19 reports Joined 2 years ago

Mick Farrant

19 reports

Joined 2 years ago

Commission Mick Farrant for a report

Mick Farrant

I’m Mick Farrant. I live in Gospel Oak and have been a community activist in Camden since 1979. After developing a series of impairments in 2017 and then becoming housebound and dependent on others during the Covid-19 pandemic, I discovered that social attitudes and behaviour make all the difference when it comes to living with impairments. Now, my activism and my work for CDA are focussed on trying to change what I see as societal systematic disablism.

Commission Mick Farrant for a report

Tragic fires must ignite CDA’s passion to push for greater safety, says Mick

We all want a decent quality of life for ourselves and those we care about, and to live in a society that values our lives. Yet the safety of lower income people and especially Disabled lower income people has often been callously disregarded in this country, as evidenced by the Grenfell and Daleham Gardens fires among other tragedies. These disasters and their impact on Disabled people are by no means inevitable and simple changes like introducing personal evacuation plans can save lives. These changes are possible and the council must lead the charge in implementing them.

Reported 2 years ago

CDA member and reporter Mick Farrant on the importance of the social model

Until he came across CDA and the social model of disability, says Mick, he didn't have a theory to help shape his thoughts and feelings about the injustices he was facing as someone newly living with health conditions and a vision impairment.

Reported 2 years ago

It’s a general election in 2024 and we’re invisible, says Mick

In this opinion piece, Mick laments the absence of Disabled people and our issues from the 2024 General Election campaigns.

Reported 2 years ago

From poor housing to benefits cuts – Disabled people under siege, says Mick

In this short piece, MIck Farrant says Disabled people are easy targets for bad treatment.

Reported 2 years ago

Council treats some equality issues more seriously than others, says Mick

In this opinion piece, Mick argues that disability inequality is not tackled with the same urgency as other strands of inequality.

Reported 2 years ago

Discrimination comes from the public as well as institutions – and we must fight it, says Mick

In this piece, Mick says he has encountered negative or ill-informed attitudes towards disabled people not only in institutions but also among members of the general public. Disabled people need to be assertive and call out these attitudes, he says.

Reported 2 years ago

Strong in numbers, but weak in voice – Mick on Camden’s disabled people

In this opinion piece, Mick suggests disabled people in Camden need greater unity and stronger political representation if we are to enjoy the same success as anti-racism and LBTQ+ activists in fighting discrimination.

Reported 2 years ago

CDA needs to lead way in raising awareness of discrimination, says Mick

In this piece, Mick says not enough is done to raise awareness of structural discrimination against Disabled people. CDA must lead the way in changing this, he says.

Reported 2 years ago

Council in tent clearing shame

Mick Farrant says the council's role in clearing homeless people from their shelters outside University College Hospital shows it believes they are worth no more than rubbish.

Reported 2 years ago

Can a failure to adapt and empathise have the same effect as hate crimes? asks Mick

In this piece, Mick reflects on his interactions with council officers and wonders if their treatment could be as bad as a hate crime or incident.

Reported 2 years ago

More direct action needed from CDA, claims Mick

In this piece, Mick lays out his views on why CDA needs to engage in more public protests in its fight to gain equality for Disabled people.

Reported 2 years ago

We must get our voices heard, says Mick

In this short piece, Mick says getting disability stories covered in the local press and this site is good, but that disabled people, CDA and the Disability Oversight Panel must be bolder and more radical in our fight for change.

Reported 2 years ago

Unempathetic attitudes cause disablist discrimination, says Mick

In this short piece, Mick explains that, in his opinion, discrimination against disabled people is caused by negative or uncaring attitudes towards us.

Reported 2 years ago

The Blue Badge blues

In this piece, Gospel Oak activist Mick Farrant talks about the barriers he has faced in trying to obtain a blue badge. The council has, in Mick's view, failed to make the reasonable adjustments required to enable him to apply for the badge, which gives disabled drivers permission to park near to their destinations. The result? Mick has been forced to spend a fortune on taxis.

Reported 2 years ago

How the social model of disability has empowered me – by Mick Farrant

In the piece, Mick Farrant explains how the social model of disability has helped him identify the true source of the barriers he's faced since he developed hearing and heart impairments.

Reported 2 years ago

Disabled Lives Matter so take accessibility seriously, says Mick

In this piece, Mick talks about service providers' failure to make information accessible for people with a variety of impairments. Access, he says, is a major equality issue.

Reported 2 years ago

Service providers’ lack of understanding makes living with impairments much harder, says Mick

In this piece, new reporter Mick Farrant reflects on how attitudes towards him as person with newly acquired impairments have deepened his pain. How much worse must things be, he ponders, for those who lack the means to make 'their own reasonable adjustments'.

Reported 2 years ago

From Idi Amin to local bins – Mick Farrant’s decades-long battles for justice

In this piece, new reporter Mick Farrant talks about his background and explains how fighting for justice has always been central to his existence.

Reported 2 years ago

Bin policy lifts the lid on rubbish attitude to disabled people, says Mick

In this autobiographical piece, new reporter Mick Farrant explains how the onset of health conditions and a council bin policy woke him up to disability discrimination and aroused in him a determination to fight for disabled people's equality.

Reported 2 years ago