There has been a sudden rise in the last few weeks of writing this blog, of division over the use of facemasks.
I feel this is due to the lack of knowledge of People, Employees and employers (and our manipulation by the media) of facemask exemptions and how a disability (visible or invisible) affects their use.
The Main Stream Media have been using their attention grabbing headlines (such as the ones above), with blatant disregard for the repercussions they will cause which are generalising and stigmatising those of us that cannot wear masks.
These headlines open the door for bigoted attacks derived from fear (in this case of the current pandemic (2019 – 2021)) or lack of knowledge of what mental health is or how it harms the person with these issues, not to mention what the rules on masks are.
What isn’t currently in National Media (probably as it doesn’t follow their agenda or sell their products) is how badly disabled people are being treated Barr some local papers.
A direct example of this harassment has become apparent where I live.
For the last 6 years I have lived in a town/village with Circa 5000 people and have spent the last two years setting up and promoting charitable projects that support people with Disabilities or are vulnerable in my local area (and before this I supported similar charities through various businesses).
It started off being a very comfortable (and still is for the most part, like most areas there are a few that spoil it for others).
It is a close knit area, very pretty and nice, but since lockdown started, a dark bigotry has reared it’s ugly head. The more lockdowns we have the worse it seems to be getting.
Most recently, for sticking up for disabled and/or vulnerable people who are unable to wear facemasks, I have been personally and professionally attacked publicly (on social media) for the most of it without any sort of proof and based on people opinions alone – there has been no forethought about their posts, no attempt to understand peoples struggles (that said, as i discuss below there could be other motives for this).
These attacks on me have been made despite all my businesses putting pandemic restrictions in place a full month before the U.K. Government rolled out their national prevention policies and with them being far better than the official requests. I am exempt and as someone who is unable to wear a facemask for any amount of time, I struggled through, sticking to the public protection rules (even before the facemask rules came out) despite my own discomfort.
Personally, I find it repulsive and frustrating that people blindly follow the Media in criticism of any minority, of anything or anyone that is different, especially in this day and age of “perceived” tolerance. People will no doubt blame it on the lockdown, but in reality, the character that emerges is actually who they are, showing itself.
I am now struggling being a victim to these disgraceful, frenzied, unjustified, abusive and harassing attacks, especially when I have put so much hard work over the last two years into supporting the community which I adopted.
The hard work of standing up to this discrimination is bearing the fruit of success as we are having to employ people to help with the workload, only to be attacked for defending those who cannot fight for themselves, and will just struggle to avoid being publicly attacked (either on social media or in the streets).
So, I’ll start with a local supermarkets employee’s social media post which is blatantly discriminatory and generalising (and to me seems to be nothing more than an attempt to promote the sale of their facemasks over the local people who have painstakingly spent their time and money trying to make ends meet, by producing their good quality hand made facemasks.
Although the supermarkets original post does say (unless exempt) it is clear that the employee has other opinions.
Generalisation 
In the top right Mr Brayshaw Says “I’m exempt because of breathing difficulties, and i still wear one because I am sure that wearing a face mask for 5 minutes in the shop is better than weeks in intensive care” What Mr Brayshaw fails to mention in this comment is he works for the CO-OP, so he is not in the shop for 5 minutes. People who are exempt (including at least one other member of their staff) may not be able to, even for 5 minutes. As someone who is exempt, I would have hoped Mr Brayshaw would understand the possible complications for someone who cannot wear a mask.
To Quote the Lytham St Annes News “Refusing access to people unable to wear face coverings due to disability is Direct Discrimination – and no different to denying access to a black or gay person for example”.
Just a day or two after Mr Brayshaw’s post, the local co-op has an abundance of of facemasks to sell. Coincidence?
So within this public facebook post by a local Co-op employee, there is blatant “do not shop if you don’t wear a mask”, Mr Brayshaw then attempts to substantiate his discrimination by claiming he’s disabled (which he could be) and has breathing difficulties, wearing a facemask is his personal choice.
Now don’t get me wrong, he could have this disability, and as I say it’s good that he can talk about it if he does. But, what about the woman (or man) who was raped? Someone who was mugged or beaten with their face pushed into the ground, the domestically abused person whose head was forced under water as a punishment? and this is just the tip of the iceberg! Does this line of thought include the soldiers who have PTSD or CPTSD, I would presume not as this is the type of illogical thought process we have here.
Mr Mountain (who is seen in the post antagonising me), works in a local school, one wonders if he criticises teachers if they are unable to wear a mask? Again here there is blatant personal bigot-ism towards those who have not had the privileged lucky life he seems to have had (according to his social media bio).
Mrs Willan (another contributor to the previously talked about post) proceeded to pounce on the chance to continue the harassment.
