From Derby Evening Teleraph:
The Mayor of Derby, Councillor Fareed Hussain will officially collect a major award on behalf of Derby City Council, for the city’s Council House. He will be presented with the award at 11am on Monday 2 September.
Derby City Council is the first local authority in the country to be awarded the CredAbility Verified Accessible Award for a Council building by Nimbus – a disability and equality consultancy that is led and managed by disabled people. This national award is presented to organisations that have buildings that have access for disabled staff and visitors.
Also on the day, the CredAbility Access flag will be raised at the Council House to celebrate winning this national award.
There are many excellent facilities for disabled people such as Sign video system for virtual British Sign Language, induction loops, the fully wheelchair accessible ablution facility for our multi-faith and contemplation room and our fully accessible toilets for disabled people, including a changing place toilet.
A mini-access guide of the Council House has been recently produced and on this guide there is an app that people can access on their smart phone to give feedback to Nimbus on their visit.
The Council House was opened on Monday 17 December 2012 after a rebuilding programme that took just over two years. Around 1600 Council staff are based in the building, around three times more people than in the original building.
The refurbished building includes improved customer service areas which have been designed to be lighter and more spacious and the building is fully accessible to all.
Councillor Fareed Hussain, the Mayor of Derby, said,
I am delighted that Derby’s Council House has won this prestigious award and is also the first Council House in the country to have achieved this recognition. We have had a long-term commitment to improve access for disabled people in Derby and when the Council House was designed, it was our priority that the facilities for disabled people would be of a high standard. This award is the result of many years consultation with disabled people in Derby, in particular our Disabled People’s Diversity Forum, who have been very influential in the design of the Council House. This award follows on the success of Derby coming on top with Chester of British cities in the Access City Europe Award and we will continue to look at improving access and facilities for disabled people in Derby.
Martin Austin, Managing Director of Nimbus, said
As a Derby based organisation working across the country it’s great to see local organisation leading the way and Local Authorities taking their responsibilities to Disabled People to heart