Over 150 friends, family, fellow campaigners and trade unionists attended Stephen Aselford’s funeral in Croydon on Friday 25 October, followed by a commemoration event co-ordinated by DPAC, Transport for All and People First.
Below are some of the tributes made during the day.
Remembering Steve – by Paula Peters
I have so many memories and not a lot of time
But today am going to share some memories of mine
Steve was a gentle person, with a ready smile
Out on every local DPAC Protest, always went the extra mile.
Had extensive knowledge of every Train Tram and bus route down to an art
Accessible public transport was close to his heart
Would interrupt a conversation with “guess what?”
Facts and figures shared with you whether you wanted them or not
A long time member of the GMB
Passionate about inclusion & equality
Hated Facism and Racism too
Didn’t like the Tories and all they would do
Together we set up BROMLEY and Croydon Disabled People Against Cut’s
Get local disabled people active in campaigning & kick some Tory butt
Followed Mayoral Candidate Zac Gokdsmith around Croydon Town
Banners flying high & chanting slogans we followed him around
No to ESA WRAG Cuts, we want the Tories out
Crashed his public meeting to hold him to account
Chased him up the road with a flea in his ear
Steve standing there smiling from ear to ear
Joined Unite Community in 2018
Became a passionate member & really keen
He was BROMLEY and Croydon Unite Community Equalities Officer too
He supported the branch and all we would do
Steve loved Croydon and Croydon loved Steve
He loved the community and instilled in us to believe
That we must continue to fight to unite the community together
He joined every local picket line whatever the weather
Steve loved Transport for all and people first
The fight for disabled people’s rights he was well versed
Knowledgable passionate and kind too
Always a joke and a hello Mate how are you
To honour your memory we must continue the fight
For equality inclusion and human rights
That is something we must now do
That is the best way to pay tribute to you
We miss our friend, comrade and trade union brother
But you would tell us keep strong and support each other
We will remember you at Ruskin House and on every train.
It’s heartbreaking we will not see you again
Now you leave this earthly life
Free from pain and every strife
Your spirit is now set free
That brings comfort to everyone gathered here and to me
We will see your star twinkling high in the sky
Knowing you will live on in our hearts and will never die
We will hear your voice in every summer breeze
On behalf of Bromley and Croydon DPAC and Bromley and Croydon Unite Community Branch
We miss you, we love you, our friend Steve
Rest in peace
(C) Paula
Tribute from Ellen
So, it feels strange speaking at something in Croydon without Stephen who would get me invited to the range of forums, meetings and assemblies he was involved with locally – which was a lot – to spread the word about DPAC – Disabled People Against Cuts. I could always trust that whatever important points I’d forgotten, Stephen would remember for me. Today I will just have to try my best.
I can’t remember the specific date when Stephen and I first met. We were both around the DDPO movement – that’s the movement of organisations run and controlled by Deaf and Disabled people -for many years. Stephen was involved in particular with People First and Transport for All.
But it was over two key things that Stephen and I really bonded:
– The first was DPAC which was originally founded in the Midlands following a protest outside the Tory party conference in 2010. We both got involved in the early days of DPAC, attracted to the idea that this was a campaign that not only stood up against injustice targeted at disabled people, but did so within the context of a class analysis and the aim of making links with the broader anti austerity and labour movements.
– Secondly, Stephen and I have a shared love for our home town of Croydon. That’s not something that those of you from outside the borough may understand – indeed it may well be a mystery to many of who are from Croydon – but Stephen loved Croydon – specifically the North of the borough and was very concerned about issues of inequality between the North and the South.
Having migrated East to Lewisham, I would always look forward to my invitations back to Croydon. Stephen revelled in what his co-chair of Bromley and Croydon DPAC, Paula Peters, says he called DPAC “naughtiness” and he had great ideas for stunts we could pull to try and grab attention to how government policy was adversely affecting disabled people.
One of his favourite stories was about an intervention Croydon DPAC organised when then Tory MP Gavin Barwell held a public meeting at Croydon Town Hall to justify his position on welfare reform. Members of Croydon DPAC turned up to distribute leaflets outlining the cuts Barwell had voted for and certain views he had expressed on social media. We had forgotten to put any identifying details on said leaflet. Barwell stood at the front of the room, leaflet in hand, fake aghast at our statements, threatening to sue for libel if only he knew the perpetrators – who were right there in front of him in the front row. Stephen roared with laughter every time he told that story.
There was also the time Zac Goldsmith visited Croydon on his mayoral election campaign. We were tipped off at the last minute and had an admittedly not sizeable DPAC welcoming party for him outside the event – sufficiently sizeable however for Croydon Conservatives to skirt nervously round us on their way in. Zac himself was keen to engage – which prompted him to end up in a room with Stephen, Paula and Peter. I’m not sure his gaggle of election aides have ever recovered from the experience.
