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. […]

In August 2023, the National Trust invited The Coalition’s Access All Areas project to feedback on a sensory walk – which is currently in development – at Hindhead Commons and the Devil’s Punch Bowl. Sensory walks encourage people to use all their senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) to connect with their surroundings while […]

Preparations continue for the Superhero Tri with a visit to the lake for three of our swimmers to get some open water swimming practise. Despite it being a warm day, we all wore wetsuits as these are required on event day. It takes a bit of time to wiggle your way into a wetsuit – […]

We’ve been catching up with Attia, The Coalition’s Outreach Officer. Attia’s role involves working with the local communities in Surrey that may benefit from the support we can offer. This includes people who are digitally excluded in Surrey, who are at a much higher risk of loneliness and social isolation. Our Tech Angel volunteers provide […]

At the end of May, Salem and Immy held a focus group for South-Asian residents based around Guildford. This was held at The Coalition’s and SMEF’s headquarters in Astolat. Alex conducted interviews online. Participants highlighted the importance of seeing a professional from a similar background: “I’m blessed with a good one [psychiatrist]. She’s Asian too […]

The Coalition would like your views on food support in Surrey and whether this is currently accessible to Disabled people. We have put together a short survey about food support in Surrey. This includes foodbanks, food clubs, community fridges and pantries etc. We are really keen to hear of any barriers for Disabled people in […]

What is co-production?Co-production is about working together. People with lived experience of using a service working with the service providers to reach a shared outcome. Why is co-production so important?Who best to advise on services than people that actually use the service. They have first-hand experience and can provide insights that nobody else can! How […]

On Sunday, 28 May 2023 researchers from the Pathways to Change project went to The Gurkha Cup in Aldershot. It is one of the biggest events for Nepalese communities in the UK, celebrating Nepalese culture, promoting integration with wider local communities, and supporting businesses and the local economy. The major highlight of The Gurkha Cup […]

We spoke with one of our Tech Members about their experience with the Tech Angel’s project. My first help was with technology was my Tech Angel (TA) who was very efficient – I struggled at first because I am not very efficient! She is the most sweet, gentle human being you could ever meet. She […]

We will be returning to Alice Holt on 29th June at 11am for a cycle! To join please contact Katy – Email: katy.hubbard@surreycoalition.org.uk SMS/Phone: 07434 865062 Read about our trip to Alice Holt last year: Our group arranged to meet at the Activity Centre for 11am and with all of our plans running smoothly we […]

Information below about the Surrey Police Pegasus Scheme: Helping to support our deaf, blind and disabled communities. If a member of the public is deaf, blind, or has a disability which makes communication difficult, how could they call us for help? Our Pegasus scheme is for people who find it hard to communicate with us […]

What is a hate crime? What is a hate incident? Anything where someone believes they are being targeted with hostility and prejudice, simply because of who they are has no place in our society. This can be prejudice or hostility towards someone’s: In Surrey – we also look at Alternative Subcultures which is any crime/incident […]

We spoke with Rachel, The Coalition’s Technology Trainer about her role and what the Tech to Community Connect Team have been up to recently. Rachel joined the Technology Team in January of this year, her role involves providing 1 to 1 Technology sessions to Tech Members in their homes, at coffee shops, at residential homes […]

We spoke with Attia our Outreach Officer about care services and what she has observed from speaking with Coalition members and the local community. Attia’s role involves talking to the community about The Coalition, signing up new members and speaking to people in the local area. Attia joined The Coalition two years ago and over […]

Katy, our Physical Activity Navigator chats with Angie, our Engagement Officer about the Superhero Tri. To read our blog on the Superhero Tri please visit the following link: https://surreycoalition.org.uk/exciti… To find out more about Superhero Tri please visit their website: https://superheroseries.co.uk/

It’s World Autism Acceptance Week, a time that focuses on educating society about autism and working together to create an environment that helps to enable autistic people to feel more comfortable and accepted. World Autism Acceptance Week was created in 2007 and since then awareness and understanding of autism has progressed. However, there’s still a […]

When a women says ‘this group is my oxygen’, you really quickly get a picture of how important it is. Nikki and Salem visited Muslim Women’s Group in Surrey to run a mental health workshop. We wanted to hear about their views on mental health and the mental health services in Surrey. The group was […]