Just the 140 Live 8 disabled places, then.
The lack of disabled access at Live 8 has become a , as you'll be aware by now. Monkey thought he'd complete the story now by furnishing you with the press releases circulating about all this faff.
Harvey Goldsmith sent out this release yesterday:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LIVE 8 ANNOUNCE 140 WHEELCHAIR SPACES AT SATURDAY'S CONCERT
Live 8 are pleased to announce there will be 140 allocated wheelchair spaces as well as 140 spaces for carers at this Saturday's concert in Hyde Park. The spaces, which include access to designated toilets and are within close proximity of the refreshment stands, are situated at the side of the Gold Circle and offer one of the best views of the stage. Disabled access to the event is via gate X5.
Free parking will be provided in St James' Park where there will be mini bus drop off and pick up for all, and anyone not parking can still use the mini bus service, provided they have an orange wristband. All disabled and carers spaces have now been allocated.
... nice dodging of the issue, huh? Dig the uptalk. Welcome to Spin City. Notice that last sentence?
Let us now take a look at the Disability Rights Commission press release circulated earlier today:
Commenting on the restricted amount of places for wheelchair users at the Hyde Park Live8 concert tomorrow, Bob Niven, Chief Executive of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), said:
"It's a real shame that the Live8 promoters didn't make room for more wheelchair users to attend such an exciting and unique event.
"It's a painful irony that what's being billed as the biggest concert for global inclusion should restrict entry to many disabled people - who now can't be part of the event and add their voice to these concerns."
Crippled Monkey was feeling lazy this Friday afternoon and couldn't be bothered to write a whole article around this (tan my post-structural ass). But these two press releases appeared in my inbox at the same time and I thought they'd look quite pretty next to each other on the website too.
If you are one of the 140 who came off lucky in this double lottery - a ticket and also the means to make use of the ticket - then do have a great day tomorrow. I'll be watching it on me telly, with all the comfort of my sofa and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳i red button that'll allow me to choose what country's concert I want to watch.
Comments
Well I was one of the lucky ones who won the double lottery (why should we have to be lucky twice?) but there were a lot of people there who weren't! The allocation actually seemed quite random, contrary to what was said originally there were people with wristbands who were not in a wheelchair. Also, there were quite a few people there who had taken folding chairs and stools despite the ban - and it turned out wisely so. Originally the stewards gave all the carers a folding plastic chair so that they could sit on a level with us which we thought was a superb bit of organisation - until they had to come and take them back for the extra disabled people who needed seats. I think a big part of the problem was that the promoters only thought about wheelchair users, whereas in reality they needed to provide a seat on a raised platform for everyone who couldn't stand for the 11 hours! And that doesn't just mean disabled people; pregnant women, people with a broken leg or temporary injury, and a lot of people over the age of about 50! Some of the guards were quite helpful in letting some extras up on the platform along the edges and to fill the gaps as people left, but there were still a lot of people left without any chance of a decent view. And that spoiled it a bit for us too - you can't really enjoy something if you keep feeling guilty for being lucky enough to be able to see! So many people said the same thing - "I left loads of phone messages but no one ever called me back so I just had to assume it would be ok." Did anyone ever get called back? I only got to a person by emailing on the off chance. So the people who did exactly what they were told - left a message and waited patiently - were the ones who missed out. Well that doesn't seem very fair to me. The lack of information was also a serious problem - that press release from Harvey Goldsmith would have calmed so many of my worries but I didn't see it until today - after the event! We had no way of knowing if there would be accessible toilets, food and drink nearby - we just had to hope!