It is with great sadness that we report the death of Graham Findlay following a long illness.
Graham was a long-standing disabled people’s rights activist, who worked with Disability Wales for several years as our Access Officer as well as for the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru and more recently at Scope.
Graham was qualified as an Access Auditor and had specialist expertise in housing policy. He set up the Cardiff and Vale Accessible Housing Project in the late nineties and at DW, spearheaded the ‘More than just a Ramp’ initiative. This included research into accessible housing provision in Wales and led to a pilot accessible housing advisory project in SE Wales.
After leaving the employment of DW in 2008, Graham continued to be an active supporter of the organisation. He was a co-Chair of our National Advisory Group for DRILL (Disability Research into Independent Living and Learning) and was a guest contributor at our 50th Anniversary Conference.
As well as his policy and legislative expertise, Graham was a talented writer and excellent facilitator. He had a wonderful sense of humour and was a supportive colleague, providing great encouragement to younger disabled activists. His contribution to disabled people’s rights, especially in the field of accessible housing was immense. He will be greatly missed by all.
DW’s Chief Executive, Rhian Davies said:
“Having had the privilege to know and work with Graham across three decades, this is a devastating loss to our community. From the Rights Now! Campaigns of the nineties which brought in disability discrimination legislation, to championing inclusive design in housing, to leading on coproduction, Graham was at the forefront of the disabled people’s rights movement in Wales. His longstanding commitment to DW was much valued and just a few weeks ago, in a now treasured conversation he was greatly interested in the recent launch of our Access to Politics Charter. We owe much to his enthusiasm and dedication despite undoubted challenges. Our heartfelt condolences go to his family and friends at this sad time”.
