Many Stockport residents may already recognise Nathaniel Yates; after all, this local man has spearheaded one of Stockport's most significant disability rights campaigns for many years. 

Since 2018, Nathaniel - aged 30 - has been at the forefront of a campaign to secure better disabled access at stations across Stockport and Greater Manchester. 

His campaign has involved meetings with Andy Burnham, MPs, councillors, Network Rail representatives, and more. 

The ultimate aim is to make sure that every station in Greater Manchester is easily accessible for people with disabilities - primarily through the introduction of ramps and lifts. 

Nathaniel has given special focus to local stations such as Reddish North, Bredbury, Davenport and Woodsmoor - all of which have little to no disabled access. 

Reddish North is one of the stations for which Nathaniel has been able to bring about change - something more accessible than this footbridge is planned for 2025 (Image - Alasdair Perry)

At Reddish North, for example - Nathaniel's local station - visitors can only access platform two via a stepped footbridge. This means that, for some, train travel towards Sheffield is impossible. 

"You don't really think unless you're in that situation", Nathaniel explained.

He has already effected change for Reddish North, with improvements due in 2025, paid for by Greater Manchester City Region funding. But there is more work to be done. 

"[Change] is happening, but the fight still continues because there are train stations that still aren't accessible in Greater Manchester", Nathaniel said.

"Everything up to now is predicted to be accessible by 2070. So, let's have things accessible sooner than 2070. 

"The endgame is to get as many stations in Greater Manchester and nationally as accessible as possible."

Nathaniel has also focussed on poor access at other Stockport stations, including Davenport (Image - Alasdair Perry)

To do this, Nathaniel's campaign involves a range of tasks, from petitioning politicans to documenting and publicising the state of affairs at various stations. 

Still, he emphasises that this should not be a campaign of hostility.

"You need to work with the powers that be, and get them to understand", he said.

"It's working with them, rather than working against them; the approach should be 'I want to work with you', rather than 'you've not done this, you've not done that'". 

There is, then, a lot to deal with in this campaign. Explaining what the process has been like, Nathaniel said: "I don't know how I've done it. I've just got through it for years. It's kept me going through lockdown. [...] I'm just doing it because it needs to be done, really."

Bredbury Station - another of Nathaniel's targets for improvement (Image - Alasdair Perry)

And why is this such an important issue?  

"Disabilities aren't going away", Nathaniel said. "We live in an ageing society, and it's always possible to get disabilities. You can have a disability with age… anything can happen. 

"You might need these facilities. You need to think of things like lifts and ramps as an investment, rather than a hindrance."

Ramps and lifts, therefore, are things that everybody could be set to benefit from. This is an investment, not just for people with disabilities at current, but as insurance for the future. 

To support Nathaniel, consider checking out his X - formerly known as Twitter - page HERE.

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