London 2012 blog

As many of you may know, one of my responsibilities here at LOCOG is to co-ordinate our disability arts, culture and sport programme. I've been in post for just over three months and was asked to attend a meeting with the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to discuss how we and other partners can make 2012 accessible to disabled people.

Sometimes in this job the sheer scale of 2012 and what we are all trying to achieve just hits you out of the blue. Last Friday was one of those mornings. Around the table were gathered representatives from MLA, funders, disabled people's organisations, national charities, Government and the Mayors Office. We were all focused around an excellent new report they have produced about the opportunities for disabled people in relation to 2012.

It felt like the journey really had started. At the time of the Games there will be around 9 million spectators at over 100 sporting and cultural venues. Add to this other family members and friends, then a conservative estimate of maybe 1 million could be disabled or deaf. I have been so impressed that all of our planning is integrated between the Olympic and Paralympic Games – there isn't that poor access officer stuck in the corner in a lonely office ordering ramps! But the challenge is mind boggling. Think about it for a moment – not only transport and stadiums need to be accessible but hotel rooms, restaurants, our arts and cultural organisations, carnivals and street theatre, sporting events and even the pubs!

In the last four years the Disability Discrimination Act has created a great deal of change for the 10 million disabled people in the UK. For the first time they have legal protection against discrimination. Our opportunity for 2012 is to really make access a reality. We need to learn from each other – 2012 brings together public and private sector, artists, athletes, charities and activists you name it. Yes the debate will continue about the approach – but it's the taking part that's important! We need to learn best practise from around the UK and the world. But what is clear is that a new vision is starting to emerge; a vision of shared excellence, team work, true representation, celebration, respect and understanding of diversity. You ask any young person.

We were all there in that meeting starting the journey. We were starting to debate not only physical access but how to represent disabled and deaf people’s history in museum collections and how to make disabled visitors feel welcome and included. The marriage of sport and art is embodied in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. If we get it right we can all leave a lasting legacy for disabled Londoners, visitors and tourists alike. Think about what the world could look like in 2012. Imagine!