Not short of something to say: CEA cinema card / VHPs

Contact details

As well as being a freelance writer I am also a qualified counsellor and I work for a low cost counselling service in Exeter and for the NHS Gender Clinic also in Exeter.

Simultaneously, I work as a Disability Member of the First Tier Tribunal, Social Entitlement Chamber sitting on disability benefit tribunals on an ad hoc basis.

As a writer I specialise in writing about disability and health.

My articles have been published in the Guardian, Times, OUCH! [BBC disability website], Disability Now, Broadcast, Lifestyle [Motability magazine], The Practising Midwife, 'Junior, Pregnancy & Baby', Writers' News, Able, Getting There [Transport for London magazine], Junior, Community Care, DPPi [Disability, Pregnancy & Parenthood International]. I have also had articles commissioned by Daily Mail.

For more information about me and for examples of my writing please see below.

If you would like me to write an article for your publication, about any aspect of disability, please do get in touch:

emma@emmabowler.co.uk

Monday, November 19, 2012

CEA cinema card / VHPs - Very Helpful People

Every now and then I come across a VHP - Very Helpful Person.

Take this weekend when I went to to cinema with a friend. I casually asked the nice young man behind the desk if there was any sort of discount for disabled people and he asked whether I had a CEA card?

I'd never heard of it but it basically entitles a disabled person in receipt of DLA or AA, or a blind person, to a free ticket for the person accompanying them to the cinema.

In spite of not having the card he gave me the discount anyway, how about that for customer service.

Now back at home I've printed off my application form for the card which is valid in all of the cinemas I've used in my local area. See here for details:

http://www.ceacard.co.uk/

What I like about this story is not only that I will soon have a very useful card but also how helpful the man was, there are some damn good people out there.

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On becoming a writer

After over 10 years as a BBC TV programme maker working on disability, documentary, entertainment and children's programmes I left to have 2 children.

Having decided that the full on lifestyle of programme making and being a parent wasn't for me I decided to utilise the skills, experience and knowledge gleaned from my BBC career to became a freelance writer.

Because of my personal experience of disability I chose to specialise by writing about all aspects of disability – from parenting to sport, clothes shopping to legislation, what’s in the news to specific aspects of particular impairments.

All too often the media portrayal of disabled people and disability issues doesn’t quite hit the mark, the tone is off, the language is wrong; the overall effect leaves the public none the wiser.

As a disabled writer my aim is to be positive, informative and accurate, that doesn’t have to mean dry and boring – a bit of humour can go a long way!