A QUESTION OF CHOICE, ST GEORGES HOUSE, HARROGATE (1979) film no: 1220
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This documentary features St. George’s House, a residential home in Harrogate which is run by the Yorkshire Association for the Disabled. The home provides specialist facilities for its disabled residents, and the film features the lives and activities of some of the people who have been helped by St. George’s House.
Title – Norwood Studios Presents
A film for the Yorkshire Association for the Disabled
A Question of Choice
The film begins with Harrogate street scenes, people walking, driving, and going about their daily lives. The commentary emphasizes how difficult it can be coming to terms with disabilities. The film then shows the inside of St. George’s House. One of the elderly residents, Mrs. Arnold, was struck down with rheumatoid arthritis in her middle age. Mrs. Arnold explains how she first became affected by arthritis which eventually led to the loss of her independent lifestyle. Outside in the grounds of the House, nurses and residents are taking in the sun.
The commentary explains that in 1976, St. George’s began extensions for purpose-built homes which would accommodate 40 people. There are plans for the extension, and Lady Masham initiates the ground breaking ceremony in August, 1976. Work begins on the build, and the new facilities are officially opened in 1978 by the Duchess of Kent. She makes a speech congratulating the hard work of the Yorkshire Association for the Disabled. The film goes onto show the specially designed homes. Interiors of the homes are shown highlighting specially designed facilities for wheelchairs and other specialist additions for those with other types of disabilities. St. George’s House also organizes physical activities some of which include fencing, baseball, and archery. One couple, who were the first to get married in St. George’s House, demonstrate what it was like to cope in unsuitable accommodation by comparison.
The film then shows the layout for the new development for 28 purpose-built bungalows for the disabled and 66 houses for the able-bodied. Various residents are interviewed about their thoughts on the new accommodation. One of the residents in a wheelchair demonstrates some of the facilities which have been specially designed to allow for her to live independently. Residents also test the carpets so that the friction does not put too much stress on wheelchair users. A group of residents who are in wheelchairs watch a cricket match at Headingley. One of them speaks about his experiences and the difficulties he has faced. There is a brief appearance of an African-Caribbean drum band, and then the film moves onto show a workshop full of people making various arts and crafts. One of those using the workroom explains how her injuries, which happened as a result of a car accident, have affected her passion for playing the piano. More of the workroom is shown, including sewing, and is followed b a kitchen and dining area where residents are served dinner.
St. George’s House also opens its activities to non-residents and other disabled people from the surrounding area. Some of these people are driven to the Home in a specially adapted bus to use the facilities. The final scene shows plans for a new day centre before the film comes to an end.
Narrated by Brian Truman
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This film is several promotional films made by St George’s House in Harrogate held with the YFA. The others were made in the 1960s by Charles Tapp, the architect involved in the build of St George's House, and who was responsible for commisioning this film. One of the earlier films, from 1966, was a fund raising film featuring the popular comedian, and friend of Charles Tapp, Wilfred Pickles – apparently the first man on the wireless with a regional accent. Fund raising films commisioned by charities having well-known personalities was not unusual at this time. For example, the YFA has several from Hull Sailors’ Children’s Society, including one from 1964 with Brian Rix. Norwood Studios, the makers of this film, now no longer exists – at least not under this name. They used to operate out of the Coliseum Theatre in Cookridge Street, Leeds, later the Gaumont, now a Grade I listed building, and at the time of writing (October 2009) owned by Leeds Academy.
The Yorkshire Association for the Disabled begun life in 1937 as the Yorkshire Association for the Care of Cripples. Needless to say this name became unacceptable, and it again changed its name in 2001 to Disability Action Yorkshire, to reflect a change of emphasis towards greater user participation and the proposed provision of services that would better meet the needs of disabled people. Right from its inception in 1937, the Yorkshire Association for the Disabled developed ground breaking ideas for removing disabled people from long stay hospitals and setting up programmes of rehabilitation, and it continued to be a progressive organisation through the 1970s. After a period when there was relatively little in the way of new developments, under the direction of a new chief executive officer in 2000, Jackie Snape, the organisation began to refocus itself.
St George's House was found not to meet the National Care Standards when they were introduced in 2000, and nor was it suitable for alteration. As a result it was replaced in 2007 by a new 20 bedded care home on Claro Road, with the majority of residents transferring. 34 Claro Road focuses more on rehabilitation, providing training for the skills needed to live independently. The new home is divided into two ten bed units, with a training flat in the centre where people who feel ready to make the move into independent living can live before making the move into the community. The service users are fully involved in the running of the home, from interviewing new staff, to shopping, cooking and cleaning, with the support of staff where required. It also provides training in employability skills and on how to look for a job, including customer care and best practice.
Although St George's House has gone, the new housing development featured near the end of the film still exists, mainly as social housing, although some of it became private after the right to buy scheme was introduced. This was built by Harewood Housing Association, with help with funding from the local authority.
