Blind Ambition founder and managing director Seema Flower has dedicated her Department for Transport award to the street works teams who have changed how they set up sites after learning about the challenges disabled people face.
Reacting to winning the Outstanding Contribution (Private Sector) Award at the DfT Special Recognition Awards, Ms Flower (pictured, right, with Aimee Dewes, Head of Marketing at Multevo who sponsored the award) said the practical decisions taken by operatives and supervisors are where improvements in accessibility happen.
“This award belongs to every operative and supervisor who has changed the way they set up a site because they now understand what it means for the person walking past it. That is where the change happens,” she said.
Ms Flower, who is registered blind, also stressed that accessibility should be central to how street works are planned and delivered.
“Inclusion in street works isn’t a specialist add-on — it’s fundamental to community trust. When we design with blind and partially sighted people in mind, we design better streets for everyone.”
Blind Ambition works with operatives, supervisors and planners to help them understand how barriers, ramps, signs and diversions affect whether disabled people can pass a site safely and independently.
Its hands-on training includes simulation spectacles replicating different eye conditions, walks through mock sites and practical scenarios teams could encounter on the street.
The organisation says it has delivered this work with National Grid, Severn Trent Water, Cadent Gas, Openreach and Circet, and presented to 3,000 National Grid colleagues at safety conferences this year.
As Highways News reported yesterday, judges recognised Ms Flower’s guidance to HAUC(UK), Street Works UK, the Joint Authorities Group and professionals across the sector, describing her as “an inspirational advocate and passionate disability rights champion”.
The award, new for 2026, was presented at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Wednesday 7 October during LCRIG’s Strictly Highways conference. The ceremony was hosted by Highways News Managing Editor Paul Hutton. The awards are organised by LCRIG on behalf of the Department for Transport.
(Picture – LCRIG)
