The Coalition and Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey are launching a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of including an SMS contact detail and hearing loop at establishments. One in three adults in the UK are Deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus.* In Surrey there’s an estimated 66,000 people who are digitally excluded […]

When asked what I do, I always hesitate, not sure how to describe what I do to someone who doesn’t understand the voluntary sector world. I’m not certain that anyone is any wiser once I’ve finished ‘explaining’, which is a little worrying because I have worked for The Coalition for 8 years! The difficulty is, putting […]

Jane is a visually impaired member and trustee of The Coalition. Below, she shares her experiences of mystery shopping with Research Institute for Disabled Consumers in Guildford. “I was asked to look at the accessibility of Guildford train station and how it can be improved. I took the 9.21AM train from Horley and arrived very […]

Disabled people, those living with long term health conditions or those travelling with luggage, children or bicycles can now benefit from step-free access at Walton-on-Thames station after Network Rail completed accessibility upgrades. This £6m programme of work began in September 2022 and has included a range of improvements including a new bridge, lifts and staircases, […]

Last weeks’ Glee Club theme was ‘Home is where the heart is’. Song picks were about houses, streets and towns. We played the following songs: Glee Club takes place online, on Zoom every Tuesday 4:00pm – 5:00pm. Each week we have a theme for the session, some members choose to perform their songs, whilst others […]

We reached out to Coalition members to ask for their feedback and experience on the accessibility at their local polling station and postal voting for the Local Elections ​in May and the General ​Election in July. This was because we have heard from some of our members that there’s been problems with accessibility at polling […]

Ever heard of forest bathing? If it’s conjuring up thoughts of bathing suits, then think again!  Our Coalition members and Independent Mental Health Network (IMHN) members were invited to take part in a forest bathing taster session at the very beautiful Newlands Corner.  This was arranged as part of the growing together project we are […]

We’re celebrating one of our wonderful members volunteering for the Police Independent Advisory Group for 15 years!! A massive thank you to you Jonathan. Jonathan tells his story about how he got involved below. It’s a great read of how Jonathan got involved, how volunteering has helped others and maybe a couple of stories that’ll […]

As you know we’re working with the lovely staff at the Surrey Wildlife Trust on the Nextdoor Nature project. The project aims to increase wildlife friendly areas in our community and workplaces.  A group of Coalition members, local residents and other charities that work from Astolat (where the Coalition main office is situated) got together […]

In May 2024, Alex visited the Trussell Trust’s food bank in Farnham. Alex works on the Access to Food scheme, and visiting places which provide different types of food support in Surrey to better understand food insecurity and its links to disability. Farnham Foodbank operates out of The Vineyard Centre on Fridays and Bethel Baptist […]

The smiling legend, Angie Taylor, is leaving The Coalition at the end of May. We held a little staff lunch to say a HUGE thank you for all of Angie’s’ hard work and dedication to The Coalition. Angie has been involved with Access All Areas visits, making sure that venues and the countryside are accessible […]

We’re working with the lovely staff at the Surrey Wildlife Trust on the Nextdoor Nature project. The project aims to increase wildlife friendly areas in our community and workplaces. We’re lucky enough that The Coalition offices that we share with many other charities and voluntary organisations in Surrey have been selected as one of the […]

The cost-of-living crisis is defined as “a term … to describe the effects of the rising cost of food and energy”, and Food Insecurity as “the limited or uncertain access to nutritious food”.  Last Year, the Coalition reported that 97% of members surveyed had been impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, 45% told us that they had […]

On Tuesday 16 April, Caroline, Heather and Alex from the Tech Angels team attended a digitalising social care event run by Surrey Heartlands, Surrey County Council and Surrey Care Association. This was an all-day event at Dorking Halls, with presentations and activities on the importance of digital services, AI and robotics in social care. In the […]

In February 2024, Alex, our Community Champion Co-ordinator & Technology Trainer presented at Inside Government’s training course on Enhancing Digital Skills and Inclusion. Inside Government provides the public sector policy-based and best practice-led training courses. Chaired by Professor Khawar Hameed from Digital Advantage, Alex shared how Tech Angels has reduced disabled people’s digital exclusion and feeling of loneliness. […]

