Interview with Bob Williams-Findlay

"So next time there was student unrest then they said well, we're going to discipline you, we've seen you there. I would say, 'Well, it's not hard to see someone with cerebral palsy is it, whether I had a leading role or not?'... And I got expelled..."
 

Born 25 January 1951

 

Educated John Greenwood Shipman Home, Northampton; Thomas Delarue School, Tonbridge; Essex University; Birmingham University

Born in 1951, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, although family home was in Leighton Buzzard. Bob’s birth: mother was in her early 40s and was meant to have a Caesarean. Forceps delivery. Cerebral palsy was diagnosed early. Doctors warned Bob’s parents “not to expect much”. Regular trips for physiotherapy.  Bob was taken into hospital to give his mother respite care breaks. Attitudes of medical professionals. Memories of Bob’s father. Bob went to boarding school at 6. He had two older sisters, Jean and Mary. One set of neighbours, who owned a shop, used to care for Bob, whilst his mother looked after the shop. His father worked as a bulldozer driver. Bob tried to encourage his father to join a trade union. From age 5 to 7, Bob had a home tutor 3 times a week. Bob hated boarding school and started misbehaving.

 

Relationship with parents compromised by decision to send Bob away to school. Bob’s passion for football. Memories of early school days, aged 6-10, and friendship with Gillian. Bob’s problems with dressing and one member of the night staff. Bob remembers meeting Richard Hearne, “Mr Pastry“. Bob remembers a school play. Attitudes to sex education in the early 1960s. Bob got into trouble with a girl at school. Discipline at meal-times. Bob confided in houseparent, a nurse, Mrs Senior. Bob spent most of school holidays on his own. Playing dominos with his father, who was in a dominos team, and against the town’s champion. Bob went with his father to a local working man’s club dominos competition, and Bob won a shilling for each of his 13 victories. Reading DC Comics such as ‘Superman’ and ‘Batman’, At 13, Bob started making up stories. Riding a toy fire engine. Bob recalls a woman asking Bob’s mother: “Is he mental?’

 

Regular visits to hospital for physiotherapy. Given money for singing ‘Away in a Manger’ well. Tonsillectomy. Mother said no to orthopaedic and tendon operations. Bob recalls learning to walk and his mother’s reaction. At 11, Bob had a Spastics Society assessment in Park Crescent, London. He recalls going deaf for an hour, because of the stress. Went to newly-opened Thomas Delarue School in Tonbridge in Kent. School uniform: maroon blazer and tie, grey trousers and grey shirt. Bob went straight into the ‘A’ stream. Headmaster described the pupils as "crème de la crème”. Bob’s class of 8 was the arts and crafts room. Writing poetry with an electric typewriter. Memories of teachers. Bob was invited to write verses of a love song for the school pantomime. Bob preferred playing football and cricket rather than academic study. Sex education in second year. Bob’s reputation as “a trouble maker”. Staff’s attitude to Bob’s relationship with a younger Jewish girl.  Bob passed all his exams and went to the Upper Sixth Form to do ‘A’ levels. The head had to choose 6 prefects; he chose all the others in Bob’s class and one from the class below.

 

The Deputy Head apologised to Bob for not being made a prefect. The Prefects had their own room and had meals with the Headmaster. Bob got just an ‘O’-Level pass in his ‘A’-Level Geography. Local businessman, also called Delarue, took pupils out for tea. Friendships with fellow pupils. Bob played football (goal) and organised 5-a side league. Had to go to Church on Sundays but didn’t want to go when he was 16. Went a few times to Salvation Army. Bob played in the local chess league; took part in swimming galas and represented the school in football, once playing against Surrey amateur football coaches. Nicknamed 'Bonetti’ (after Peter Bonetti, the England goalkeeper.) Anecdote about swearing when he let in a penalty, within earshot of the headmaster.

