989 he has been working as a public policy specialist and campaigner on arthritis and pan-disability issues. Formerly Head of Public Policy and Campaigning at RADAR (Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation), he is now Chief Executive at Arthritis Care. He is additionally Chair of the PARE (People With Arthritis/Rheumatism in Europe) Manifesto, the European campaigns network of arthritis user groups; is Chair of ARMA (Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance), the umbrella group for arthritis in the UK; and a member of the Commission for Integrated Transport. He has recently completed 4 years as Vice President of EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism) as well as a three year term of office as a trustee with the Long Term Medical Conditions Alliance. Throughout 2004-05 Neil served as a patient advisor on the steering group of the Department for Health in England's Musculoskeletal Services Framework.
Pravinkant Amin
Pravin is the Special Projects Manager in the Engineering and Transportation Department at the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He is the Past President and Trustee of National Congress of Gujarati Organisations and Trustee of ASHRAM (Lambeth Asian Elderly Centre).
Ann Bates
Anne has been a member of the Rail Passengers Committee working closely with train companies and the Strategic Rail Authority. She is currently a non-executive member of a National Health Trust and has professional involvement with both the National Association of Teachers and Lecturers in Further and Higher Education and the Trade Union Disability Alliance. A member since 2002, Ann is a wheelchair user who has arthritis. She chairs DPTAC's Rail Working Group.
Jean Dunlop
Jean has been a member of DPTAC since 1997. Jean is the Vice-Chair of the Scottish Accessible Information Forum, Chairperson of FABB Scotland (Facilitating Access Breaking Barriers) and a member of the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland. She is a wheelchair user, and also a disability equality trainer. She chairs DPTAC's Maritime Working Group.
David Finnegan
David has spent sixteen years working in the access field with Merseytravel Passenger Transport Executive with responsibility for designing inclusive infrastructure and implementing the DDA throughout the organisation. He has undertaken other disability work through WIRED (Wirral Information Resource Equality and Disability), the Spinal Injuries Association and is also a member of the Access Association. David has an interest in environmental issues and is an inventor. He is a wheelchair user and has been a DPTAC member since 2002.
Roger Hewitt
Roger has been a member since 2003 and is in his second three year term. His role as Projects Manager for the United Kingdom Council on Deafness (UKCoD) involves coordinating a number of projects including Opportunities for Volunteering and Deaf Awareness for Healthcare staff on behalf of the Department of Health. As a Deaf person, Roger's personal experience and knowledge has proved useful in his role on several access advisory groups covering a wide range of areas such as theatres, local authorities and the police. Roger is also a consultant, researcher and trainer on Deaf Issues, including Mental Health.
Tomi Jones
Tomi has worked in transport for the past twenty years. Initially he was Transport Supervisor for Social Services in Dyfed and then became Transport Manager for the new unitary authority of Ceredigion. Four years ago he was instrumental in setting up an integrated transport unit for the authority and has since then been its manager. He was a founder member of the Community Transport Association of Wales and is has been its chair He has also served on the national executive of CTA UK and is currently vice chair.
Grahame Lawson
A member since 1996, Grahame has been involved in transportation for over 36 years and has had a particular interest in disability issues for 15 years. He undertook a lead role in the review by DPTAC of the Blue Badge Scheme. Grahame recently retired as Head of Planning and Transportation with North Lanarkshire Council where he was a key officer on disability issues. He was also an adviser to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on disability matters. He chairs DPTAC's Personal Mobility and Local Authority Working Group.
Marilyn Lister
Marilyn Lister is Studies Manager at the Audit Commission where she has worked since 2000. She worked previously in local authority leisure services and for the Cabinet Office Chartermark Awards.
Wendy Morrell
Wendy was a mathematics teacher until 1989 when she sustained a brain injury in a sporting accident. In 2000 Wendy was partnered with an assistance dog from Dogs for the Disabled; she has since become an active member of the assistance dog movement working to improve access both in the UK and abroad. Wendy is on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP) and has travelled extensively throughout Europe and USA with her assistance dog. Wendy is a wheelchair user and lives in Dorset, where she has co-founded a local access group.
Nicola McLeish
Nicola works as a Senior Transport Planner at Kent County Council, where she has been since 2001. Nicola specialises in mobility and access issues across the highway network. She has been involved in raising the profile of disability issues in Kent through Disability Awareness Training specifically constructed for Highways and Transportation professionals. Nicola is a member of the Transport Planning Society and the Institute of Civil Engineers, and has a keen interest in sustainable travel.
Alan Norton
Alan is Director of Assist UK (formerly the Disabled Living Centres Council), the National network for advice on independent living equipment. He is also a board member for the Disabled Living Centre in Manchester, and Chairman of Bury Shopmobility. He is a member of the North West Committee for Community Legal Services and involved in the Greater Manchester Police Respect Programme. He is also involved in many voluntary sector activities providing services and inclusion for disabled people in the North West.
