The Equality and Inclusion team arranged a 'Dining with a Difference' event last week and invited representatives from contractors working on the Olympic Park. These events are facilitated through the Employers Forum on Disability, an organisation that supports companies to explore how disability affects people, customers and the communities in which they do business.
At the event, which took place at the Docklands Museum, guests were able to whet their appetites by viewing the Jack the Ripper exhibition before dinner was served.
It was an informal evening hosted by Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Chairman John Armitt and the Programme Director of the ODA's Delivery Partner Ian Galloway, along with the ODA/CLM Equality and Inclusion team and the Dining with a Difference team.
John Armitt chats to guests:
During the evening, those attending were encouraged to talk about their experiences in respect of disability and also to discuss the barriers that many disabled people face when seeking jobs and business opportunities.
John Armitt introduces the evening:
Feedback from the evening was very positive, here are two written responses from guests at the event:
Surjit Kumari wrote to say:
'I thought that the evening went really well. You could clearly see the great effort that went into making the evening a success.
'I found that the personal information, which was shared by the lead speakers, was very open and touching because they shared their personal experiences with us.
'The way the guests spoke about the barriers and attitudes they had to break before they could become an integrated member in society was very inspiring. Listening to what they had to say, I could understand the barriers each member had confronted. Interestingly, as well was that disabilities are not just physical impairments but can also be innate.
'In meeting these guests and engaging with them through the course of the evening they brought the reality of disability home to me. It truly gave me a lot to think about in how we manage disability, not just in the public sphere but also in the private sphere as well. There was also a moral issue attached to what they were saying, which was 'you should never give in to what you want to achieve without trying. There will always be barriers but you can overcome them eventually through perseverance.'
Kim Bishop sent these words:
'I really enjoyed the evening and found it interesting and revealing. People round the table were relaxed and talked freely so it became obvious what some of the barriers are to working effectively with disability in organisations.
'There were some good examples of people making false assumptions which we were able to confront together in that forum, but I could see that in other settings they may have been left unchallenged. It was a very effective way of getting some powerful messages across to a small number of people and, by choosing attendees who can then influence widely, it will achieve the maximum impact'.
