Harrogate and Knaresborough co-hosts disability opportunities roundtable dinner with charity chair

Pictured from left are: Baroness Masham of Ilton; James McDevitt, General Manager of Hotel du Vin; Jackie Snape, Disability Action Yorkshire Chief Executive; Martin Gerrard from Barclays Bank; Richard Webb from North Yorkshire County Council; Andrew Jones MP; Paul Campbell from Harrogate Borough Council; Coun Anne Jones, Mayor of the Borough of Harrogate; Simon Kent from Harrogate Convention Centre; Steve Jones, Mayors Consort; Alex Hornsby from Transdev and Disability Action Yorkshire Chair, Neil Revely

Subjects under the spotlight at the 'roundtable' event held at Hotel du Vin included business, tourism, transport, housing, education and learning,

Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough and Neil Revely, from Disability Action Yorkshire, were joined on the evening by leading disabilities campaigner and charity patron, Baroness Masham of Ilton, and representatives from the public and private sector.

Whilst the attendees welcomed the fact that opportunities for disabled people across the district had increased, they accepted there was still a long way to go – in particular encouraging more businesses to open their doors to disabled workers.

Neil Revely, Chair of Disability Action Yorkshire, said: “I would like to thank Andrew Jones MP for co-hosting this event, and to the community and business leaders who joined us for the evening.

“Our role is to support disabled people to reach their own potential and live their lives to the full, in conjunction with helping businesses to see the opportunities people with disabilities can bring them, both as employees and customers.

“Last year, we celebrated our eightieth anniversary and we want to ensure that our work is as relevant today as it was back in 1927, and by listening to our customers and engaging with the public and private sector, we hope to achieve this.

Andrew Jones MP said: “It was an extremely interesting and thought-provoking evening, and I would like to thank Neil and Disability Action Yorkshire for giving me the opportunity to act as co-host.

“Great strides have been made in this area over many years, but improved levels of integration can still provide more opportunities for disabled people, businesses and society more broadly. That is why events like this which bring together businesses, service providers, transport providers and others are important.

“Over the coming years we want to make sure that we provide even more opportunities for disabled people in areas such as business, transport and education.”