Phil Friend OBE, Hon DSc, FRSA is a powerful and respected communicator and one of the UK’s foremost consultants on disability matters, advising the UK Government.
Throughout much of his life, he’s worked to end prejudice and discrimination towards disabled people. Phil’s OBE in 2001 was awarded for services to equal opportunities and disabled people. He’s a Churchill Fellow and was made a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts in February 2007. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Hertfordshire in recognition of his outstanding contribution to equality and diversity.
Throughout his long career as a disability consultant, Phil delivered speeches and presentations to thousands on a wide range of disability and diversity-related topics in the UK, including Complete Care Shop/Healthcare Pro on travelling with a wheelchair. He has also worked as a consultant on disability and diversity projects in Estonia, Romania, Poland, Germany, Canada, and the USA.
Phil put aside most of his professional consultancy work in 2020 and now concentrates on contributing to and producing podcasts. As a disabled person himself, his podcasting work focuses on disability equality and inclusion issues. He has also published several articles and is a regular contributor on national and local television and radio.
He has also published a self-help book with his colleague Dave Rees. Entitled Why are You Pretending to be Normal, it explores how disabled people can manage, rather than just cope, with their disability.
Phil remains very active within the voluntary sector, helping to make the world a fairer place, particularly for disabled people. From 2005 to 2015, he was the Chair of Disability Rights UK (previously RADAR) and is now an Ambassador for the organisation. He is Chair of the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC), and the Vice Chair of the Activity Alliance. He is also a member of the Association of Disabled Professionals, Vice Chair of BT's Customer Inclusion Panel, and an Ambassador of the Business Disability Forum.
Phil has travelled extensively throughout the UK and Europe with his wife, Sue, in their wheelchair-accessible motorhome.
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