UK Disability History Month (14 November - 20 December 2024) provides an opportunity to reflect on the history of the disabled rights movement and the ongoing fight for equality and human rights. It also serves as a chance to confront the myths and stereotypes that affect the lives of disabled individuals while amplifying the voices of those with disabilities, both past and present. This year, the theme for Disability History Month is ‘Disability Livelihood and Employment’.
To mark Disability History Month, our latest display on Level 3 of the University Library, curated in conjunction with Alex Kabaj, Graduate Intern at the Equality and Diversity Office, features documents, posters and photographs relating to the 1981 International Year of Disabled People and to a support group established during that year by the Society for the Prevention of Asbestosis and Industrial Diseases (SPAID). SPAID was founded in London by health and safety campaigner, Nancy Tait, and registered as a charity in 1978. The world’s first asbestos action group, it was also ‘the only Society caring specifically for … Industrially Disabled [people].' 1
One of SPAID’s key functions was to help those disabled from exposure to asbestos at work, and those suffering from other industrial diseases, by providing information, support, and practical advice on making compensation and benefits claims. It also encouraged research into the causes, prevention and remedial treatment of industrial diseases and the publication and discussion of the results; campaigned for legislation on the notification of industrial diseases; and championed the use of electron microscopy to detect asbestos fibres in lung tissue.
When the United Nations designated 1981 as the International Year of Disabled People, Nancy Tait resolved that people suffering from industrial diseases – who faced unrelenting respiratory and mobility challenges, exhaustion, mental strain, and isolation – should not be excluded from the initiative. Accordingly, she and her SPAID colleagues launched a supporters’ group, named the SPAID Fellowship, as SPAID’s contribution to the International Year of Disabled People. The Fellowship arranged social gatherings at which people disabled by workplace exposure to asbestos, and their relatives and friends, could meet others in similar circumstances, share their experiences and make new friends, whilst also receiving one-to-one advice from SPAID representatives on how to claim any assistance to which they were entitled.
The inaugural SPAID Fellowship event took place at a community centre within St Barnabas Church, Bethnal Green, London, on the afternoon of 20 June 1981. Tea and musical entertainment were provided, along with table tennis to amuse any accompanying children. The event having proved to be worthwhile, the Fellowship continued to hold support meetings at St Barnabas on the first Saturday of each month. In January 1996, SPAID was officially renamed as the Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association (OEDA), and the support group became known as the OEDA Fellowship. The OEDA Fellowship continued to meet into the early 2000s.
Further information on the activities and impact of SPAID and OEDA can be found in our Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association (William Ashton Tait) Archives (reference: GB 249 OEDA).
Details of other Disability History Month resources and events taking place at Strathclyde are available on the University's Disability History Month webpage.
1 OEDA F/1/2: Typed statement outlining the aims of SPAID, 1981.
In 1906, the governors of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, acting on a suggestion from the Master Bakers of Scotland, founded the Scottish School of Bakery. This innovative institution offered a diverse array of classes, encompassing bakery, breadmaking, and practical confectionery, as well as theoretical courses in physics, chemistry, and biology.
By the 1933-1934 academic session, the School had evolved into a well-equipped and thriving facility within the Royal Technical College, which would later become the University of Strathclyde. According to its prospectus from that period, the School’s facilities included two dedicated bakeries—one for breadmaking and another for confectionery—a specialised piping room, and a laboratory for "bakery technic." Students also benefited from access to the College’s chemical, physical, and bacteriological laboratories.
The featured photograph from the same session offers a fascinating glimpse into the confectionery day class. Taken in the piping room, it shows students practising their cake decoration skills under professional guidance. Dressed uniformly in white jackets, aprons, and caps, the students are equipped with an assortment of tools, including piping tubes, small knives, pocket scissors, earthenware basins, and wooden spatulas.
Students in breadmaking similarly adhered to strict standards, wearing white jackets, aprons, and caps and using essential tools like small palette knives, bone spatulas, and thermometers. These measures ensured both hygiene and precision in their craft.
The School’s curriculum was comprehensive, with courses carefully designed to provide a thorough grounding in the art and science of baking and confectionery. For instance, Practical Confectionery Course I introduced students to a wide variety of techniques and recipes:
Building on these fundamentals, Practical Confectionery Course II advanced to more intricate skills and creations:
The Scottish School of Bakery not only educated aspiring bakers but also set high standards for the craft in Scotland. In 1956, it transitioned to become the Department of Food Science, reflecting its broadened focus.
Further information:
Photographs of School of Bakery staff and students, 1933-1934 (ref: OP/4/147)
Prospectuses of day classes at Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College/Royal Technical College/Royal College of Science and Technology, 1899-1966 (ref: OE/10/2). Includes School of Bakery special prospectuses.
School of Bakery/Department of Food Science special prospectuses, 1950-1957 (ref: OE/10/3/6-8)
Bakery School Committee minutes, 1902-1947 (ref: OE/1/10)
Ian Terris papers: First year confectionery lecture notes, Scottish School of Bakery, 1948 (OM/466)