REPORT ON National Association of Disabled Supporters (NADS) CONFERENCE/AGM
2nd June 2005 1.30pm at Northampton Town FC
MKDSA represented by Brenda Vidal, Gordon Rockett, Lee Downes, George Monaghan
NADS is recognised by the Football Association, Football League, Football Supporters Federation and many other organisations, and has great influence in many aspects involving disabled supporters, and also in providing input to new Stadium builds. The Accessible Stadium Guide, published by NADS has been absorbed into building regulations and in order for new Stadiums to qualify for funding it is a requirement that, NADS have to be actively involved and approve at all stages. An initial visit was made at the request of MKDSA by NADS to the NHS, details of this plus much more info on report made and NADS itself are on our Website via the disabled link. A further visit is planned with involvement of other related groups, and this will look at the plans for the new Stadium with a view to ensuring that the facilities available are to the standard required. MKDSA became affiliated to NADS for several reasons; firstly we were aware that there was no real attention being paid by the SA to meeting the needs of our disabled supporters. This was an omission we sought to rectify, and as well as hopefully working together to make the Matchdays accessible and enjoyable, it is hoped that this will also increase the membership and therefore attendance at matches. Other advantages are obviously the input that MKDSA working with NADS will have to the Stadium.
NADS AGM REPORT:
The Chairman, Phil Downs, was keen to emphasise the membership of NADS. In order to facilitate their work they need funding, and whereas in the past membership has been by Associations mainly, there has been a need to expand this revenue by asking for INDIVIDUALS to join if at all possible. Membership for 1 year is £5, and we were urged to encourage as many as possible to consider joining, we have a few application forms or they can be downloaded from NADS website.
The Level Playing Fields Campaign was discussed (disabled version of Kick racism out) and all were encouraged to promote this as widely as possible.
ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A DISABLED SUPPORTERS REPRESENTATION
This is something we have taken the first step towards by welcoming onto our committee 2 disabled committee officers, Lee Downes and George Monaghan, who are both well qualified to lead this initiative. Both have experience in different ways of funding, building, planning as well as contacts with other Organisations and individuals who will be of great help to the MKDSA, and as time goes on I am sure that future reports from Lee and George will be of huge benefit.
Ted Gascoyne, the NADS representative who met with us to do the NADS advisory visit at NHS, spoke at the AGM and gave particular mention to MKDons, and was very impressed with the involvement and commitment that MKDSA have shown, and also was impressed that the Club had welcomed the visit and encouraged further involvement. At this point we also got to see a presentation by slide show of the Ability Suite at Man Utd. This is something that could well be, and SHOULD be incorporated into the new Stadium build. It can be part funded by sponsorship, and Universities, Learn Direct and similar can be approached, as on non match days the room and equipment can be made available to them for their use. Man Utd have 4 computers, and use programs such as JAWS for visually impaired and Dragon Speaking. There is also a need to include large screen TV with kiosk, toilets and this room can then be used by disabled when too cold to sit in stands.
The idea is for MKDSA to be a focus of expertise to the Club. By carefully working with NADS and others we can promote these ideas to the Club as the way forward and can persuade the Club to incorporate the needed facilities to make the new Stadium one of the best! One important statistic is that 15% of the population are registered disabled, and as Milton Keynes has one of the largest disabled communities in the country it is fair to say that the percentage in MK is far higher than the national average. This represents a huge potential supporter base for the club, and is therefore something that they may well consider if presented to them in this way.
WEMBLY STADIUM is looking to do an official presentation to NADS around October and again we will have an opportunity to be involved in this as individuals as well as SA.
One more thing to mention is that NADS are to work closely with VISA (Visually Impaired Spectators Association) who were represented at AGM and we have requested an information pack to be sent to MKDSA for our attention, as we do have supporters with these needs.
There is a lot more! But these are the main points relevant to MKDSA I believe, although Lee and George will no doubt expand this work and have plenty of extra information on the website for us all. May I just finish by stating that although this may seem to be primarily Disabled supporters news, the benefits have been outlined above (I hope!) for all members, and we all need to work together with George and Lee to achieve the aims that are set out.
Brenda Vidal - Membership Secretary
