Redditch to celebrate

Redditch will mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities with a special event on Tuesday (Dec 3).

The ‘It’s A Sign’ choir will perform, along with Redditch groups carrying out dance routines and playing skittles and boccia and celebrating the day with the Mayor of Redditch, Cllr Juma Begum.

Everyone is invited to join the celebration which will be in the Kingfisher Shopping Centre by the Paolozzi mosaics, near the Range, from 10am to 12pm.

Cllr Juliet Barker-Smith, Redditch Borough Council’s portfolio holder for Leisure, said: “Here in Redditch we’re looking forward to marking this special day along with people all over the world, and celebrating it together as a community. I invite everyone to join us, in a year that saw Redditch get even more accessible to more people with disabilities with the opening up of our brand new Changing Places facility.”

The event is being hosted by a partnership of Kingfisher Redditch, It’s A Sign Redditch supported by a grant from Rediscover North East Worcestershire, Young Solutions, Chadsgrove School, and Redditch Borough Council.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Joe Baker, added: “We’re proud to support Redditch’s long history of being a welcoming and inclusive place for everyone. We are a community where lots of groups and organisations come together to support all our residents.”

The new Changing Places facility opened in the Kingfisher Shopping Centre earlier this year.

Changing Places are toilets designed for people who cannot use standard disabled toilets, and comes with additional accessibility equipment, such as hoists and adult sized changing benches. It was enabled by a funding partnership of the shopping centre, Redditch Borough Council, Redditch BID, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).