Category: Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month

World Braille Day takes place on 4 January and with that in mind we have chosen Robin Millar as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the month.

Robin is a record producer, musician and businessman and was born with retinitis pigmentosa. He has conquered blindness to become one of the world’s most successful ever record producers with over 150 gold, silver and platinum discs and 55 million record sales to his credit. His 1984 production of ‘Diamond Life’ the debut album by Sade was named one of the best ten albums of the last 30 years at the 2011 Brit Awards.

He has also developed and run a string of successful businesses in car hire, music recording and publishing and is currently Executive Group Chairman of the Blue Raincoat Chrysalis Group, which handles 150 artists and thousands of iconic songs, including “Simply The Best” and “Nothing Compares To You”.

He has worked as a fundraiser for vulnerable people for 30 years and in March 2012 Millar underwent a 12-hour operation to install a bionic retina in his right eye to help research into future treatment for blindness.  Although the implant had to be removed after rejection in autumn 2013, the research has made giant steps in the understanding of possible ways to restore sight in the future.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.

He is currently Chairman of Blue raincoat Music and of CMO Artist Management and Patron of Finding Rhythms, who record and release music from prisoners in UK prisons.

He has been a trustee of Creative & Cultural Skills UK since 2009, is a trustee of The Vietnamese Boat Peoples Appeal, a patron of anti-suicide campaign CALM and Global Advisor to the UN Young Voices mission.

To find out more about Robin see his website http://www.robinmillar.org.uk/

To find out more about World Braille Day see here

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/world/world-braille-day

International Day of Persons with Disabilities is on 3 December and with that in mind we have chosen Derek Paravicini as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month.

Derek, now in his late twenties, was born premature, at 25 weeks, and weighing just over half a kilogram. As a result of the oxygen therapy required to save his life, Derek lost his sight, and his development was affected too. It later became apparent that he had severe learning difficulties. However, he soon acquired a fascination for music and sound, and, by the age of four, had taught himself to play a large number of pieces on the piano, of some melodic and harmonic complexity (such as ‘Smoke Gets in your Eyes’). Almost inevitably, with no visual models to guide him, his technique was chaotic, and even his elbows would frequently be pressed into service, as he strove to reach intervals beyond the span of his tiny hands!

At this time, his enormous potential was recognised by Adam Ockelford, then music teacher at Linden Lodge School for the Blind in London. In due course, weekly and then daily lessons were arranged, in an extensive programme of tuition that was to last for several years. Painstakingly (through physical demonstration and imitation) Derek acquired the foundations of technique that were necessary for him to move forward. His natural affinity for jazz, pop and light music soon became evident; together with his improvisatory talents, ability to play in any key, and flair for performing in public!

Derek’s first major concert was at the Barbican Halls in London, when he was just 9 (in 1989). He played jazz with the Royal Philharmonic Pops Orchestra. Numerous national and regional television appearances followed, in the UK and overseas. Most recently Derek featured in the series Extraordinary People (Channel 5, UK), on the Discovery Channel (Health) in the United States and on RTL in Germany. His increasing maturity both as a person and performer enabled him to give concerts in venues across England, in Europe and the United States; among them, Ronnie Scott’s renowned jazz club in London and the Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

Derek’s talent, love of music, and – above all – the ability to communicate through sound means he will continue to thrill audiences for years to come in the UK and abroad.

To find out more about Derek or the International Day of Persons with Disabilities see here http://www.sonustech.com/paravicini/ http://www.un.org/en/events/disabilitiesday/

The Paralympics starts on 7 September 2016 and with this in mind we have chosen Sarah Storey as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month

Sarah is a road and track racing cyclist and former swimmer, multiple gold medal winner at the Paralympic Games in both sports, and three times British (able bodied) national track champion. Her total of eleven gold medals makes her the equal of Tanni Grey-Thompson and Dave Roberts, considered among the most successful British Paralympians. Her list of major achievements also include being a 27-time World champion (5 in swimming and 22 in cycling), a 21-time European champion (18 in swimming and 3 in cycling) and holding 72 world records.

She was born without a functioning left hand after her arm became entangled in the umbilical cord in the womb and the hand did not develop as normal.  In 2007 she married tandem pilot and coach Barney Storey and in June 2013 gave birth to a daughter.

Sarah began her Paralympic career as a swimmer, winning two golds, three silvers and a bronze in Barcelona in 1992. She continued swimming in the next three Paralympic Games before switching to cycling in 2005, reputedly because of a persisting ear infection. At the 2008 Paralympic Games, her fifth, she won the individual pursuit – in a time that would have been in the top eight at the Olympic final – and the road time trial.

She also competes against non-disabled athletes and won the 3 km national track pursuit championship in 2008, eight days after taking the Paralympic title, and defended her title in 2009. In 2014 she added a third national track title with a win in the points race. She qualified to join the England team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, where she was the first disabled cyclist to compete for England at the Commonwealth Games, against non-disabled cyclists. She was also the second Paralympic athlete overall competing for England at the Games, following archer Danielle Brown earlier in Delhi.

In 2011, she competed for one of the three places in the GB squad for the women’s team pursuit at the 2012 Olympic Games. Although she was in the winning team for the World Cup event in Cali, Colombia in December 2011, she was informed afterwards that she was being dropped from the team pursuit squad.

At the London’s 2012 Paralympics Games she won Britain’s first gold medal, in the women’s individual C5 pursuit. She went on to win three more gold medals, one in the Time Trial, the Individual Road Time Trial and finally one in the Individual Road Race.

