A rainy November day in North London was brightened by the arrival of Helen Grant MP at No 1 Olympic Way, Wembley, to announce the opening of the new Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE) and Level Playing Field (LPF) offices at Business Environment’s award-winning business centre.
The gathering saw not only Mrs Grant join CAFE Chairman, David Bernstein CBE and Managing Director Joyce Cook OBE, but also many other influential sporting leaders including Lord Richard Faulkner, Lord Herman Ouseley, Lord Richard Rosser and a raft of UEFA and FA figureheads, including former Chelsea defender Paul Elliott CBE, all of whom were discussing how CAFÉ and LPF could move forward even further with helping disabled people access sporting events.
The Minister for Sports, Tourism and Equalities lead the celebrations marking the first five successful years of CAFE and the continuing progress of Level Playing Field. Mrs Grant also complimented the new Business Environment office space as a “superb location that is worth its weight in gold” whilst underlining the important work that CAFE continues to do.
There were a number of compelling speeches highlighting the continuing issue of disabled access at sporting events. Joyce Cook OBE, Managing Director of CAFÉ, said, “The work that we have done so far has been fantastic but there is still so much to do to tackle this discrimination. We must ask ourselves not what we have done, but where we can go from here. I’m sure that these new facilities will help us continue to gain traction with sports leaders and influence the ongoing battle to secure a better understanding of disabled sports fans access.”