One idea of Stephen’s we never got to execute was delivering an access ramp to Gavin Barwell’s inaccessible constituency office in Shirley. Before we could, Barwell was out. My partner fondly remembers time spent with Stephen in Croydon on DPAC’s 2015 General Election campaign: “Who 2 Vote 4? Not the f***ing Tories.”
Stephen had really good political insights. He was also completely non-sectarian – if you seriously cared about the same issues that really mattered to him, that was good enough for him.
He had a kindness and generosity of spirit that will be sorely missed alongside his rebellious streak and his wicked sense of humour.
The day we learned of Stephen’s passing, there was a documentary on BBC4 about eugenics featuring another awesome Croydon self-advocate, whom many of you may remember, Mabel Cooper.
I found the timing of the programme especially poignant. It reminded me of how far we have come since the days when disabled people were locked away, spending decades in horrifically abusive institutions, as did Mabel. Stephen spent his adult life living in the community he loved and I am so happy he was able to do that.
The programme spoke also to the spirit of resistance of those self advocates like Mabel and Stephen who don’t give up but who campaign for a better world.
It also reminded me how far we still have to go to get to a world where people with learning difficulties are valued equally and fully included in society. That’s the kind of society Stephen spent his life fighting for.
Stephen was pioneering in getting involved in mainstream political activity at a time when disability politics tended to be more separate. Advances in access and inclusion that others of us have since benefited from, he pushed for.
The mixture of people here today paying tribute to Stephen’s life is testament to his efforts, to his ability to bring people together, to his energy and his commitment to the struggle.
So, Stephen, from all of us at DPAC, we’ll continue the fight that was so central to your life and you comrade, can now Rest In Power.
Solidarity, mate!
A TRIBUTE TO STEPHEN ASELFORD
From Ted Knight, Croydon TUC and Croydon Assembly
25 October 2019
Friends, Comrades
I feel very privileged to have known Stephen and very honoured
that he welcomed me as a friend.
I came to know him through meetings here in Ruskin House.
Always the advocate of those without a voice.
His words would come booming across the meeting.
Do you know what is happening out there in the community, he
would demand.
He would then explain in graphic form, the suffering of a family
or a vulnerable person, at the hands of uncaring bureaucracy.
But it would not just be a horror story because he would then
tell you what steps he had taken to assist.
But what Stephen always emphasised was that no one should be
left to battle alone.
Collective support was always his message.
But not just words or letters or petitions, Stephen believed in
direct action.
That is why he was so proud of his comrades in DPAC.
Stephen knew that the establishment had power and resources,
that the role of the state was to preserve an unequal society.
But Stephen had confidence that working class people acting
together in unity could win friends and allies to overcome that
class barrier.
Whenever I met up with him he would tell me of another action
that he and his comrades had carried through.
He would chuckle, and you can hear that chuckle, as he
explained in detail how they had demonstrated or occupied,
perhaps a benefits office or surrounded a bureaucrat or saved a
family from eviction.
But Stephen also knew that it was not enough just to help and
assist people when they were under attack, but it was necessary
to remove the threat altogether.
You had to change the balance of wealth and power from those
who owned to those who were exploited.
That is why he became excited by the movement that grew
around Jeremy Corbyn.
He well understood the demand:
“From the Few to the Many”.
He was very proud to say that he was the one of the first to
support Jeremy.
Croydon TUC had invited Jeremy to speak at May Day 2015,
days before the General Election.
Stephen had his photograph taken with Jeremy holding the DPAC
banner.
That photograph has appeared many, many times on Facebook.
Then when Jeremy became candidate to be Leader of the Labour
Party, again we invited Jeremy to speak hear in Ruskin House.
Expecting a meeting of 50 or so, 500 plus turned up, together
with the world’s press.
The press surrounded Jeremy and stopped him entering the
meeting.
Stephen immediately took charge.
He moved in between the reporters and Jeremy.
And when Stephen moved in with those shoulders, they had to
get out of the way
And he then ushered Jeremy to the stage and the meeting began.
He then gave his support, awaiting the day when Jeremy and a
Labour government came to power.
Whenever I was running a meeting here at Ruskin, Stephen was
always the first, usually waiting for me to arrive, and as I paced
nervously up and down wondering whether people would come,
Stephen was always the font of absolute confidence .Calm down
Ted, he would say. They will come.
Then if, when the meeting opened, and there was any hesitancy
in discussion, that voice of his would loudly come across the
room, and another of his experiences would get people talking.
It is always hard to say goodbye to a friend, but particularly one
who has been a firm and constant fighter.
A man, who from his own experiences, understood the pain and
frustrations of those who looked to him for help.
That is what made Stephen in his own right a leader.
And as such he will be remembered and be a strong influence
for those who continue his struggle.