One of our new volunteers, Sara Ali, has written a blog for us about the 50th Naidex (National Accessibility Inclusion and Disability Expo) event she attended, which took place over two days (March 20th-21st) at the Birmingham NEC:
This annual event celebrates and empowers members of the disabled community with an emphasis on independent living.
The two day agenda took a holistic approach covering all aspects of life living with a disability with a packed programme of seminars, workshops and product showcases.
This year there was a strong focus on mental health and wellbeing with Roman Kemp , radio host, presenter and passionate advocate for mental health as keynote speaker. Other speakers included renowned disability activists, disabled TV personalities and social media influencers as well as healthcare professionals. The diverse speaker line-up delivered insightful talks and panel discussions across five stages: Main Stage, Accessibility Hub, Village Green, Business without Barriers (a dedicated event connecting disabled jobseekers to inclusive employers), and the Neuro Theatre (part of the Neuro Convention that ran parallel to Naidex). These covered a wide variety of engaging topics from ‘knowing your disability rights’ and ‘inclusion in the workplace’ to ‘creating an accessible beauty industry’ and ‘disability in the media’.
All of the talks given were signed by a BSL interpreter and captioned.
The Village Green hosted a range of performances and interactive workshops to get involved in. A particular highlight from the day was a contemporary dance piece entitled ‘Paralysed’ choreographed and performed by a female disabled and able-bodied duo Catrina and Kim . The movement and interaction between the two dancers was a beautiful representation of the “power that kindness, friendship and hope can have”. Following the performance, artist in residence at Northern Ballet In Motion, Catrina, invited all those who wanted to, to join in and learn some of the choreography.
Other popular features at the show were the adaptive climbing wall and mobility test track. For each participant wanting to scale the wall the team from the Outdoor Education Company did a quick assessment in order to understand the individual’s requirements. This could be anything from a traditional harness with additional roped support, through to their ‘para harness’ that enabled wheelchair users to ascend. The test track included a series of obstacles and an artificial off-road terrain designed to mimic the great outdoors. This allowed a true representation of product performance before purchasing.
The Naidex Marketplace in partnership with Disability Horizons, showcased over 200 exhibitors and services. Here, visitors could browse and purchase affordable aids, tools and resources many of which were designed by disabled entrepreneurs and designers to help and empower disabled people in their daily lives.
All in all, Naidex is an enjoyable and memorable couple of days to explore the possibilities of independent living, to expand horizons and to connect with like-minded individuals.
The event is free to attend and the venue is fully accessible with plenty of blue badge parking available. There were several refreshment kiosks on site and cafés within the fair itself for the much needed rest breaks.
Naidex will return to the NEC next year from the 19th-20th March 2025.