In 2014, Sarah and her husband Barney Storey founded the Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International women’s amateur cycling team, supporting the charity Boot Out Breast Cancer. The team fielded squads in the 2014 and 2015 British road race seasons.

In 2015 she attempted to break the world hour record at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London. She set a distance of 45.502 km, which was 563m short of Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel’s 2003 overall world record – however the distance did set a new world record in the C5 Paralympic cycling class as well as a new British record.

In 1998 she was awarded an MBE and following the Beijing Games, she was awarded an OBE. In 2012, she was awarded an honorary degree by the Manchester Metropolitan University and following the 2012 London Games, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours.

Sarah was a nominee for the 2008 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability and the 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

In June Sarah was selected for her 7^th Paralympics and will be aiming to retain the four titles she won in London.

Disability Awareness Day is on 10 July and with this in mind we have chosen Blaine Harrison as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month. Blaine is a musician and songwriter who is best known as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Mystery Jets.

Blaine started playing instruments as a child. He experimented with drumming at the age of eight, as well as guitar and piano later on. In his early teens, Blaine found a love for listening to progressive rock instead of the commercial garage music preferred by his peers.

The Mystery Jets were formed in 2004 with Blaine, his Dad and his best friend when the boys were at school. More recently the line up has changed with Blaine’s Dad now in a background role.  The band divide their time between working at home in London and touring internationally. The band are currently working on their fifth studio album.

Blaine was born with the disability spina bifida, which has affected his leg muscles since he was a child. In 2009 He became a patron of the Attitude is Everything Charity, who work with live music venues in the UK to make gigs accessible for people with disabilities.

Blaine was quoted in an interview with the BBC saying, “When we first got together as a band we decided that we wouldn’t make my disability an issue, the same way we didn’t make a big deal of my dad being in the band. We weren’t interested in gimmicks… We wanted people to read our lyrics and listen to our music.”

Blaine has found that playing live as someone with a physical impairment is sometimes hard work, seeing as many modern facilities still do not have the means to cater for disabled people. He has made it clear that Mystery Jets will only play in venues who have made an effort to cater for people with disabilities and refrain from playing in small, crowded pubs.

To find out more about the Mystery Jets and Blaine see here http://www.mysteryjets.com/

To find out more about Disability Awareness Day see here http://www.disabilityawarenessday.org.uk/index.shtml

Diabetes Awareness Week 2016 runs from 12 – 18 June and with this in mind we have chosen Chris Pennell as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month.

Chris is a professional rugby player with Worcester Warriors and an Ambassador for Diabetes UK.  Chris was first diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was 19 years old by the medical team at Worcester Warriors and is the only professional rugby player with the condition.  He thought this meant he would have to look for a career outside of professional rugby but soon realised that, if the condition is managed correctly, it is something that shouldn’t be a barrier for anyone.

Chris found coming to terms with his diagnosis difficult but found inspiration in other people who suffer from the condition like Sir Steve Redgrave who won his fifth consecutive gold medal at the Sydney Olympics three years after finding out that he was diabetic.

Chris is a supremely talented rugby player, he is a product of the Warriors Academy and made his Premiership debut against Bath Rugby in 2007.  To date he has played 165 times scoring 252 points for the club.  He has represented England at under 19’s level, the Saxons and the full England team making his debut against New Zealand at Eden Park in 2014.

As part of his role with Diabetes UK, Chris helps to raise awareness of the condition and attends fundraising events across the country.  Chief Executive of Diabetes UK Barbara Young considers Chris to be a fantastic role model to young people with diabetes.  She thinks that through his career as a top sportsman, he has proven that having diabetes does not have to hold you back.

To find out more about Diabetes Awareness Week see here https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Get_involved/Diabetes-Week/

Find out more about Chris via Twitter https://twitter.com/chris_pennell

Deaf Awareness Week runs from 2 – 8 May and with this in mind we have chosen Emily Mason from the University Sustainability Unit as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month. This is the first time we have chosen an individual member of staff.

Emily works in the Sustainable Development Unit, within the Estates and Facilities Directorate and like one in seven people in the UK Emily has a hearing impairment. She first noticed that her hearing was not quite right at the age of 11 but ignored it until she was older and finally went and spoke to a doctor about it. Her hearing loss is hereditary and both her parents are profoundly deaf. Emily uses lip reading with her family and in noisy environments.  At work she finds meetings tiring because she has to use her eyes a lot, especially when people talk over each other!  Other difficulties include when some people like to cover their mouths when they talk which Emily finds very annoying.  To help with using the telephone Emily has been provided with an amplifier so she can adjust the phone to be able to hear when people ring her. As a result of her deafness Emily tends to use her hands a lot when she speaks and is self-conscious about her voice.

Deafness is invisible and many people would not know that Emily is hearing impaired. Emily was inspired by her mum and dad to just get on with things and never give up on what she wanted to achieve.  She is a graduate of the University of Kent with a degree in Wildlife Conservation and now is the Project Officer at our Sustainability Unit. One of her projects is the Edible Garden based at Avery Hill Campus which is hugely successful. Emily has many interests outside of work.  She is a Chelsea fan, a huge fan of Dr Who, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and all things similar but her number one hero is David Attenborough and her most prized possession is a letter he wrote to her when she was at university.

Emily is also a stalwart member of the university choir. She finds it hard work trying to keep in time sometimes and hit the right notes but finds the little Alto crew are very supportive! In the last concert there was a signed song which she found emotional but was really special to her and her parents who came to watch. To find out more about the work Emily does at the university follow her on twitter at @sust_Greenwich or see the Sustainability Blog at https://blogs.gre.ac.uk/greengreenwich/