Motability assembles advisory committee for the National Centre for Accessible Transport
Disability motoring charity Motability has announced the appointment of an Advisory Committee, made up of members from transport, research and disability sector backgrounds, to advise Motability on the National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT) as it progresses.
Funded by Motability and a UK first in inclusive transport, NCAT launched earlier this year to work with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations, transport providers and policy makers to develop solutions which will make transport accessible for everyone. The centre is run by Coventry University, working in collaboration with RiDC, Designability, Connected Places Catapult, Policy Connect and WSP UK.
The Advisory Committee will use their sector insight to assess the impact of the NCAT, and provide an expert view to Motability’s Board. The Committee will be chaired by Motability Governor Sukhi Clark, who has over 30 years of design, engineering and project management expertise.
The appointed members include Solène Anglaret, the founder of Be Beyond Borders, a consultancy which provides speaking, writing, and facilitating services around diversity, inclusion, neurodiversity, disability, and mental health. She also works at Innovate UK as Programme Manager for Disabled Innovators.
Helen Dolphin MBE runs Dolphin Diversity Ltd where she advises government, public, commercial and professional bodies on how to improve accessibility. Helen is also a customer of the Motability Scheme and chairs the Motability Operations Consumer Group.
Agnes Fletcher advises organisations in different sectors on equity, diversity and inclusion strategy, policy and practice. In transport, she has worked with the DfT, Keolis Army Docklands, the Rail Delivery Group and West Midlands Trains and is a member of TfL’s Independent Disability Advisory Group.
Dr Robert Gravelle is a Multi Modal Access and Inclusion Manager for Transport for Wales, delivering inclusion, compliancy and best practice across Multimodal transport including Rail Network.
David Hunter advocates for inclusive transport and public spaces, working with local councils and the third sector to implement planning strategies. David is also a board member on the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland.
Angela Hutchison is Mobility Centre Manager at Disability Action, Belfast. The Mobility Centre aims, where possible, to teach disabled people to drive, to improve their independence.
James Lee works in policy, research, and grant management, with charities and local government, advocating for the experiences of disabled people. James has collaborated with organisations such as the Mayor of London’s Office, City Bridge Trust and the National Lottery Community Fund.
Completing the line-up, Andrew Miller oversees the UK’s single largest car fleet as CEO of disability transport provider Motability Operations and has a proven track record in business transformation through technology.
Right now, disabled people make 38 per cent fewer journeys than non-disabled people – a figure that hasn’t changed in the last decade, according to Motability.
The charity argues that there is much more that transport providers need to do to make sure that disabled people can travel across road, rail, and air with ease. Motability have grant funded the National Centre for Accessible Transport with the aim of closing the transport accessibility gap.
Barry Le Grys, Chief Executive of Motability the charity, said: “We are pleased to appoint an NCAT Advisory Committee to guide Motability, as funder, on the impact of NCAT – each member brings their wealth of experience and expertise in inclusive transport and research to the role.
“We look forward to working with the NCAT Advisory Committee in the years ahead, and seeing the exciting advancements in the research, policy and design of inclusive transport that come about due to the Centre’s work, which will help to make transport accessible for everyone.”
