Meet the team

I’m George, I’m 30 years old, live near Southampton and have Congenital Muscular Dystrophy. I’m passionate about making the world a more inclusive place for disabled people and doing whatever I can to increase the opportunities available to people like us. Outside of work I love music, video games and am involved in local politics. Like many people however, I’m most happy sat around with a bunch of friends talking nonsense and drinking JD and coke.

I started The Disability Union because I believe the only way to further disability rights and increase inclusion is for all disabled people to work together and support each other to get our voices heard and our needs met. 

Hey, I’m Joel! I’m 21 and from Surrey. I spent the last three years studying at the University of Southampton, although the best and most formative part of this didn’t come from education, but from the people I met along the way. Through my involvement in local politics in Southampton, I met George and have become close friends with him over the last year.

For most of my life I have struggled with depression and anxiety, so when George introduced me to his idea to start a union for and by disabled people which championed mental health advocacy alongside physical wellbeing, I couldn’t have been more eager to get involved.

Hey, I’m Lauren! In my spare time you can find me running my beauty Instagram, playing with my 2 rescue kittens or watching the latest Netflix series. I recently graduated with a degree in Health and Social Care. I studied part-time at The Open University as this allowed me to focus on my career at the same time. I started caring for George in 2014, and we soon became close friends with the same passion for helping people in similar positions to George. In 2018, we created the award-winning Accessible Media Agency, which now employs multiple people with disabilities around the world.

In 2020 we decided this wasn’t enough and we wanted to do more, and that’s when The Disability Union was born! I’m very excited to be working for The Disability Union and help unite and support the disabled community.

Bio coming soon!

Hi, I’m Oliver. I am originally from Surrey but have spent the last three years in Bristol studying for a degree in History. During university I worked as a Community Ambassador, which involved door-knocking, attending community meetings and initiating community projects in order to improve the relationship between students and local residents in Bristol. This has improved skills which will prove very useful in the third sector. By joining the Disability Union, I am honoured to have such an exciting and worthwhile project to advance them further.

Disability affects millions of people in the UK, is often hidden and lacks adequate societal understanding and support. The Disability Union provides a dedicated channel for the voice of disabled people to be heard, and I hope that by getting involved I can work collectively to give disabled people greater agency in the workplace and wider society.

Bio coming soon!