Former 'EastEnders' actress fed up with lack of wheelchair access at industry events

Former EastEnders actress Lisa Hammond has urged those in the entertainment industry to think about disabled members of the team when booking awards shows and glitzy bashes.

The actress, 41, has a restricted growth condition called pseudoachondroplasia and uses a wheelchair.

And she said she is sick of being told that venues don’t have any access.

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Hammond – who played Donna Yates in the BBC soap from 2014 to 2018 – posted a message on Twitter saying: “Dear showbizz, pls consider disabled members of ur team when saying yes 2 award ceremony venues or booking parties.

“The aim surely is to provide access to all the team 2 celebrate equally?

“Please push for this.

“I'm so tired of getting the email 2 tell me there is no access etc..”

The actress, who has also had parts in Grange Hill and Psychoville, previously revealed that she gets abused by people in the street over her disability.

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Hammond said it happened after she got out of her wheelchair to film scenes.

She told the Daily Star Sunday: “The main image of wheelchair users is that of paralysis. So when I get out of my chair to do a scene on my feet – and that all depends on how I’m feeling – people don’t like it.

“If I’m feeling good and want to walk in that scene, I will.

“But if I can’t or pain levels are bad then I’ll use my chair. I’ve been shouted at. I’ve had people say, ‘Oi, why are you in a chair when you were walking on EastEnders last night?’”