Sally Phillips was ‘upset’ after her son, who has Down’s syndrome, was denied access to a trampoline park.
The 53-year-old star, known for her role in Bridget Jones’s Diary as well as sketch show Smack The Pony, has hit out after her son Olly wasn’t allowed to play at Oxygen Acton in London.
She has said the company refused him entry because someone with Down’s syndrome needs a letter from the GP to take part in the activities.
Appearing on Friday’s episode of BBC Breakfast, she said: ‘Olly is used to being able to do what his contemporaries [do]…
‘So we went with his younger brother, and younger brother’s friend, and we’ve been hundreds of times before, and the lady on the desk says, “oh, sorry, can I have a word?” and called the manager over.’
She added: ‘I was so, so upset for Olly to be prevented.’
She insisted that ‘they’re weeding out people with visible disabilities’ and ‘so if you have an invisible disability, you’re not required to bring in a doctor’s letter’.
As a member of the British Gymnastics association, she revealed Olly has previously had an X-ray to test for neck instability issues but this ‘didn’t give the information required’ to take part in these types of activities.
Sally, who also serves as a patron of the Down’s Syndrome Association, insisted that the option was either to use NHS resources ‘to get an appointment with the doctor for a private company and their insurance’, or paying for a doctor’s letter.
She added: ‘Which means that this sort of admin burden on special needs parents, just to be part of the community… to do a normal thing, to take normal risks that everyone is allowed to take.’
She continued: ‘We can spend weeks and weeks not leaving the house, just filling in forms for our children to be able to do very, very normal things, and once I put this out [on social media] the number of people that got in touch saying it happened to them despite their children being you know, British gymnasts… it’s clearly something that needs looking at.’
She pointed out the ‘big psychological effect’ this can have on children who are ‘singled out for being different’.
She said: ‘It would be fine if there was a sort of genuine issue but it strikes me that the issues are, the neck (instability) thing is just misinformed and the insurers… found something they can ask for so they asked… without it actually being helpful.’
Oxygen Activeplay told the BBC: ‘The only reason a company like ours exists is to help everyone, but particularly children, enjoy active play.
‘We would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the relevant parties to review the current guidance and enable as much active play as we can, safely.’
However, Sally insisted it’s not ‘fair’ for parents of children with special needs to have to make changes, but she is willing to try and help.
‘They will allow us to do the work for them to change, whereas actually I think they need to educate themselves,’ she argued. ‘We’d really appreciate it we didn’t have to and we could just get on with having a normal life.’
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