Taxi access champion mourned

Fellow peers and others from the disability community joined to mark the passing of the People’s peer who was always known as Nicky

Tributes have been paid to Baroness Chapman of Leeds following her death in early September.

Lord Low of Dalston said that while she had a relatively low profile in the House of Lords, she was always working away behind the scenes.

“The campaign with which she was most involved was concerned with having the access provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) extended to include taxis.

“She had unfortunate personal experiences of being turned away by drivers.”

Lord Low went on to say: “Her campaign was very effective because she was good at getting publicity like having TV crews film her being refused access to a taxi.”

On a more personal note he said: “She came from Leeds and she had the broadest Yorkshire accent of anybody in the House of Lords. She was down to earth, determined and persistent as that taxi campaign demonstrates.”

Baroness Chapman was a long time tenant of Habinteg Housing Association and a member of their board. Their Chief Executive, Mike Donnelly commented: “Nicky’s distinctive body size and shape could not, and as she always said, should not, be ignored. From her small frame she held you with a steady gaze, a ready wit and a disarming laugh.

“She made us stretch towards a higher understanding of what it means to be different. In a profound way she shook people’s perception of normality and what it means to be human.

“I was told that Lord Hurd, who was on the panel which interviewed Nicky for her ‘People’s Peerage’, ‘needed a stiff gin and tonic’ afterwards. Hardly surprising, Nicky injected the spirit of a G&T in everyone she met.

“I first met Nicky 20 years ago when she came to live on Habinteg’s inclusive new housing scheme in Roundhay, Leeds. She thrived in the new accessible environment, wheeling around to engage, charm and befriend her neighbours; later she was proud to be known as ‘the cat lady’ by local kids who’d grown up around her not noticing her disability so much as her three cats. Most often mentioned of the three was Crip, her disabled cat, whose politically incorrect name reflects another of Nicky’s congenital conditions: a wicked sense of humour!

“Nicky lived her life fighting for the right to be respected and included. The message posted in the front window of her home sums her up and leaves something for us all to think about: ‘Normal people worry me.’”