The film provides a glimpse into how disability was viewed and discussed thirty years ago. Although relatively enlightened compared with older attitudes towards disability, some of the language, such as the use of the word ‘handicapped’, is more frowned upon today. There are different views on the use of language in relation to disability, some feeling that language isn’t such a crucial issue, whilst others believe the language used can powerfully shape general attitudes. As Asch states in relation to words like ‘impairment’, ‘health’ and ‘disability: ‘Their meanings are not clear, objective, and universal across time and space and are contentious even for contemporaries in the same culture, profession and field’ (Quoted in Clements). Nevertheless, this point equally applies to many other areas, and those who highlight this issue maintain that the important principle is that people’s views on the language that is used in relation to themselves should be respected.
Several years before this film was made, in 1975, the influential Union Of The Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS), and the Disability Alliance, made a statement of fundamental principles (see References), outlining what came to be known as ‘the social model of disability’ (a phrase coined by Mike Oliver in 1983). This, simply stated, argues that the ‘disability’ is the product of a society which isn’t doing enough to overcome impairments: society itself is disabling in the way it puts up barriers, treats and excludes people with impairment. One of the innovators of this way of viewing disability, Vic Finkelstein, has provided an interesting background to how this perspective developed (References, see also Tom Shakespeare Looking Back). In fact Harrogate is not far from one of the main places where the idea of social disability has developed, Leeds University Centre for Disability Studies, and where Vic Finkelstein was for a time based. The film shows that already, even by the late 1970s, ideas of independent and integrated living were taking hold.
But, as noted by one major writer in this field, Carol Thomas, this stress on how society creates disability has been criticised as being too one-sided, breaking the link with impairments and downplaying how impairments too are often the result of how society is organised (see References). Another important contributor to these ongoing debates, Tom Shakespeare, is one of those who raise this criticism, and who offers a more comprehensive approach. He makes the point that many of the issues facing those with disabilities apply to many others, such as the elderly, and concludes one of his books by emphasising the importance of fostering social relationships between disabled and non-disabled people, and suggesting that, “ . . the beneficial roles of that solidarity and mutuality are both vital to the flourishing of disabled people.” (2006, p.199)
One organisation at the fore of campaigning for rights for the disabled, and which also adopts the social model of disability, is the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL). This has helped to forge the present government policy of ‘Fair Access to Care Services’. This guides Social Services departments in making assessments of ‘presenting' needs, in order to decide whether these are ‘eligible' needs, and if so what these are. The criteria for this relate to four key areas: autonomy and freedom to make choices; freedom from harm, abuse and neglect; the ability to manage personal and other daily routines; and involvement in family and wider community life, including leisure, hobbies, unpaid and paid work, learning and volunteering.
Another interesting aspect of the film is the importance given to sport, especially with the archer Johnny Campbell, a member of the British paralympic team at that time. The Paralympics emerged initially out a rehabilitation programme at Stoke Mandeville Hospital for British war veterans with spinal injuries, run by the neurologist Dr Ludwig Guttmann. In 1948 Guttmann organised a competition with other hospitals to coincide with the London Olympics in that year – although even before that a World Cup for the Deaf took place in 1924 (both David Howe and Andy Smith provide good overviews of this history, see References). The first proper games were organised in 1960 in Rome, with archery one of the sports included (although the term ‘Paralympics’ wasn’t adopted until 1964). From just 400 athletes and 23 countries taking part in Rome, by the time of the 2008 Beijing Paralympics 4,200 athletes from 144 nations competed.
Recently, in 2008, the UN Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities (UNCRPD) came into force. This incorporates many of the principles that those campaigning against social barriers and discrimination have fought for, and certainly represents a huge step forward. Those who believe in equality will hope that, as has happened with so many other similar declarations, action does not fall short of the fine words.
(with special thanks to Jackie Snape, the Director of Disability Action Yorkshire, for providing much of this information)
References
Colin Barnes and Geoff Mercer, (2006) Independent Futures: Creating user led disability services in a disablingsociety, Policy Press, 2006
Luke Clements and Janet Read (eds.), Disabled People and the Right to Life: the protection and violation of disabling people’s most basic human rights, Routledge, 2008.
Vic Finkelstein, ‘Representing disability’, in J. Swain, S. French, C. Barnes and C. Thomas, (eds). Disabling Barriers – Enabling Environments. SAGE, London, 2004
Vic Finkelstein, A Personal Journey Into Disability Politics
David Howe, the cultural politics of the paralympic movement: through an anthropological lense, Routledge, London, 2008
Tom Shakespeare, Disability rights and wrongs, Routledge, London, 2006
Tom Shakespeare, Looking back, moving forward
Swain, J., Barnes, C., French, S. and Thomas, C. (eds), Disabling Barriers - Enabling Environments, 2 nd edition, Sage, London, 2004
Andy Smith and Nigel Thomas, Disability, Sport and Society, Routledge, London, 2009
Carol Thomas, Female Forms: Experiencing and Understanding Disability, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1999
Carol Thomas, ‘How is disability understood? An examination of sociological approaches. Disability and Society, 19 (6): 569-583, 2004
Carol Thomas, Sociologies of Disability and Illness. Contested Ideas in Disability Studies and Medical Sociology, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2007.
Duration:
19 mins 53 secs |
 16mm |
 Combined Optical |
 Colour |
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