The power of partnership - DFI's new podcast is now live

Episode One of The DFI Podcast is now available. The podcast will feature a new episode each month focusing on a different theme. 

This first episode is looking at the #CostOfDisability which is something that DFI has been highlighting and advocating on for quite some time. The podcast is presented by DFI's Communications Manager Brenda Drumm. For this first episode, Brenda spoke to self-advocate Leigh Gath about the costs she incurred in getting a vehicle adapted for her use. DFI Member organisation Waterford Centre for Independent Living also features with John MCDonald highligting the cost of disability and the costs associated with providing a service to disabled people. 

DFI's Senior Policy Advocate Fleachta Phelan also contributes to this month's podcast with some stats and numbers about the cost of disability and she also shares some of the advocacy work that DFI is doing in this area. 

Commenting on the podcast, Brenda said, "DFI is delighted to be partnering with TTM Healthcare Solutions on this project. We are grateful for their sponsorship of our first six episodes. Podcasting is a brand new medium for us and we are delighted to have the support of TTM as we use the creative world of podcasts to inform, engage and champion change for disabled people in Ireland. 

"A recent survey showed that there are 4.1 million podcasts globally, and when people in different countries were asked if they had listened to any podcast in the last 12 months - Ireland as a country ranked in the top three for podcast listens and ahead of the UK and US! So, there’s a huge appetite for podcasts - which,thanks to the sponsorship of TTM, we can now tap into.

"In terms of our podcasting content, we will always be responsive to what our self-advocates and member organisations want to discuss. Planned follow-up topics are ‘Accessibility’, ‘Self-Advocacy’, ‘Access to Education’ and ‘Holidays and Travel'. Some of these topics are ones that we will come back to again and again but there will hopefully be new and surprising issues too to get people thinking and talking about disability!"

Brenda continued, "With the support of partners like TTM, there’s so much we can do. In terms of the podcast, we’d love to ‘open the floor’ to disabled people to host their own podcasts, on whatever topic they choose, not just on disability issues. Whether they’re talking about movies or fashion, it would be so empowering for them and an education for so many of us. As a disabled person said to me just last week ‘We are not just disabled people, we are people’!  Irish people love to chat – that’s a truth universally acknowledged and podcasting is a great medium where we can talk serious issues, but also showcase the genuine stories, laughter and fun that is there in the in-between spaces of our lives. I would love to be able to facilitate more podcasts by disabled people and I look forward to sharing their stories and voices on many of our upcoming episodes! 

"We’re so grateful that TTM is getting behind this message with us - and allowing us to launch out into the world of podcasting." 

You can listen and subscribe to the The DFI Podcast on Spotify and it will also be available in the coming days on all the major podcasting platforms. If you would like to get in touch onthe podcast please click here.