Last week I visited the Electric Diner in Notting Hill, Portobello Road and it was certainly electrifying. The food (a burger) was fine and the ambience was set off by the beautiful people who go there to be cool but don’t quite make the mark. The most exciting thing of all was the ramp to the disabled toilet – it was quite steep and on a slippery tiled surface. Hard work going up and although less effort on the way down, I lost control and had to swerve to hit the wall so I saved myself hitting the door at full pelt. Luckily the damage was minimal for both me and the wall.
I know restaurants in London have not got a lot of space to work with but as this was refurbished after a fire they could have done better i.e. make a less steep ramp and/or put more traction on the floor. As they have security cameras looking at the ramp area, they had seen my collision (I hope they don’t have them in the toilet!) and they apologised profusely saying someone had tested it before in a wheelchair – they must have had great upper body strength, that’s all I can say! So, the Electric Diner is a trendy gaff but I can only give them 2 BBS Ticks.
Next I compromised and went for some hand made trousers from our friend Charlie Allen. Compromised because I agreed to some elastic in the waist band. It’s depressing and made me feel old; I wish there was a better way to wear trousers in a wheelchair but at least it was only at the back so it only notices when I’m out of the chair and no one sees that!
Finally, last Wednesday, I was a panellist at a House of Commons event discussing access to the high street. It was a good chance to share ideas but, despite a lot of intelligence and enthusiasm from everyone there, I wasn’t altogether sure at the time that we achieved much. The cynic in me felt that the fact that the meeting was – not a waste of time – but slightly devalued because no high street leaders were present. I’d hoped beforehand that we’d get a chance to grill the shops on why they’re not accessible. Instead we had to work on positive approaches towards ideas to present to retailers in the future.
There was lots of talk about regulation at the meeting, which is all fine and well – it’s important that we all know where we stand – but I feel we need to move past that onto actually finding ways to enforce the regulation. Having said that, we did manage to do a bit of that and it’s not everyday you get to go to the Houses of Parliament – I’m not turning my nose up at that! We also heard afterwards that the Trailblazers – who had set up the event – have arranged a meeting with the British Retail Consortium! Brilliant work from them there and in organising the APPG!!
I’m literally just about to go off on holiday now, so by the time this goes out I’ll probably be sunning myself by the pool with a glass of rosé. I can’t wait. I’ll report back on all that sometime soon…
Have a good week.