Dear supporter,
Access Alliance: we seek your support
The Access Alliance is a group of 12 active organisations that includes the Blind Foundation, a proud member of the Alliance, spanning the disability community. The Alliance began a nation-wide campaign to improve access and accessibility for people with disabilities in New Zealand. The central focus is to work towards the development of an “Accessibility for New Zealanders Act” that will enable people to engage with, use, participate in, and belong to, the world around us. Accessibility legislation will be an invaluable step towards making this access real.The Access Alliance website provides more information. It is at accessalliance.org.nz (see the ‘Navigation menu’ for drop-down menus of different topics including press releases under ‘News’).
We are pleased to advise our members and supporters that Epilepsy Waikato Charitable Trust (EWCT) is now an official “Friend of the Alliance” (see http://www.accessalliance.org.nz/supporters_directory). This status provides both national exposure for us and lends our support to a very worthy campaign that will ultimately help our members and clients, and others all around New Zealand with disabilities of some sort.
Please support the Access Alliance project by telling your MP that you care
The alliance is very mindful that there is a general election in September, and so has worked to make accessibility an election issue. Consequently, a website has been set up whereby anyone who wants can email his or her local MP with a courteous letter that explains the issues and the access alliance proposals. The letter is at accessalliance.org.nz/take-action.html.
The letter is set up to be very simple and will only take a minute or so to complete. It also has space for someone to write a ‘personal viewpoint’ (such as how that person is affected by poor access currently in some way). We ask that you send a letter to your MP using the Access Alliance website. We also encourage your colleagues, friends and families to do the same as soon as possible and so please feel free to forward our request (this EWCT letter) on to anyone who would like to help in the campaign.
Many thanks for your support.
David Lowe
Chair, EWCT