I am Clive Lever. I have served as a trustee of of British Computer Association of the Blind (Now TAVIP). I significantly raised the profile and funds of the association through my Guide Cats for the Blind album series.
Between 2002 and 2014 I was an equality Advisor in local government. There, I scrutinised countless equality impact assessments to make the authority’s new policies and changes to existing ones fairer and more inclusive than they would otherwise have been.
Currently many changes are being proposed and made to the way we gain access to basic services. I see that equality analysis is often given too little attention too late, and so our needs are disregarded. If elected, I will work tirelessly with members of the executive committee to promote the importance of robust equality analysis before changes are made to the way we use services that non-disabled people take for granted. I feel it is vital that we aren’t left behind in the drive for progress at any price.
Little wins:
• I got the passport office to put holders’ names in Braille on the front of braillists’ passports
• In Kent, I got bus passes are sent out automatically each year, so that holders with print impairments no longer have to keep re-applying in print
• At tips, people bringing waste to help disabled friends are no longer assumed to be commercial vehicles – this makes it easier for disabled people without their own cars to dispose of waste without unnecessary additional expense