ALL HER life, Anne Darnbrough, founder of the now closed National Information Forum, has fought social injustice. All Together NOW! editor Tom Dowling reflects on her lifetime of helping others . . .
ANN Darnbrough is like a wise, wonderful, fun-loving aunt – with an almost permanent mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
By her own admission, she’s been a bit of a rebel in her time, constantly speaking up for the underdog, and continually challenging bureaucracy.
And she hates the Honours’ system – even though she herself has an OBE.
For more than half of her life, Ann, now 80, has been fighting to give disabled people a better deal in life – and encouraging others to do likewise.
“Information is now a commodity in such ample supply that many of us feel overwhelmed by it,” she told me when we last met a few years ago.
“We know what it is to experience information overload. But it is a revolution that has passed many people by.
“Alongside information affluence we have information poverty, and the paradox is that those who are information poor are frequently those who need information most!”
And that very much includes the millions of people in Britain who are faced with disability.
“That’s why I was so delighted when the Liverpool ECHO started your I Can Do That! disability page all those years ago (1983) – and when it developed into a stand-alone paper. It was a real breakthrough to have this kind of news, presented so positively, in a mainstream newspaper.
“But All Together NOW! is better, much better – jam-packed with life-enhancing news and information AND becoming increasingly available in mainstream venues
“People in deep hardship generally lack the skills and the initiative to seek out information, and any inquisitiveness they may have is often blunted by their crushing disadvantage.
“Their isolation is further compounded by the fact that those who have the information tend to wait to be asked for it. So it’s brilliant that All Together NOW! is banging the drum!”
Isolation and disability are things that Ann knows only too well.
As the only child of parents living in Madrid, Ann developed TB of the spine, while her mother, Ada, fell victim to cancer.
“My only clear memory is of crawling around the flat. I should have been walking, but doctors advised my parents that I should remain on all fours, rather than putting strain on my back.”
Aged three, she and her mum returned to England (her dad stayed in Spain) and each went into different hospitals.
“Mum never came out. She died when I was five.”
When Ann was discharged from hospital she had nowhere to go – a pattern that continued for the next ten years.
“I was never put into care, just looked after by families who my father could charm into taking me into their households.”
Constantly changing circumstances and living with new people helped her to cope with the challenges life threw at her.
“I quickly developed a strong sense of independence.”
Aged nine, she was back in hospital, again strapped to a leather frame for another two years. And if all that wasn’t enough to cope with, in her final year at school she had to have an emergency operation to remove an infected kidney.
“Fortunately, the operation coincided with the discovery of the antibiotic streptomycin, and the disease was stopped in its tracks, saving my life.
“Perhaps it was this seeming miracle that served to give me the further impetus to make the most of life’s opportunities – and to have fun.”
She’s certainly done that. Four years ago she also found time to write her autobiography, A Rebellious Disposition, published by Highshore Press.
Outside her disability work, Ann has been an enthusiastic supporter/member of a number of charities including – Liberty, Dignity in Dying, the British Humanist Association, CND, Prisoners Abroad, Amnesty International, the Movement for the Abolition of War and Free Tibet.
She joined the anti-monarchy group Republic in November 1999, served as director in 2009/10 – and is also a fierce defender of animal rights.
But since the early 70s her main passion has been improving ways of getting information to underprivileged people.
For over 10 years she was the agony aunt of Disability Now, has chaired or been involved in the management of several disability charities, and has served as a member of five adjudication panels, including the Snowdon Award Scheme.
In 1972 she was appointed deputy general secretary of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
“They provided information but it was largely confined to news of research. I felt people with MS needed wider information such as financial benefits, aids and equipment, and leisure and holiday opportunities.”
So she launched a monthly bulletin newsletter.
Two years later she and her partner, Derek Kinrade, developed the work into what very quickly became a bible for so many disability organisations, the Directory for Disabled People.
There were even greater things to come.
When the United Nations set up International Year of Disabled Persons they had overlooked the vital role information was not included on the agenda.
“When I complained I was invited to do something about it!”
Within months she and Derek – and others sharing the same commitment – had formed the National Information Forum to encourage UK organisations to come up with innovative ways of disseminating news and information.
“It was the only organisation whose prime concern was that every individual should have the opportunity to access the information they need to lead lives of choice in our communities.”
The Forum has been Ann and Derek’s main focus ever since.
Sadly, however, time is now catching up . . . and Ann’s health must again be the top priority.
Earlier this year, when they decided to call it a day, the Forum’s trustees gave the All Together NOW! charity a fantastic donation to help us through extremely difficult times – and to develop the paper.
Derek said: “Ann’s single-minded dedication to the provision of information has impacted on the lives of untold thousands of disabled people.
“Now we really want to help All Together NOW! to carry on all the good work. We wish the paper every possible success.”
And we wish you both – and all the team at the Forum – every happiness.
Thanks!
