Enable Magazine is the UK's leading disability and lifestyle title, filled with news, exclusive interviews and real-life stories from the disability community
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ALT 52 enablemagazine.co.uk A MARATHON EFFORT ow are you? It’s the first question I ask Richard and Julie when I speak to them, four days after the London Marathon. “It’s two hours, 42 minutes of running as hard as you can for as long as you can, just trying to hold on,” says Richard. “I came off that route pain-free, no blisters,” explains Julie, “and I was back on my local track last night.” Julie’s first marathon experience was a far cry from Richard’s debut. At the New York Marathon in 2004, he says: “I finished in five hours, 19 minutes. I was so sore, had loads of blisters, said I’d never do it again… The rest is history. Four Paralympic Games, two Paralympic gold medals, world titles, world records – and I’m still going!” PASSIONATE April’s race was Richard’s 79th marathon. “I’m passionate about disabled people being on the other side of the barrier,” he says, “getting them on the road and into events.” He set up The Richard Whitehead Foundation to support disabled people into sport
ALT Graphic reads: “Despite some encouraging steps forward, the Disability Action Plan is unlikely to bring about the change people with a learning disability need from our government. “We welcome new initiatives, like improving how government will undertake research on disabled people’s experiences; support for disabled people who want to seek public and elected office; and work to make government communications more accessible. But these positive steps do not address the most pressing issues for people with a learning disability: access to social care, healthcare, employment and cost of living support.”
ALT Graphic reads: “It's hard to feel optimistic about a plan which fails to address some of the fundamental inequalities for people with a learning disability who are dying on average 22 years younger than those in the general population or the fact that only 27% of people with a learning disability are in work, despite over 4 in 5 wanting a paid job. “The unacceptable inequalities experienced by people with a learning disability can only be addressed through a robust long term strategy to tackle the biggest barriers people with a learning disability face.”