John on Wikipedia and YouTube

Read more about John, his life and his work, on Wikipedia:

John Evans (activist)


Video tributes to John and a recording of the online memorial event for him on 13.01.2026 have been uploaded to this YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@RJE-13126


Watch the 2023 film about John's life, co-produced by him and "Flexible Films", on YouTube:

"John Evans - My Fight for Freedom" 

 

A 2022 interview with John, conducted by ENIL's Ines Bulic Cojocariu, for the "International Journal of Disability and Social Justice", also on YouTube:

Interview with John Evans OBE, Independent Living activist, UK and co-founder of ENIL


John on the Independent Living movement and his own story - this 2021 interview by Laura Able later led to the production of the film "My Fight for Freedom":

John Evans - My Journey with Independent Living and Disability Rights


John in 2016 on the Brexit Referendum - a SPECTRUM interview, published on YouTube:

Interview with John Evans OBE on Disabled People and the EU Referendum

 

John speaking in January 2014 at the celebrations of "30 Years of Independent Living in Hampshire" at SPECTRUM CIL:

30 Years of Independent Living in Hampshire - Speech by John Evans

(This is actually the video that intrigued me to get in touch with John back in 2015. And the one that made me fall in love with his voice!!)



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Tributes to John - A Video Compilation

Please follow this link to watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXU8GNGraE4   How this compilation came about ...  When Ines, John's friend and colleague from ENIL, and I set about to organise an online memorial event for John on the first anniversary of his passing, we were wondering how to pack as many tributes as possible into a limited amount of time. We were certain that there would be too many people who would want to contribute to include everyone as speakers during the actual event (and we were right!), but at the same time we certainly didn't want to exclude anyone either. The video compilation was the solution we came up with, and what we considered a compromise in the beginning, turned into a beautiful, colourful, very touching testimony of how special John was, how appreciated he was and how intense and meaningful the relationships were that he forged during his life. So, the compilation, which was first shown during the online memorial event on 13/01/...
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Tribute by Rachel Elliott

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Remembering John Evans OBE I first had the pleasure of meeting John in the late 1980’s through my late partner, John Millar (aka ‘Jhalib’) – they were longstanding close friends and Sufi ‘brothers’ travelling widely together in the 1970’s. On 28 July 1988 I had the privilege of marching alongside John, and thousands of other disabled people and allies, in the British Council of Disabled People’s (BCODP) rally in London to challenge the government cuts in disability benefits. This campaigning, in which John was a driving force, led the government set up the new Independent Living Fund (ILF). I was, and remain, greatly inspired by John’s life and work as a pioneer of the Independent Living movement. At the time, of the BCODP rally, I was working as a dance artist, working closely with the D/deaf and disabled people’s community and arts scene, and was developing as a sign language interpreter, so I had a professional as well as a personal connection with him. I became closer to John fol...
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Obituaries and Tributes

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John at Spectrum CIL Southampton, November 2024    Rowland's Funeral Services John Pring, Disability News Service (16 January 2025): "John Evans: Death of independent living pioneer leaves 'massive gap' and vital legacy" European Network on Independent Living (17 January 2025): "In Memory of John Evans OBE (1950 - 2025)"   Social Care Institute for Excellence (4 July 2025): "A tribute to John Evans: A pioneer of independent living and co-production"
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