Darren Hughes

I am a C5/6 tetraplegic following a diving accident in 1991. I am a solicitor with national law firm and am also vice-chairman of the Transhouse SCI housing charity in Oswestry.  For the last 11 years I have been married to Vicky and we have a six-year-old son called Alex. These are difficult times for disabled people. We have heard about the Government spending cuts which will affect us all, both directly and indirectly. Changes to Disability Living Allowance and Independent Living Fund criteria are just two examples. The recent Supreme Court case involving Elaine McDonald, who lost local authority funding to pay for her night-time care, is particularly indicative of the problems that we all potentially face.   It is more important now than at any time previously that we have a strong, confident SIA that is able to lobby and campaign on behalf of all people with spinal cord injuries. The Association must also continue to strongly support Spinal Cord Injury Centres around the country. The formation of the All Party Parliamentary Group on SCI was a major step forward for our charity and has provided us with access to the political decision makers. SIA needs to maintain its campaign to help secure the long-term future of the Spinal Cord Injury Centres.