Bob’s first school was John Greenwood Shipman Home, Northampton. Bob was nicknamed Robert Burns, as he was born on Burns Night, 25 January 1951. Bob was originally to be named ‘John’, after his grandfather. Bob’s Scottish heritage. Bob’s father and mother met in Paisley, Renfrewshire. Bob’s dad worked at a steel-making firm on the Clyde, and Bob’s maternal grandfather was the company foreman. Bob’s parents came south to Warrington and Willenhall, near Wolverhampton. Sarah Scott was Bob’s mother’s name; she was from a large Scottish Protestant family. Her sister played the piano, and her father played the banjo. The Jimmy Shand Band. Bob’s relationship with sisters Jean and Mary. Family outings as a child and memories of summer holidays with parents. Memories of traditional Christmases. Bob’s mother was a member of the Labour Party and the Co-operative Society. John Greenwood Shipman Home. Labour Party leadership contest, which Harold Wilson won. Bob met Harold Wilson, featured in ‘Spastics News’. Lack of careers advice. Bob’s criticisms of Thomas Delarue School. Bob then went to Oakwood Further Education Centre in Kelvedon, run by the Spastics Society. There were about 12 students from various backgrounds. Bob took up computer programming. Bob got engaged to a fellow student, but her parents opposed it. Spastics Society social worker talked to Bob for an hour about why he had decided to get engaged. Attitudes to disabled people’s sexuality.

Bob’s mother’s attitude to engagement. Death of Bob’s father. Bob’s nervous breakdown.

Bob left Oakwood and his relationship ended. Bob was invited to live with Bernard Brett, a Quaker, from Colchester, who has cerebral palsy. Bob became ‘political’ around disability, and got involved with the local Disablement Income Group in Colchester. Writing poetry. Conversation with Colin Bell led to Bob going to Essex University to study American Literature in the early 1970s. Miners and Post Office strikes. Bob remembers reading a letter in ‘The Guardian’, written by Paul Hunt, whom he later met. The Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation. Birth of the ‘disability movement’. Radical left-wing politics at Essex University. Bob was arrested as part of a protest against overseas students being charged higher fees. Bob was two-year conditional discharge for picketing. As a member of the Student Union Executive, Bob was arrested for criminal damage. Bob was expelled while working on his MA. Lord Annan reported that the left wing students had used a “cruelly crippled student” to gather sympathy for their cause. ‘The Times’ newspaper called for Essex University to be closed down. “No platform for fascists” debate. Keith Joseph MP visited to talk about Conservatism and freedom of speech. Bob’s view of National Union of Students and Charles Clarke.

 

The picket and occupation of Essex University in 1974. Striking miners stayed at the university. National Union of Miners and National Union of Students. Relationship with Bob’s step-father who read the Daily Mail. Tariq Ali. Bob got a grant to do a PhD at the University of Birmingham in the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. Essex University disciplinary panel commuted Bob’s expulsion to a two-year suspension.

 

Student Union Executive at the Essex University. Lord Triesman. Fewer disabling barriers at Essex than at any other time in his life. The Vice Chancellor of Essex. Different methods of assessment, such as extended essays. MA at Essex on the Sociology of Literature. Politics of Franz Kafka. PHD at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Birmingham, looking at racism in the mass media in 1977-78. Race and Politics Group, including Paul Gilroy and Valerie Ann Amos, wrote book, ‘The Empire Strikes. Back, Race and Racism in 70’s Britain’ in 1982. Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) and Paul Hunt. Social model of disability. Discrimination in the workplace. Government-funded Youth Opportunities Programme in Brierley Hill in 1980-81. Worked as a ‘Life and Social Skills Tutor’ for two years. Trade Unions Resource Centre in Birmingham and Dudley Council. Disability Now featured an advertisement from the Liberation Network for People with Disabilities. Bob went to a London meeting, which talked about a Disability Resource Centre.

 

Disability discrimination. Segregation from an early age limits choice of friends. As a teenager, Bob tried to be as ‘normal’ as possible. Medical model of disability. Liberation Network. The West Midlands Council for Disabled People. Birmingham Disability Rights Group (BDRG) set up in 1986. Campaign for Disability Resource Centre, now based in Yardley. In 1990, Bob became a Planning Officer with Birmingham Social Services. Bob got married and became a step-father to two sons. Bob was on the British Council of Disabled People Executive. Conference in Vancouver for Disabled People’s International in 1990. Discussion of the term ‘special needs’. Disablist reception at a local adult training centre. Birmingham City Council. Bob resigned over ‘guidelines for need’. Bob and his wife adopted a son who was disabled, supported by Barnardo’s. The pressure of fighting for son’s rights and being a good parent lead to bob and wife separating.

