Kingston Disability Network

Category: Attended Events

  • Notes from the LIME Disability Advisory Board, 30th April 2026

    The LIME Disability Advisory Board, which is a national board, was attended by Acting Chair Ashley Pearce, Secretary Keegan Hillier, and Steering Group member for Healthwatch Kingston, Karen Dempster.

    We heard about the design of new and improved bikes. These will be an improvement thanks to:
    • A lighter and smaller design, developed with women, older people, and disabled people in mind, making them easier to use.
    • Greater GPS precision – meaning LIME can identify when bikes are parked on pavements or in other obstructive spaces.
    • Clearer improvements to the app, to explain to cyclists where they can and can’t walk.
    We asked about the steps being taken to improve cycling safety. They are, currently, as follows:
    • LIME do pop-ups with the police, educating cyclists on the dangers of unsafe cycling. They also assure us they ban thousands of offending cyclists a year, but know they need to do more.
    • LIME are able to track down LIME bike cyclists who are cycling on pavements or unsafely, even when the person reporting is visually impaired and cannot track down specific details. To do this, you need to note the date, time and location of the incident, and report this to LIME, who can then use their tracking to identify the offender.
    • Whilst LIME are yet to take a firm stance against ‘floating bus stops’, our contact Leanne shares her own struggles as a non-disabled cyclist with these set-ups. We will be sharing the National Federation of the Blind’s campaign with LIME for them to look into.
    LIME let us know some details about their ‘share the joy’ fund, in collaboration with the National Cycling Campaign.
    • This provides grants to increase cycling in underrepresented groups – improving health and wellbeing, accessibility and inclusion, or skills and connectivity. They have supported groups like those who help disabled people learn to cycle and helping people cycle with trikes.
    • The fund opens twice a year. The next opening will be in September-October time. If you know of any groups that would be interested, please direct them to the LIME team for more detail.
    LIME plans to put access at the forefront for Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which falls on the 21st May:
    • The app will display a banner for all users reminding them to keep accessibility in mind when cycling and leaving bicycles.
    • They will hold an in-person event in Hackney, one of the boroughs with the highest LIME bike usage. We have been invited to attend, so one of the Executive Committee will attend and report back.

  • Inclusion London Event – What Next for Independent Living?

    Secretary Keegan Hillier attended the Inclusion London event, What next for Independent Living?, on Thursday 16th April. The event took place in person at the Coin Street Community Centre in Central London.

    The focus of the day was on understanding the movement out of institutions and imprisonment, and ensuring that disabled people remain able to choose and have a say in their care and living situations.

    A photo of attendees from the Inclusion London Event. There is a diverse group of around 30 people, all smiling at the camera.

    As the photo shows, there was a wide range of people from across the capital, with some coming in from even further afield. We hope to invite some of the contacts made to future All Members Meetings to share how schemes from other areas can be applied to and improve accessibility and disability understanding in Kingston upon Thames.

    Keegan’s Key Takeaways from the day were;

    • The Independent Living movement is surprisingly new – the movement began in the late 1960s in America.
      • The UK version was kicked off by John Evans, among other prisoners of institutions, leading up to Project 81, with the UN International Year of Disabled People, 1981, being their target for freedom.
    • In the 1980s, Centres for Independent Living (CILs) and Deaf and Disabled Peoples Organisations (DDPOs) created, and practiced, the concept of self-directed support.
      • This was a radical change at the time, challenging the medical and charitable models of disability in favour of the social model.
      • This was where the move to describing people as Personal Assistants (PAs) over Carers came in, as they assisted with living life.
    • It took until 2007 for the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People. This was ratified by the UK government in 2010.
    • Intersectionality was essential, especially in the early days of the Independent Living movement.
      • Panelists explained how the Black Panthers movement in America were very supportive of the ‘Crip Camps’ and other disability organisations and movements that went on in their country. The panelists also raised how women were particularly important in supporting the work of Independent Living activists, especially in its early days.
    • Reflections on what more needs to be done included;
      • Revisions to personal budgets, to allow for greater freedom to provide what disabled people need.
      • Tackling misconceptions of what ‘independence’ means, as what is viewed as independence to able-bodied people is often very different to what is true independence for disabled people.
      • Continuing to speak up when policy and systems are not working. This includes, but is not limited to, advocacy for greater funding into social care, or pushing for more accessible and adaptable affordable and social housing.

    Inclusion London regularly runs campaigns, and events, working to improve accessibility and unite disabled people across London. You can see their current campaigns at the following link – https://www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/campaigns-and-policy/