A B O U T

By

Phil Friend OBE Hon D.Sc. FRSA is one of the UK's foremost consultants on disability matters. 

An influential and respected communicator, his company – Phil & Friends – provided consultancy to many of the country's best-known companies.


Phil put aside most of his professional consultancy work in 2020 and now concentrates on writing and podcasts.


He was awarded an OBE in 2001 for services to equal opportunities and disabled people and an honorary Doctor of Science (Hon D.Sc.) in 2009 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to equality and diversity from the University of Hertfordshire. 


Throughout his long career, Phil has delivered speeches to thousands on a wide range of disability and diversity-related topics in the UK. He has also worked as a consultant in Estonia, Romania, Poland, Germany, Canada and USA.


He is a regular contributor to television and radio. He co-produces and edits two podcasts "The Way We Roll" and "Gear, Gadgets and Gizmos". He published a self-help book with his colleague Dave Rees; entitled Why are you pretending to be normal?, it explores how disabled people can manage rather than just cope with their disability.


Learn more about Phil Friend here.

Popular posts from this blog

By
Image
Crash, Bang, Wallop! Invacar on a trailer. In the last blog, I told you about my first attempt at driving a Tippen Delta 2 invalid carriage (Noddy) before I’d had any instruction. As you may recall, it didn’t end well. A rose bed was trampled, and a brick wall used as a brake. Driving Lesson Once I’d got the Noddy back from the repairers, I had my first driving lesson. As it turned out, it was my only driving lesson, and it took place on the estate where I lived. After explaining the basic controls, the instructor sat beside me on the floor and asked me to drive around the estate. The fact that carrying a passenger was illegal didn’t seem to bother him. The instructor then got out and explained that he wanted to test my ability to make an emergency stop. He explained that he would go and hide behind some parked cars. I should drive around, and when he jumped out and lowered his right arm, I had to perform the emergency stop. Given my driving skills and limited experience, this was an e
Read more

Three wheels on my wagon and I'm getting ready to roll!

By
Image
  Me posing with my AC Acedes Mk10 in 1964 Noddy I've had a mobility impairment for most of my life, so getting from A to B has always been challenging. As a result, wheelchairs or anything with four wheels and an engine has always appealed to me. I took charge of my first "car" when I was sixteen. Oddly it only had three wheels and was aptly named an "invalid" tricycle with the emphasis on the word "invalid". We came to call them "Noddys", not sure why but presumably linked in some way to Enid Blyton 's books about Noddy, who drove a little yellow car. Noddys were supplied by the then Ministry of Pensions to allow severely disabled people to get to work. For the technically minded The first of many invalid "carriages" or "tricycles" I drove was the aptly named Tippen Delta. And it arrived in 1961. (I found out pretty quickly what "Tippen" meant).  Driving Controls It was light blue and a convertible. I could
Read more

The Circle of Life: Childlike Curiosity Returns in Later Years

By
Image
As children, we approach the world with wonder and curiosity. Every new experience is an opportunity for discovery, and we are endlessly fascinated by the world around us. Whether it's a worm wriggling in the dirt, a butterfly fluttering its wings, or the sensation of our own feet on the ground, everything seems new and exciting. As we grow older, we often lose touch with that childlike sense of wonder. We become preoccupied with our daily routines, responsibilities, and obligations. We start to take the world for granted, seeing it only in terms of what it can do for us rather than what it is. But as we age, we may find ourselves returning to that sense of childlike wonder, albeit differently.  We begin to appreciate the simple things in life, the things that once seemed so mundane. A walk in the park becomes an opportunity to observe the changing colours of the leaves, the sound of the birds in the trees, and the feel of the wind on our faces. A conversation with a friend becomes
Read more