My Charitable Company (Enable Disability) owns the villages new IT Store, which is a Community Interest Company supporting vulnerable and disabled people (as part of the Charitable Company’s digital inclusion aims and objectives).
This is also where, we run the villages fresh food bank (to help people with disabilities on Universal Credit have access to fresh food).
It was also suggested Mrs Willan frequently posts “pro-mask wearing” comments.
The new job post has been taken down for residents in Bentham buy and sell to give it time for the bigot-ism to calm down.
Mrs Willan has been asked to stop the harassment, or libel and harassment proceedings will commence.
I have more recently been informed of another possible motive for this attack on Social Media by a customer, and I have been told that Mrs Willan is related to a competitor in another village four miles away.
The Multimedia Shop, has been closed during the lockdown since March 2020 which unfortunately left people without IT Provision at a critical time.
It was this point the charitable company saw an opportunity to start supporting people to keep their communication lines open, inline with our digital inclusion aims and objectives.
A White Knight IT C.I.C. opened its doors in October 2020, after a month of preparations, and was instantly bombarded with customers unable to travel out of the locale.
In January 2020, The MultiMedia Shop is (a profit making company), and have used a local magazine to advertise (free) that they were open and offering to take in old machines, to “hand on to good causes”, totally in line with A White Knight IT.
Mrs Willan it seems, utilised friendly contacts at the locally distributed paper to gain an advantage over our store with the new ideas on how to provide support (Interestingly enough, it’s said the magazine is one of ‘The MultiMedia Shops’ customers and are not allowed to use anyone other than them).
I am in no way adverse to, or against competition, in fact I encourage it. Competition is good for everyone involved, however, the openly underhand tactics utilised by Mrs Willans (a Director herself since 2015) and blatant her blatantly Libelous comments (which were made it seems not even for the good of our health) posted on social media, shows how low she is willing to go using the health and well being of people with disabilities for her own agenda!
If you are a business thinking of discriminating against disabled people, by bullying them into waring masks please take into account the following is taken from a local paper in Lytham St Annes before you do.
The newspaper has reported this story well, after a local charity helped a person whom a store discriminated against win £7,000 in damages in the first discrimination case in the UK with regards exemption from wearing facemasks in stores.
“Disabled people are now routinely harassed in public for not wearing face coverings – frequently given the impression that confidential medical information must be publicly disclosed to justify exemption. The fact that shops and hospitality businesses routinely display “no mask no entry” signs shows how deeply disablist attitudes are embedded in society. If premises displayed “no blacks” or “no gays” notices there would be outrage”.
I think the newspapers comments above, clearly outline the seriousness of the discrimination that (disabled) people are facing during the pandemic. “Stay in doors”, “Stay out of our shops”, “stay off our streets”.
To be fair we (people who cannot wear masks) have as much right and need to get out into the fresh air without being harassed as anyone.
Government guidelines (as of the date of the original post) are clear in explaining who is exempt and in what circumstances.
When you do not need to wear a face covering
In settings where face coverings are required in England there are some circumstances where people may not be able to wear a face covering.
Please be mindful and respectful of such circumstances. Some people are less able to wear face coverings, and the reasons for this may not be visible to others. (highlighted by me)
This includes (but is not limited to):
- children under the age of 11 (Public Health England does not recommend face coverings for children under the age of 3 for health and safety reasons)
- people who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability
- where putting on, wearing or removing a face covering will cause you severe distress
- if you are speaking to or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expressions to communicate
- to avoid harm or injury, or the risk of harm or injury, to yourself or others ‒ including if it would negatively impact on your ability to exercise or participate in a strenuous activity
- police officers and other emergency workers, given that this may interfere with their ability to serve the public
Exemption cards
If you have an age, health or disability reason for not wearing a face covering:
- you do not routinely need to show any written evidence of this
- you do not need show an exemption card
This means that you do not need to seek advice or request a letter from a medical professional about your reason for not wearing a face covering.
However, some people may feel more comfortable showing something that says they do not have to wear a face covering. This could be in the form of an exemption card, badge or even a home-made sign. (alot of people don’t feel comfortable)
Fortunately the official Government position does not endorse any of this as nobody exempt from wearing a mask is expected to go around justifying themselves.
Saying “I’m exempt” is enough.
If the response to that can be proved to be discriminatory then compensation is due.
I see (and I hope) it is only as a matter of time before these discrimination damage awards are made against members of the public due to social media posts and verbal comments.
Update: 2nd February 2021.
A complaint has been sent to CO-OP head office.
Update – 22 April 2021
It seems our complaint has done some good as one week after our complaint was received, the CO-OP introduced free face masks for those who have forgotten them, Not just in Bentham but it seems nationwide it’s yet to be seen whether the attitude towards people who are unable to wear masks has changed.
Grammatical update – 5th June
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