Download transcript of tape 5

 

PhD on race and the media at Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in the late 1970s to early 80s. Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s recent comments. The language of race issues. Laurie Cunningham, West Bromwich Albion footballer. Multi-culturalism debate and Trevor Phillips. Director of the Centre, Stuart Hall wrote ‘Policing the Crisis’, 1978. Police and Politics Group. Valerie Amos. Experience of black people in the 1970s. Institutional racism. Aston University sociologist John Rex, Kath Moore and John Simon. Raghib Ahsan, worker at the Rover car factory and a black trade unionist. Hazel Carby, Pratibha Parmar and Paul Gilroy. ‘The Empire Strikes. Back, Race and Racism in 70’s Britain’, 1982. Liberation Network for People with Disabilities and Birmingham Disability Rights Group. Youth Opportunities Students at Brierley Hill. Campaign for a Disability Resource Centre in Birmingham. Funding was gained from Birmingham City Council Economic Development Department in the mid-1980s. In 1990 Bob became Birmingham Social Services Planning Officer. Bob re-wrote the assessment plans that the occupational therapists and the social workers used. British Council of Disabled People.

Bob became British Council of Disabled People National Committee Member, then Vice Chair of BCODP for two years. Jane Campbell was Chair. Director of Disability Awareness in Action Rachel Hurst and Richard Wood also on the Executive. Private Member Bills in Parliament in the early 1990s: Berry Bill, Civil Rights Bill and Disability Discrimination Bill. Until 1993, there was a Voluntary organisation for anti-discrimination legislation (VOADL). Rachel and Bob came up with ‘Rights Now’, which advised MPs on the two Bills. Bob also worked with Caroline Gooding. Briefing paper on definition of disability. The civil rights bill versus the Disability Discrimination Act debate. Divisions within the disability rights movement. Bob’s resignation as Chair of BCODP in 2000. Bob left Birmingham Social Services in October 1992. He then spent two years working for the Birmingham Information Federation, a network of organisations providing information on disability and part of the Government-sponsored National Information Network Project. Disability West Midlands. Bob spent the next two years working as a freelance Disability Equality Trainer with Sue Maynard Campbell, a consultant in Wakefield who had her own company called ‘Equal Ability’. Disability Equality Training with Bradford City Council, Bradford Social Services, RailTrack, the Department for Work and Pensions, The Barbican, from 1993 to 1996. Training for Transport for London drivers, Dial-a-Ride drivers, various bus services and operation managers. Disability Rights Commission’s video, ‘Talk’. Bob wrote some sketches for Sue Maynard Campbell’s video for the Co-operative Insurance Society. Work for Configure’s promotional and training video around the Disability Discrimination Act.

 

Bob became a Senior Policy and Equality Officer at Wolverhampton City Council. Bob married Cindy in 1999 after being together for 4 years. Disability Discrimination Act 2005. Promoting disability equality and making ‘reasonable adjustments’ in services. Deaf community in Wolverhampton. Institutional discrimination.

 

Ignorance and prejudice towards people with cerebral palsy. Nabil Shaban, the disabled actor, talking about ‘body fascism’. ‘Normality’ and ‘the body beautiful’. Hierarchy of impairment: people with mental health problems, people with learning difficulties and people with cerebral palsy are at the bottom of the scale. Problems of getting into mainstream education. Employers’ prejudice against disabled people. The state benefits system. Vic Finklestein and the importance of technology for disabled people. Adopting a child and being married to a non-disabled woman. Supportive social worker from Barnardo’s. Mike Oliver’s views about discrimination and prejudice. Writing poetry for 40 years. Bob has recently had a short play performed on local radio. Bob’s play ‘Creating Ripples’ is based on 'Metamorphosis', a short story by the novelist Franz Kafka. Bob and his parents’ senses of humour.

 

Bob did stand-up comedy. Incident at a football match in Leighton Buzzard when a spectator kept shouting: “Oh come on, you useless bunch of spastics”. Reflections on the process of recording his life story.