ICA18 Shortlisted Nominee.

Diversity Champion Award for Private Sector

Simon worked for Leicester City Council, Adult Social Care for several years before a spinal damage injury changed his life in 2014. He lost all feeling from the waist down and was told he would never sit up again, let alone walk. He was 32 and had little option but to take ill health retirement. However, after several operations and lots of physio Simon managed to sit up. He visited his favourite restaurant, but the wheelchair would not fit through the door and there was no disabled access. This is when Simon set on a campaign to change people’s lives for the better. While returning to university to retrain, and graduating university with a 2.1 honours degree in Journalism, Simon set up a Facebook page called Ability Access in 2016. He is now a recognised disabled journalist reaching an audience of over 900,000, and Ability Access is fully operational, assessing businesses on their disabled access.