'Shocked' disabled business boss hits out after night-time confrontation - now she wants to meet Andy Burnham

An award-winning business boss wants more awareness of the challenges facing people with disabilities after highlighting her own ‘shocking’ experiences.

Tara Mackings, from Whitburn, is the chief executive officer of her own company called Tailored Leisure which aims to create opportunities for the disabled, challenge inequality and help build a world without barriers.

She has also won the British Empire Medal (BEM), won a category of the 2021 Sunderland Echo Portfolio Business Awards, and won the Entrepreneur of the Year category in the 2022 Shields Gazette Best of South Tyneside Awards.

But Tara found herself defending disabled people after a shocking incident during a night out.

“My partner and I were returning to our hotel after a concert in Newcastle when a man behind us said: “Come on mate, hurry up, I pay for you lot!”

“My partner stayed quiet, but I challenged him. He looked shocked, clearly not expecting the woman in the wheelchair to speak up!

“I told him I was a charity leader and likely earned more than him. He simply walked away laughing. But here’s what I wish he understood.

“Disabled people are not a burden on society. We work, we contribute, we lead, and we deserve respect. I’ve worked since I was 17, became the youngest bank manager at 18, earned a degree, raised two beautiful children, worked in statutory services for over 15 years and am now a charity CEO with a King’s Honour.

“Yet somehow, because I’m in a wheelchair, someone assumes they pay for my existence.”

Tara featured in the Wearside Echoes podcast where she shared her life experiences 2 years ago this month.

receives £717 in PIP payments but £450 of it ‘goes towards my adapted car because public transport remains inaccessible. Yesterday, three buses passed me because of buggies or drivers unwilling to use ramps.”

“The new Metros still have accessibility issues, and lifts are frequently out of order. Hotels mean worrying whether I can access the bed, bathroom or even the room, while paying extra for a carer.”

“And the rest of my PIP? It pays for my Tena Pads. Because accessible toilets remain inadequate.

“Then there’s Access to Work. Cuts of 50%, no appeal process, 37-week assessment waits and eight-week payment delays for essential support that enables disabled people to WORK. Yet we’re told we should be grateful. This is the reality of disability. Not entitlement. Not dependency. But constant barriers that shouldn’t exist. And this is why I founded Tailored Leisure Co.”

Tara issued a challenge to Andy Burnham to ‘sit down with me and let’s have an honest conversation about social care, SEND education, accessible transport, employment and Access to Work not just for my lived experience but employ disabled in central government to make real change

“Let’s bring together lived experience and decision-makers, agree practical solutions and commit to measurable change Not another consultation without action.

“And to everyone reading this, please challenge the growing narrative that disabled people are a burden. Challenge discrimination, listen to lived experience and recognise the contribution disabled people make every day.

“I’m angry about what happened, but I’m more determined than ever to turn that anger into positive change. We don’t want pity, special treatment or to be told to be grateful.

“We want dignity, equality and opportunity. Because disability isn’t the problem. The attitudes, barriers and systems that exclude us are. And those are things we have the power to change.”