A Pillar of the Community
- By Brian Leveson
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- 07 Nov, 2021
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Michelle Simmons Safo: a "pillar of the community";a governor of TWO schools and a trustee at Markfield; a trustee of BUBIC - a drug and alcohol charity in Haringey; an NHS manager; a social worker by training; a mother of 4, one of whom has autism and a grandmother to 2 granddaughters and the holder of multiple degrees and qualifications.
So Michelle, you are a mother of 4, a parent of a child with a disability, a manager in the local CAHMs service and a pair of the community. Now you are thinking of standing as a Labour Councillor. Why would you want to do that? Too much free time?
Michelle, when you and me are chatting over tea in our fine China cups, you tell be that you are a "daughter of Veronica". You are your mothers daughter. Tell me about that.
Michelle, I said easier that you are a "pillar of the community " and you really are. You are a governor of TWO schools and a trustee at Markfield; a trustee of BUBIC - a drug and alcohol charity in Haringey; you work in the NHS as a manager; you are a social worker by training; a mother of 4, one of whom has autism and a grandmother to 2 granddaughters and I see loads of photos in your house of you graduating. How do you do it all?
What do you make of the Difficult Parent?
If you thought SEND was bad - the NHS is seemingly prepared to throw away money to private companies
About 3 or 4 times a year we get the euphemistic message 'Parents please note we have put a letter in your child's bag' - its a world away from how a child's death was handled in my child's first school
More of a trial by ordeal than a well organised clearly set out administrative process for moving the care of vulnerable young adults from Haringey's Children's Services to Adult Services. We have been failed at every stage of the process.
Never EVER get on the bus without a camera running if you need the priority wheelchair space
The reality of using a London Bus in the teeming rain on a Sunday afternoon is no joke when the parents of a paraplegic person in a wheelchair clash with the self-entitled buggy-pushing parents of toddlers.
At 3pm today I received some barefaced lies from Haringey Council Adult Social Care in response to a photograph I published online yesterday and the media interest it generated
Haringey SEND Transport are insisting that a 17 year old minibus with no air conditioning is a suitable vehicle to transport my paraplegic son in this heatwave. The appalling conditions inside the minibus inside the bus is something they knew about last summer, yet they have to date done nothing whatsoever provide a suitable minibus this year nor appropriately mitigate the temperatures inside the minibus.The conditions inside the minibus are so bad that they triggered multiple seizures during the heatwave as my son has epilepsy, which they SEND transport department know about and they also know that they are triggered by heat.It is not just son who is impacted: last year we know of one child who died on Haringey SEND Transport in the summer heatwave and another who had seizures.
I am simply asking a question - are we all absolutely certain that the road closure / travel restrictions (commonly know as LTNs) placed on some of the most severely disabled people who are wholly reliant on cars are absolutely necessary
Haringey's road closures exemptions policy for disabled people is not fit for purpose, unduly burdensome and intrusive - it's time to stand up against the pro-LTN lycra-clad cycling bullies
Is the argument for and against exemptions for disabled people in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods really a case of GOOD versus EVIL?
