Philippa Willitts

As part of the national Here & Now celebration of culture within communities, the Barnsley Civic is exhibiting new work from artist Caroline Cardus in collaboration with local disabled people from projects My Barnsley Too, Wednesday’s Voice and Artwork South Yorkshire.
The Way Ahead turns disabled people’s access requests into road signs, subverting the familiar and communicating the barriers many face when trying to participate in the world. Running until 7th August, the exhibition makes a s...

A few weeks ago, I was planning my first trip to an indoor venue since March 2020. I booked a table for two. I was feeling, as seems to be typical, a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Reassured by being double jabbed, it seemed to me like the time to start getting back out into the world. But would it be too much?
It was several hours after filling in the online booking form that I realised there was something I should have added in the 'Any other notes' field. Given that I wouldn’t be choos...

Firshill Rise, a service in Sheffield for adults with learning disabilities and autistic adults who are experiencing mental health or behavioural difficulties, has been rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The seven-bed unit was inspected without warning following reports of safeguarding concerns.
The NHS website for the service describes its ethos:
At Firshill Rise we support our service users to achieve the best quality of life they can by helping them learn new skills, ge...

A total of 20,750 people in England are on seemingly endless waiting lists to be seen at a gender clinic. With 1,285 people waiting for an initial appointment in Sheffield, the city’s gender identity clinic (GIC) at Porterbrook is showing the strain.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request showed that the average waiting time for a first appointment in Sheffield is 589 days - but that it's far from the worst in the country.
Now Then sent FOI requests to all eight trusts in England with gender ...

Whether it’s a comforting mug of Yorkshire Tea or fragrant Earl Grey in a china cup, 84% of Brits enjoy a cup of tea. And now that we can finally go back to cafés, let somebody else put the kettle on for you this Friday for International Tea Day.
I can’t be the only person who has a pot to wake up in the morning, a mug in the afternoon purely for pleasure and a cup of decaf to wind down before bed - plus the extras in between. But it’s not just those earthy flavours and comforting aromas that...

ArtWorks Together is a new international art competition with nine winners and an exhibition at Wentworth Woodhouse, a stately home in Rotherham set in 87 acres of gardens. It's a project from ArtWorks, an organisation that supports artists with autism and learning disabilities to access the world of art. It's also available as a virtual exhibition online.
ArtWorks Together was initially judged by a panel of learning disabled and autistic adults, who shortlisted over 1,000 entries down to 34....

Sandra Baker Donnelly, Chris Mowat and Mark Pendleton don’t hold to the idea that history is only about public figures and the happenings of the 18th century. Instead, they relish the stories about your first night out at Climax or that time you sang at Sheffield Pride.
At their first meeting in 2018, the trio decided to make a zine to give out at Sheffield Pride in 2019. They have run community events, including an interactive map to mark significant spots in Sheffield and, as a lockdown act...

Three years ago, Anne Everson, an advocate and former social worker, complained to Sheffield City Council about a polling station she knew was not wheelchair accessible.
She heard reports that a woman who went to vote at the Springfield Tavern in the Walkley ward had to wait outside for somebody to notice that she couldn’t get in, then she had to vote outside, in public.
Everson contacted John Mothersole, then Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council, to complain but it was not resolved as v...

People in Sheffield who are eligible for the Covid vaccine will receive an invitation from either their GP or the mass vaccination centre at Sheffield Arena.
We have made an Easy Read guide to what will happen if you have your vaccine at Sheffield Arena.
Download the Easy Read guide: Easy Read – Getting Your Covid Vaccine at Sheffield Arena
If you would prefer more detailed information, you can find a blog post here or a summary in images on Facebook

On 21 March, households in England and Wales will fill in the 2021 census, which helps the government, as well as local authorities and charities, to understand the demographics of an area. This can help with local planning and enables the effective provision of transport, healthcare and education.
This year, for the first time, those responding to the census will be asked questions on their gender identity and sexual orientation. This historic change will help us to better understand what pr...

Slotting between a singer and a game of bingo, I talked to the staff and attendees of Parson Cross Forum’s Memory Café during a celebration of 12 months of Zoom sessions. Three times a week, people with dementia and their carers have been gathering online to chat, keep each other’s spirits up, and give and receive support.
Prior to the Covid lockdowns, the Memory Café met at the Parson Cross Forum building on Margetson Crescent, led by Louise Ashmore and Louise Askew. It was group member Howa...

Philippa Willitts is a freelance writer, editor and proofreader who writes a lot about women and disabled and LGBT people. As well as writing for Now Then, she is the editor of Global Comment and does comms work as well as whatever freelance commissions come her way. She is an activist and campaigner who also loves Sheffield, the seaside, her friends, craft beer and good food. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram @PhilippaWrites

Welcome to the next in the Podcast Showcase series, where we share podcasts with you in the words of the podcasters themselves. This time, we talk to SoundOut: Voices of LGBTQI Activism.
Sum up your podcast in three sentences
Produced by the award-winning charity GiveOut and hosted by Dan Vo, “SoundOut: Voices of LGBTQI Activism” provides a unique insight into the global movement for LGBTQI human rights. Crossing five continents, we speak with activists working to support their communities an...

Welcome to the next in the Podcast Showcase series, where we share podcasts with you in the words of the podcasters themselves. This time, we talk to By the Book.
Sum up your podcast in three sentences
In each episode of By The Book, comedian Jolenta Greenberg and culture critic Kristen Meinzer live by the rules of a different self-help book for two weeks straight, following every rule down to the letter, while recording themselves, at home, in the world, and in their marriages, to see which ...