National Asian Wedding Show 2023
26th November 2023 Novotel London West Hammersmith
The National Asian Wedding Show is Europe’s largest Asian wedding exhibition that takes place every year at different locations, held nationally. The show returned for it’s 18th year on Sunday the 26th of November 2023, at the Novotel London, Hammersmith. This was an event not to be missed!
The show had a large number of wedding exhibitors and suppliers showcasing their products and services with inspirational ideas, to help you make your special day memorable. The event hosted a stunning catwalk show that featured the latest in Asian fashion trends.
Our founder, Zubee was excited to be part of this amazing show and to model for the first time. Through Access My Events, the aim is to make events accessible and inclusive as possible to disabled people, and being part of this show was a groundbreaking step forward in breaking down barriers in the fashion industry. It was the first that an Asian wedding show featured a disabled person as one of their models.
It was great for us to see all the work that goes on in front and behind the scenes to put on a show of this scale. We would like to thank Manny and his wonderful team for giving us the opportunity to raise awareness of disability and to show that disabled people can look and feel as glamorous as non-disabled people. Zubee would like to thank everyone behind the scenes for their help and support in making her look and feel amazing!
We hope that our participation will encourage other event companies to consider using our services to make their events accessible and inclusive to the disabled community and use disabled people to model in their shows.
Head over to our Instagram page to see some videos and behind the scenes footage.
We are looking forward to next year's show. For upcoming shows, please visit the National Asian Wedding Show Website.
National Asian Wedding Show Backstage
26th November 2023
This video shows the incredible work that went on behind the scenes with back-to-back changes for the models, done with precision and urgency as the transformations happened from one outfit to another. Wardrobe assistants, stylists and makeup artists worked in synchronised chaos to execute flawless transitions with meticulous timings as each model took to the runway. We really hope other event organisers see this and consider using disabled people in their fashion shows.
Small Business Sunday Winner
24th July 2023
Small Business Sunday is one of the leading business networks in the UK, founded by Dragons Den star, Theo Paphitis in 2010. It’s an amazing opportunity for businesses to gain exposure and connect with other business owners through Theo’s large social media following, including all the winners getting an invite to the SBS annual networking event, which we're really looking forward to next year.
Our founder Zubee shares what the SBS community is about, how you can enter, and what it means for us to be one of the 6 lucky winners chosen by Theo and his team.
Wow! Access My Events is delighted and honoured to be a Small Business Sunday winner. (#SBS). Zubee says, "I couldn't believe I was chosen to be part of this amazing network."🙂
Zubee didn't even know this existed until she saw a post on LinkedIn from one of the previous winners. After reading the post, it sounded like a really exciting opportunity that we had to enter and we were not expecting to win. On the 24th of July, Access My Events put a post out on Twitter and tweeted Theo about our business during Small Business Sunday. It was a huge surprise when we saw that we were one of 6 lucky winners to be chosen and get retweeted by Theo, to over half a million of his Twitter followers.
During the announcement on Monday, our Twitter feed went crazy as our follower numbers went from 187 to 196, and has now reached over 200 followers. We are also profiled on the #SBS website (www.theopaphitissbs.com), which is exclusive to all Small Business Sunday winners.
As the saying goes, we were second time lucky and as Theo says, if you don't get chosen, don't give up, keep entering each week as you never know when your chance will come, and be resilient as that's what entrepreneurship is all about. It has given us such a boost and it will help to raise awareness of our brand even further and expand our network so we can continue making a difference for deaf and disabled people accessing events.
Zubee says, "I would like to say a huge, thank you to Theo and his team for this amazing opportunity. I have had many challenges and setbacks to get my business going. To receive this recognition and have the support from Theo to help spread the word to his followers has really motivated and inspired me to keep perusing my business goals."
If you are a business that would like to be in with a chance of winning, here's how you can enter. It's FREE. Businesses have to write and create a post on Twitter or Instagram, that shows your personality and include a bit about your business, using #SBS and following @TheoPaphitis. It’s run on a weekly basis every Sunday. Entries need to be posted between 5pm and 7.30pm. Theo chooses his favourite 6 businesses and announces the winners on Monday at 8pm. To find out more, follow the link Home | www.theopaphitissbs.com.
Here are some lovely comments we received.
Congrats on your win! Welcome to the #SBS family! Love this idea!
Sounds like a really worthwhile business, Zubee - I used to manage a charity organising social events for adults with disabilities. Everybody wants to go out, mingle and have fun - let's make it easier and possible!
What you do is so incredible! I look forward to learning more!
We look forward to learning more and networking with other businesses and like-minded individuals who are part of this amazing community.
To follow our #SBS journey, please keep an eye on our blog and connect with us across our social media channels for the latest news and updates.
The Disability Expo 2023
6th & 7th July 2023 at Excel London
Access My Events was delighted to be an Access Partner with the Disability Expo, and for giving us the opportunity to exhibit for the first time.
This was a two-day event dedicated to people with lived experience of disability. They had over 200 exhibitors showcasing their products and services to help disabled people live independently, including guest speakers and entertainment.
As a new business, this has given us a great platform to raise our brand awareness and network with other organisations. (As our logo tagline says, bringing businesses and disabled people together, the event did just that). 😊
It was great to finally meet people in person who we had connected with online a while ago. We are looking forward to the Disability Expo 2024.
We would like to thank everyone who has and continues to support Access My Events on our journey and we look forward to working with businesses and making a difference for deaf and disabled people accessing events.
Disability Expo
Disability Expo is an attendee-focused two-day event, putting the ‘I’ in disability. Timed for the beginning of Disability Pride Month, it is Europe’s largest event for Disabled People, by Disabled People.
We are passionate about providing a platform that sees each person as an individual rather than a consumer or service user, and involves all parties to source the most suitable solution to meet their unique needs and objectives.
Access My Events Showreel
This video highlights some of the events we have organised, supported and worked on over the years.
You can enable closed captions on this video.
Ramadan Fundraising Challenge
12th April 2021
Ramadan is the month of fasting for Muslims around the world, for 30 days. During this time, Muslims will not eat or drink from sunrise until sunset. They will also abstain from sexual activity or using any form of bad language. It is a time of spiritual reflection, self-improvement, heightened devotion of worship, reading the holy book, (Quran), increased acts of giving to charity, and doing good deeds.
Before sunrise, we would have breakfast, (known as Seri) and another meal, (known as Iftari) after sunset. At the end of the fast, when the sun has gone down, families and friends usually get together for an Iftari to break their fast.
As part of the holy month our founder, Zubee challenged non - Muslims to join her and try fasting for one day or more, by filming a short video that we could share on our social media channels or to simply donate. The money raised went towards her chosen charity, Deaf Unity. Participants got to learn some BSL signs as well.
We didn't manage to get any participants this time around but we still managed to raise £208.75, thanks to people's kind donations and sales of transparent face masks on the Disability Horizons shop. If we get enough interest, we will look to do it again next year.
Disability Sports Coach Summer Festival
31st July 2016 at Westway Sports Centre
This was an opportunity for disabled people to try out different accessible sports activities. Zubee tried wall climbing for the first time and nearly reached the top!
Ride London
30th May 2022
No Barriers To Business - Disabled Entrepreneurs Event
24th Feb 2016
We supported Kaleidoscope Investments in putting together a Dragons Den-style event. This was an opportunity for disabled entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to successful business owners.
