News Archive
Minister for Disabled People Visits Aspire
Anne McGuire, Minister for Disabled People, visited Aspire to see for herself the work that we are doing.
Brian Carlin, Aspire's Chief Executive, led her on a tour of the National Training Centre; she was particularly interested in our FES Rowing Programme and the health benefits it offers to people with spinal cord injuries.
In our Assistive Computer Technology suite, Neil Pell-Johnson, our latest volunteer trainer, gave her a demonstration of Tracker Pro, a system that allows users to control the cursor simply with head movements. As Neil explained, this is great for users with high level injuries who have limited or no use of their arms.
The Minister was impressed with the work that Aspire is doing: "It's a fantastic facility. I was lucky enough to meet with some of the people who benefit from Aspire's work and we really shouldn't underestimate the difference that technology, like that used at Aspire, has made to disabled people ". As Brian pointed out, though, our work in Stanmore is merely the tip of the iceberg and we will be taking up the Minister's invitation to visit her in Westminster later in the year to discuss the work that we do across the rest of the UK. In doing so, we'll be helping to ensure that the needs of people with spinal cord injuries are an integral part of the excellent work undertaken by the Office for Disability Issues.