In this week’s Wednesday Wrap we thought we’d take everyone back to the beginning and explain how and why Fiona Jarvis set up Blue Badge Style. In an article written for The Big Society Network she explains what Blue Badge Style is, what it means and where she wants to take it in the future. It’s an idea to create a more inclusive society for less able and able bodied alike:
In the late 90’s/early Naughties I was a woman on a mission, I found out I had had MS after falling off my high heels once too often, people thought I was drunk and quite often I might have been. I continued to work in the stressful business of selling multi million pound software systems to the Finance Sector. I often had to visit or take clients to lunch, mostly in London. Not an easy task when walking with sticks. I had to find stylish places that would not hold any surprises – such as a set of ‘Everest like’ stairs or inaccessible toilets. No matter how many times I would call a restaurant asking about disabled facilities something was always amiss and I would have to rely on my clients for support. Embarrassing but at least I was never forgotten!
By 2007 I had become the ‘go to’ person, for friends and colleagues, to ascertain which was the latest trendy bar or restaurant to visit for any occasion (able bodied or not). Realising this was useful information I set up a website called Blue Badge Style (BBS) – where style and disability are not mutually exclusive. This embodied the sentiment of BBS as ‘freedom shared’ as I made public my knowledge of places with style and disabled access. I was able to show how to enjoy life to the full, without compromise.
One day after a particularly long hospital appointment in 2011, my brother and I wanted to have a good lunch and couldn’t think of anywhere nearby. We wanted a trendy, accessible restaurant with good facilities and we were in a taxi. It was then we realised that a mobile app that identified your location and gave information on stylish, accessible places nearby would be invaluable. So the Mobile App was developed from this idea. I attended a course on ‘Making Money from Mobile Apps’ at UCL but not being a natural software programmer I knew I needed help and along came Stuxbot and UCL Advances who offered to help. They believed the idea was a good one and one that would improve the lives of people with disabilities. I ticked all their boxes. I was a woman of a certain age, lived in London and disabled.
An Idea With Momentum
Since then BBS has really taken off, with some help from Angel Investors and friends and family. Market research has shown that there is no other site or App giving the same information i.e. where the emphasis is on Style and then Disability. Who‘d have thought you can have both??!! It’s a niche market but one that has value, as there is a latent demand in this demographic i.e. those wanting to maintain a sense of style even though they find themselves ‘less able’, (young and old). Whether it’s buying trendy walking sticks, the latest fashions or being entertained at the latest cool venue. It is not just for the person with disabilities but more often for their friends or family who don’t want to compromise on where to go or what to do.
Challenges
Over the last 5 years I have met many challenges; however, I’ve never given up as I’m convinced this idea is a good one. Now every day is different and I don’t know what’s coming next – is it another Paralympian with an inspiring blog or a new cocktail bar I really must review!! The momentum Blue Badge Style has achieved means I couldn’t stop now even if I wanted to. Although the biggest challenge is always funding and before it incorporated into a company in 2011, all the expenses were born by myself. As the website and community expands, so do the costs. I now devote all my efforts into running the website and company having given up my job. Some investment has been forthcoming and we hope the PAD will become a revenue stream. I have always said that Blue Badge Style should not be a Charity but a commercial business, run for and by people who are ‘less able’; although not exclusively as I believe that is not the way to get ‘inclusion’ in society!
Another continuing challenge is engaging with the ‘stylish and less able’ community so that they may contribute to the website. It doesn’t mean they are not interested as many stylish people (disabled or not) think it’s a great idea and regularly contact me for advice and encouragement. But more reviewers/contributors are needed from other cities in the UK. Expanding the community and improving the content are key imperatives for Blue Badge Style, as we want less able people to feel they are not excluded from the things they want to enjoy. After all being able bodied is temporary, as at anytime in anyone’s life you can become less able.
Through all the challenges, I have somewhat stubbornly, persevered and not compromised on style – the “BBS Spirit” – just as coco Chanel said: “Fashion fades; only style remains the same”.
That’s a (Wednesday) Wrap. This Week On BBS We’ve Featured:
- Come As You Are (Hasta La Vista) – A new movie widely acclaimed for dealing with disability in an intelligent, thought provoking way.
- The Summer Exhibition – Where to go after.
- Beach Wheelchairs – Making the seaside more accessible.
- Deaf Lounge – A new bar tailor made for deaf people.