What’s it like campaigning with Habinteg during Accessible Homes Week 2023? | Tenant news

Ever wondered what it’s like speaking to MPs to gain their support for accessible housing? Insight Group member and Disability Blogger/Activist Kerry Thompson knows. Below, she shares her experience of accompanying Habinteg to Westminster to talk with MPs about our latest research with the London School of Economics - Living not existing: The economic and social value of wheelchair user homes – during Accessible Homes Week 2023.

Was I dreaming?! Someone pinch me!

I was at Westminster, well Portcullis House, which is a stone’s throw away form the Houses of Parliament (although I did get a cheeky walk around the Palace of Westminster) and anyone that knows me knows that I would’ve have been living my best life!

So, why was I rubbing shoulders with MPs on September 5th? Just in case you missed it,  4-8 September was Accessible Homes Week, which is a week of action that runs every year in September to celebrate what an accessible home can do for a person's wellbeing, independence and overall quality of life.

The Habinteg team were there to talk to MPs about the findings of their latest research into the social and economic value of wheelchair user homes, carried out by the Political Science Housing and Communities research group.

This year, I was invited by Habinteg to join them at Portcullis House to share my own lived experiences living in a home that meets my needs as a wheelchair user, but also my experience of living in an inaccessible home in the past. The event was sponsored by the fabulous Liz Twist MP. It was great to finally meet her face to face after many an online meeting over the years. 

I do believe it’s important to share our lived experiences, because not everyone is going to understand the difficulties some of us face or have faced. It’s easy for people to just read the numbers in a booklet, but very different hearing it for yourself from someone that’s lived in a world that isn’t accessible.

So that was my job for the afternoon I was introduced to several MPs, including Paul Howell MP, Paul Girvan MP, Andy McDonald MP, and Lord Jamie Borwick, hereditary peer and member of the House of Lords, to name a few.

It was great to see so much support for, as well as a real interest in, the work that Habinteg does. I was of course happy to answer any questions the MPs had. Some of the questions were: what do I think needs to change? What changed in my life when I moved into a home that met my needs. How long did it take to find a home that met my needs? 

When the event was over and it was time to go, I got a nice surprise.

You remember at the beginning I said I had a cheeky VIP tour of Westminster? Well, I got to walk underneath Big Ben, the same path that many a Prime Minister and MP from years past had walked. Wheeling through was incredible; I could feel the history that surrounded me. 

Sitting in the middle of the Houses of Parliament looking up at the glamorous chandelier above my head, with stone statues looking regal, going back as far as the 17th century, surrounding me – it was just amazing. 

The Palace of Westminster has been on my bucket list for a very long time. I missed the opportunity to go and see Queenie when she was lying in state. With a golden carriage on one side, and a ceiling that had been carved by hand with angels facing down. You can’t help but think if the walls could talk the stories and tales they could tell.

Unfortunately, when you’re in Westminster, you’re not allowed to take photos so the only photographs I have are etched in my memory. It’s an experience that is on my top five list that I’m never going to forget.