A magical night at the Cornflower Ball – with a very powerful message
The Cornflower Ball is one of the highlights of the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) calendar. Taking place in Manchester at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground it is a wonderful evening; a chance to meet up with old friends from the spinal cord injury community and a chance to fundraise and raise awareness of this wonderful charity.
Bolt Burdon Kemp welcomed several guests this year from Cauda Equina Spinal Cord Injury (CESCI) charity, the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) and the Stoke Mandeville Maulers Wheelchair Rugby Team.
This year the ball focussed on the SIA’s current campaign looking at women’s health.
As detailed on the SIA website: “Women with spinal cord injuries, particularly wheelchair users, face significant barriers in accessing essential health services like breast screenings and smear tests. This lack of accessible equipment in many UK medical facilities not only violates the Equality Act 2010 but also perpetuates health inequalities.
As part of the evening we were shown a video which I am presently urging as many people as I can to watch. The story of Dani and the challenges she faced accessing a medical termination was so incredibly powerful.
We also had the pleasure of hearing from Dani in person who spoke of the support she had received from the SIA.
The SIA’s campaign is still ongoing and its petition is open until 20 July 2025. I would encourage anyone who hasn’t yet signed to do so. We all have a voice and we should use it to shout about campaigns such as these.
