The Editor

Featured Charity

Redundancy during Maternity Leave...

Employers must be careful if they decide to make an employee redundant when that employee has taken maternity leave.  The Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations state that an employer must offer an employee who is on maternity leave, and whose job becomes redundant during the maternity period, any suitable available vacancy that exists.

The Regulations state that the alternative work must be both suitable and appropriate for her to do and that the new terms must not be substantially less favourable than those of her previous contract.

Read more...

Article courtesy of Birkett Long.

Volunteers not protected by discrimination law...

The Supreme Court has ruled that laws to protect workers from discrimination do not cover volunteers unless they have a contract, or are undergoing vocational training.

A Citizens Advice Bureau volunteer, who tried to take her legal claim for the same employment rights as an employee all the way to Europe, has been stopped by the Supreme Court.

This judgment effectively confirms that volunteers are not entitled to the same protections under the law as employees

Read more...

Article courtesy of Workplace Law.

Limbcare update...

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Depression is one of the worst side effects of losing a limb.  Coming to terms with this type of loss is worse than losing someone who was close to you through death or losing someone through being divorced.  All of these losses are terrible in themselves but to lose a limb, your livelihood, perhaps your home and your family is even worse.  That is where the charity comes in.

They can adapt homes for people who have lost limbs (Ray Edwards, himself a quadruple amputee, used to run his own building company and still keeps his hand in even today but more in a supervisory capacity!)  He has pulled together people who know what living in a standard house is like and who have decided to adapt and make changes to homes to accommodate people with disabilities.  












This is a real bespoke service and is one that is not readily available from standard builders.  They provide that much needed support that cannot be provided by the medical people so if you know someone who needs that kind of support, contact the charity on 020 8788 1777 or email Ray Edwards or visit the Limbcare website.

Caroline Parker awarded MBE...

Actress and cabaret performer Caroline Parker has been awarded an MBE for services to deaf theatre and drama in the Queen's 2013 New Year Honours list.

Parker, who performed at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games last year, is well-known for her powerful and inventive signed song work and has appeared in numerous productions on stage and screen.

Article courtesy of Access London Theatre.

Success breeds success...

Britain's Paralympians have been rewarded for their success at London 2012 with a huge leap in funding to take them through to the next Paralympic Games in Rio in four years' time.
UK Sport announced the 43 per cent increase in funding for Paralympic sports - to £70.2 million from £49 million in the run-up to London - compared with a rise of five per cent for Olympic sports.
UK Sport said its goal was "to become the first nation in recent history" to win more medals at both the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games four years after hosting the Games. 
It said the increased support - provided through National Lottery and government funding - reflected the "increasing competitive nature" of Paralympic sport and the growing opportunities for international competition.

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PLUS

Britain's track and field Paralympians will have the chance to recreate this summer's golden exploits, after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that London would host the 2017 IPC World Athletics Championships in the Olympic Stadium.
The championships will be held in July 2017, just a month before the same venue hosts the mainstream IAAF World Athletics Championships. London will become the first city to host the two events in the same year.

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Both articles courtesy of About Access.

Go grab a coffee...

Congratulations must go to Martine Wright who won the Helen Rollason award at the Sports Personality of the Year 2012.

Martine lost both her legs in the 7/7 bombings in 2005, but fought back to compete in the Paralympics.

Since the terror attack, the 40-year-old Londoner, who played sitting volleyball for Team GB, has had a baby, got married and learned to fly a plane.

"I count myself lucky that I have done the journey," she says.

How inspirational!

You can see her interview here, but be warned... it takes you to the BBC website with lots of onwards links including the opportunity to relive all those 2012 Olympics and Paralympics moments all over again! I spent quite a while researching this article!