Photos from the Disability West Midlands archive

A photograph of the West Midlands Council for Disabled People's stand at the NAIDEX Exhibition at the NEC probably around 1989 / 90. Includes staff, volunteers and board members

Left to right: Joe Hennessy, Sue McCorkindale, lady I don't know her name, Andy Whyment, Eddie Murtagh, another person I'm not sure of her name and Hugh Barker on the far right.

There are some fantastic characters in this line-up, such as Joe who went on to become national Director of MD Association but was the first CEO of WMCDP (don't you just love how he was posing on the phone?) Andy Whyment was a well known personality in Birmingham - a former police officer who set up the Mobility Advice Line in the front room of his home in Kings Norton. Sue and Eddie were good colleagues of mine for many years at DWM and the wonderful Hugh Barker who was a past Pinpoint editor and the board member who appointed me, so he must have had good judgement! Hugh and his wife Mary (and their daughter Lisa I should add) were dedicated campaigners for access around the Black Country borough of Dudley.

Possibly about 2 years later in about 1990/91 this was the staff line-up at DWM taken for the AGM. There's Sue McCorkindale and Eddie Murtagh again, Joe Hennessy had been replaced by the equally respected Laura Cale in the centre. Over Laura's shoulder that's me Pete Millington trying my best to breathe in for the photo whilst maintaining a smile and there's Jayne Rolfe on the right.

This was an interesting time to start working for a user led organisation in transition. DLA was about to be launched and there was some optimism about the eventual success of a Civil Rights bill (the pre-DDA years). BDRG were close to opening their Disability Resource Centre in Birmingham and there seemed to be a proliferation of strong user led organisations around the region such as CDP in South Warwickshire led by Judith Stephenson, Ramsden Centre in Nuneaton was Mary Beaumont's baby, Shropshire Disability Consortium was given leadership by Phil Brough and Sue Bott and there were many others.

I remember being slightly naive coming from a rehabilitation background in the health service, so the first thing Laura did was to push Vic Finkelstein's Open University disability module into my hands, saying "learn this over the weekend Peter, you'll be tested on Monday morning."

I had quickly learnt you didn't argue with Mrs Cale and by Monday morning I was fully acquainted with the social model of disability and have never looked back since.