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Awards Honour Disabled Sportspeople

The England Blind Football team coach and a record-breaking crossbow shoter were recognised for their achievements in disability sport at the annual NPower Disability Sport Awards evening, which was held in Birmingham's Villa Park in April.

Football coach Tony Larkin was named coach of the year after more than eight years involvement with the England blind team, and Iris Bingham, currently World Crossbow Shooting Association Assisted Disabled World Champion, was named female sports personality of the year.

After being presented with her award by basketball star Ade Adepitan, Bingham said she felt "absolutely over the moon." Kevin Rodgers from NPower praisd her success, saying : "Iris is an immensely talented, high achieving athlete who consistently delivers new records."

The awards were held to recognise the talents of disabled sportspeople in the Midlands, with 10 prizes being given out in total.

Blind Pilot Crosses the Globe

Miles Hilton-Barber flew into the record books at the end of April, becoming the first blind aviator to fly from London to Sydney in a microlight. Using speech-output technology, HIlton-Barber flew the 13,500 mile journey with the assistance of a number of co-pilots in his adapted microlight.

Hilton-Barber is working with the charity Seeing is Believing and hopes to raise £1 million to help eradicate preventable blindness in developing nations. On his trip, he crossed te Mediterranean, India and Malaysia before touching down in Sydney. On the way he encountered snow storms and tropical storms. Before setting off on his flight at the start of March, the pilot said, " Sight is a wonderful gift many take for granted. Whilst I will never see again in this life, helping to give this priceless gift back to many others who can be helped through our flight will make it all worthwhile. When I was 18 I applied to be a fighter pilot, but was later rejected due to poor eyesight. Now, 37 years later and blind as a bat, I have this wonderful opportunity and priviledge to fly more than half-way around the world."

Fire Safety Support for Deaf People

The Fire Kills campaign has teamed up with RNID as part of Deaf Awareness Week (7-13 May) to raise awareness of fire safety among deaf people. Research shows that a high number of deaf and hearing impaied people are risking their lives in their own homes because they cannot hear traditional smoke alarms - a third of people with hearing loss say they would struggle to wake up using a conventional alarm.

Fire Minister Angela Smith said, " This Deaf Awareness Week we will be urging people who are deaf or hard of hearing to install a special smoke alarm. Your local fire and rescue service can visit your home and advise you on fire safety and install a free alarm. It couldn't be easier to stay safe."

Vibrating pads placed under the pillow and flashing strobe lights are just two ways that deaf people can be made aware that their fire alarm has been activated, ensuring they can make speedy and safe escape. Similar products can be viewed and purchased through our products division, adapt-Able

Heritage Lottery Fund

Using Heritage Lottery funding, heritage organisations and disability organisations have begun to improve the opportunities for disabled people both to enjoy and shape their understanding of heritage, and this funding continues to be available to help meet the challenge of opening up shared and unique heritage for the benefit of everyone on the 21st century.

David Stainton is one of only 11 access consultants in the country to be included on HLF's register of expert advisors.

Thinking of Inclusive Living in the Future

The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), the Government's statutory advisor on the transport needs of disabled people, has developed new material for primary school Design and Technology teachers, which aims to show how teachers can include the principals of inclusive design within the National Curriculum.

The Designing Everyone In pack, which was sent to every state primary school in England, was launched with a workshop as part of the Inspire and Educate conference of the Design and Technology Association at Sheffield Hallam University. The pack aims to build upon existing design and technology information, to provide teachers with easy-to-use materials and lesson plans to help teach inclusive design. The resources have been designed to encourage children to think about design issues and consider the needs of disabled and non-disabled people when using everyday things such as toys, shops, houses and cars.