Rudi Christopher and I met at London’s Thames Day in Autumn 1981. He had spina bifida, but he was kayaking near the Houses of Parliament that day. I later interviewed him at his college in Alton. He had great abilities, and big dreams, and I hope he is doing well today.
What that persistently positive attitude could do in a world peculiarly unfit for the disabled in those days, remained to be seen. There were few jobs in Britain for anyone then, including the disabled. A month before I interviewed Rudi at his college, Jack Ashley, MP from Rudi’s hometown of Stoke-on-Trent, blasted the Thatcher government for cuts in services, incomes, and pensions for the disabled.
One controversial plan that temporarily survived the cuts was the Youth Opportunities Program. Through it, Rudi got basic training for work in horticultural, industrial, and clerical fields, and a minimum wage. Helen Lones, Treloar’s career placement specialist, suggested that if Rudi chose that route, he was well-equipped for some forms of factory labor. She added that a career in trucking was unlikely for him. ‘Sheltered’ work programs were just coming into being in Britain, and looked a more-likely prospect for Rudi in the middle-term future.
The young man remained optimistic, ‘I’m not going to stay here until I’m 25.’ In anticipation of his departure, he had recently undergone Treloar’s two-week survival training course. It allowed two older residents to live in a cottage and construct their own budgets. That’s where Simon came in.
Rudi and Simon’s prospects for finding work were not totally unpromising. Only 9% of 1980’s Treloar graduates were not placed in work; however, 43 percent were undergoing further education to get vocational skills needed for longer-term jobs.
One of Rudi’s friends, a national marathon champion for the disabled, was already working for an insurance agency in London. John Norby’s job required little driving and continuous public contact. John’s job was far-removed from Rudi’s long-distance dream.
Still, if Rudi’s plight reached sympathetic ears, a minor miracle may have awaited him. However, in 1981, none of 1980s’ Treloar graduates had found sheltered jobs in industry.
(In 2008, I found an e-mail address for Rudi, and e-mailed him. So far, I’ve not heard back from him since 1981.)
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