Katherine Phipps
Katherine is currently Director of Communication Services and Development at RNID and was previously Head of JMU Access Partnership, the pan-disability access consultancy at RNIB. She has also worked as an Access Consultant and as a researcher at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research. Katherine is a former chair of the Inclusive Environment Group, advising the Commission on Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) on the built environment needs of disabled people, and was also the external examiner for the University of Reading's MSc course in Inclusive Environments: Design and Management. Katherine chairs DPTAC's Olympic working group. This is her second term as a Member of DPTAC.
Dai Powell
Dai Powell is Chief Executive of Hackney Community Transport, a large urban not-for-profit company in east London who won the Social Enterprise of the Year award in 2004. Dai has always believed that transport can play a key role in determining the extent to which people with mobility difficulties are able to fulfil their potential and to participate more fully in society. Through the services HCT run, Dai has demonstrated how to turn such a vision into a reality. As well as his work in HCT, Dai has also been the Chair of the national Community Transport Association (CTA) since 1999. Under his leadership, the CTA has played a significant role at a strategic level, working with the Social Exclusion Unit, the Department for Transport, academic institutions and other agencies to ensure that the needs of millions of socially isolated communities and individuals with disabilities are fully taken into account when policies and laws are developed. Dai was honoured with an OBE in the New Year's Honours list (2006) for his contribution to services to disabled people.
Keith Richards
Keith is Head of Business Development & Consumer Affairs at Association of British Travel Agents with special responsibility for access issues. Appointed in 2002, he was a member of the Department for Transport's Air Access Group responsible for producing the Code of Practice - Access to Air Travel for Disabled People. Keith is also a member of the European Civil Aviation Conference Facilitation Working Group on People with Reduced Mobility. He chairs DPTAC's Aviation Working Group.
Carol Thomas
Carol Thomas is Access and Inclusion Manager at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Carol started her career as a planner and access officer in local government. She has worked in the access field for over 20 years, at Disability Wales and JMU Access Partnership, RNIB before joining Guide Dogs. Carol has been a member of DPTAC since 1999 and chairs the Education and Training Working Group. Carol leads the Secretariat for the Joint Committee on Mobility of Blind and Partially Sighted People, and is a member of many bodies including the Access Association, Disability Rights Commission forums on built environment and transport, and the Commission on Architecture in the Built Environment Inclusive Environment Group.
Richard West
Richard is a member of the Greater London Association of Disabled People (GLAD) and works with CHANGE where he deals with transport issues. Richard has a particular interest in making transport information more accessible for people with learning disabilities and has worked with Transport for London in that area. Richard has been a member since 1999 and is the first member of the Committee with a learning disability. Richard is also deaf.
Julian Fiorentini
Julian Fiorentini works as a senior manager at the Public Carriage Office which licences London's taxis and private hire vehicles and drivers on behalf of Transport for London (TfL). One of Julian's responsibilities is running the Assisted Transport Services department which provides, amongst other things, TfL's contribution towards London Taxicard and the Capital Call service. Julian has been involved with the Disabled People's Movement since first working in an organisation run and controlled by disabled people and is an advocate of the Social Model of disability.
Will Bee
Will Bee was until September 07 Wales Director for the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and their lead Director on Transport. In this capacity he was responsible for the production of the DRC's Code of Practice to the new duties of Transport Operators created by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 2005. Will went on to write 6 practical guides to the DDA for individual modes of transport. Will's former career was largely in the field of community regeneration where he worked for community organisations and the Bristol Regeneration. Since the closure of the DRC Will has set up his own consultancy business where he aims to link his knowledge of disability with his experience of regeneration and community empowerment. As a disabled person himself Will is a regular user of public transport services, in the UK and overseas.
Helen Smith
Helen Smith works as Director of Policy and Campaigns for the disabled motorists' charity Mobilise where she specialises in raising the profile of disability transport issues. Before joining Mobilise in 2007 Helen worked as a television reporter for ITV Anglia where her most notable story was exposing Norwich's bus service for being completely wheelchair unfriendly. Helen writes the motoring column for the newspaper Disability Now and strongly believes that every disabled person should be able to claim their right to independence.
Richard West
Richard West is a freelance consultant on Information Technology. He has worked in the IT profession for 40 years and is a Member of the British Computer Society. Richard was a member of the Rail Passengers Committee Eastern England from 1989 to 2001 and appointed to the Rail Passengers Council from 2002-05, where he chaired the Council's Accessibility Working Group. He is a past Chairman of the British Computer Association of the Blind and is Secretary of his local Branch of the National Federation of the Blind. Richard is a frequent user of bus and rail and is committed to working for improved accessibility of transport for all.
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