At our last AGM in September 2023, we successfully obtained a majority of votes to become a charity. Behind the scenes we have been busy working and coordinating this change, and we’re delighted to announce that we are now officially a charity! Becoming a charity enables us to grow further and access more funding opportunities. […]

In March 2024, Coalition members Jonathan and Jean took part in a research project at UCL PEARL in Dagenham East. They were assisted by Yasmin and Alex. The research project is in partnership with Guide Dogs, and studies the impact of design trends that are on the increase within the built environment on people with […]

Ben, one of our Treloar’s students joined us in supporting the National Federation of the Blind UK to hand in our petition to Downing street. Here’s what he had to say: “On Tuesday 20th of February, I went to London to deliver a petition against Floating bus stops with Nikki from Surrey Coalition. It was a […]

What would you choose – Pop, Rock, Jazz, Soul or garage? It’s pretty well known that music is good for the soul! However, a new study from the University of Exeter has found that playing a musical instrument or singing in a choir is associated with better brain health in older age: Music and brain […]

Joe from Treloar’s school and college has been working within the Communications Team at the Coalition on an internship. Joe tells us about his internship experience and his time at the Coalition. What work have you been doing on your internship with The Coalition? At the Coalition, I have been assisting with their social media […]

Attia, our Outreach Officer, recently attended a cancer support group in Woking to chat with the community about The Coalition and our membership. Becoming a member of the Coalition includes access to a range of friendly virtual social events, campaigns and specialist interest groups. Attia spoke with members of the group about support in Surrey […]

The Coalition’s Chief Executive Officer, Nikki met with Saj Hussain, Chair of Surrey County Council. I had the pleasure of meeting with Saj Hussain, Chair of Surrey County Council. The Chair of the council presides over meetings of the County Council and acts as the principal spokesman for the Council on civic and ceremonial occasions. […]

Hannah from Treloar School and College tells us about her train travel experience on the South Western Railway. This week I wanted to travel by train to Aldershot because I had never been there. Usually, I book my travel but this time I wanted to see how far I could get without booking anything. I […]

Surrey Coalition of Disabled People have been working with Surrey Hills National Landscape to make the countryside in Surrey more accessible. We have been working with Surrey Hill National Landscape on many different sites. This has involved visiting the National Landscape with our members to show them how people with different disabilities can access the […]

The Coalition’s Chief Executive Officer, Nikki tells us about her visit to the Bowel Cancer Screening Unit for Southern England to meet the Director of the hub about accessibility. I was invited to visit the Bowel Cancer Screening Unit for Southern England by the Director of the hub. The hub is a hive of activity, […]

Between July and August 2023, we shared our food support survey with Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in Surrey to gather feedback on food support and whether it was accessible. We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our survey. We have produced a […]

Disabled people all over the country are taking part in the At Home Winter Wonderwheels challenge. This challenge is part of the Winter Wonderwheels series and is an excellent way to participate for those who aren’t able to be at the in-person event. The challenge is to help your team cover the virtual miles around […]

We’re delighted to share the recent news, that the proposals to close ticket offices has been scrapped! Thanks to all of our members for your campaigning on this! You’ve made a huge difference for our community. We’ll continue our campaign for greater accessibility for all at stations. Here’s a video of a summary of the […]

Claire, a member of The Coalition has very kindly written up about our virtual talk from the Florence Nightingale Museum. On Monday 16th October 2023, the Coalition virtually visited the Florence Nightingale Museum at the 11 o’clock cafe we had an excellent talk by Laura from the Florence Nightingale museum in London. Florence was born […]

The latest GMA Get Together was something a little different! We were guests of the Surrey Hills AONB team for a tree canopy experience which was being set up as part of their annual Wood Fair. The fabulous Social Tree climbers ran the activity for us. They are an organisation who promote the value of […]

We spoke with Jane, Coalition Member and also Board Member of the Coalition, about her journey to creating her braille business. At the age of nine Jane learnt how to touch type, every Monday afternoon she would have a lesson with her teacher on how to type and she still remembers these methods and skills. […]