We are pleased to congratulate disability rights champion and Kent alumnus, Dr Kush Kanodia, on receiving the Sheila McKechnie Foundation Campaigner of the Year award.
His ongoing campaign has been recognised for creating reasonable adjustments for disabled people in London’s ULEZ scheme. He says ULEZ is having a ‘brutal’ impact on disabled Londoners due to the fact only a third of London’s tube stations are accessible, so many disabled people have no choice but to drive to access critical goods, services, and health and social care.
The change he has created so far to London’s ULEZ policy means:
- Over a quarter of a million disabled people will now be exempt from the ULEZ charge (DWP Benefits included)
- Grants for wheelchair accessible vehicles will be expanded from £2K to £10K
- Exemptions for carers will be introduced and the grace period extended to 2027
After receiving the award, Kush said: “I am truly delighted and honored to receive the Campaigner of the Year Award from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation for 2024. This award shows that together, we can build a society that is fairer, greener, accessible, and inclusive for us all to thrive.
“Climate action must go hand in hand with climate justice and social justice to stem the tide of growing poverty and inequality in our society.”
Kush graduated from Kent Business School with a BSc in Management Science in 2000 and later achieved a Master of Business Administration (MBA). In 2022, he was awarded an Honorary Degree from the University of Kent, recognising his inspirational career as a disability rights champion and social entrepreneur.
His campaign to abolish all disabled car parking charges at over 200 NHS trust hospitals in England, which supported over 2.5 million disabled blue badge holders in England to access critical healthcare, was acknowledged by the university as being “by some margin the single largest and most impactful change in the treatment of disabled people in the history of the NHS.”