This disabled woman is determined to change the way Londoners ride the Underground.

Instead of burying your head in your mobile phone, or awkwardly avoiding any eye contact whatsoever, Corry Shaw wants you to ‘Look Up!’

Like many other disabled people, Corry has chronic pain and desperately needs to sit down as she travels into work.

Corry Shaw, 40, has even inked her ‘Look Up’ campaign on her arm (Picture: Jerry Syder)

Transport for London has started to address the issue with the roll out of ‘please offer me a seat’ badges, but Corry says she still finds herself pleading with passengers to give up their places.


But the 40-year-old comedy producer has a solution – she wants TfL to make a simple announcement after every stop: ‘Look up. Does someone need your seat?’



Corry says that even if one person takes notice, it could significantly change a disabled person’s life.

She told Metro.co.uk that her chronic pain makes tackling the steps at South Ealing station, which has no step-free access, a daily struggle.

Corry wants ‘Look Up’ to be as ingrained in our minds as ‘Mind the Gap’ (Picture: Jerry Syder)

Corry struggles every day tackling South Ealing station, which has no step-free access (Picture: Jerry Syder)

But if she’s then made to stand up, her journey can become completely unbearable.

She told Metro.co.uk: ‘Sometimes I have the strength and gumption to interrupt people and ask them to move but I’ve been refused several times and it is embarrassing, making each subsequent time I need to ask more and more difficult.

‘I feel I should not have to beg someone to give up a priority seat.

‘And in fact, I’ve given up my own seat when I’ve seen people even more in need than me, when able bodied travellers ignore them.

Corry says some passengers purposefully avoid her eye contact (Picture: Jerry Syder)

‘I think the consciousness has to change. We need to try to have it ingrained in our psyche that priority seats are not just a luxury they are a necessity for some travellers.

‘We need “Look Up” to become as common place and as instinctive as “Mind the Gap”.’

Corry has Scheuermann’s disease, tendinopathy, bursitis, osteoarthritis, DDD, nerve damage and endometriosis.

Her disability has also left her suffering from depression, panic attacks, anxiety and PTSD.

Corry suffers from Scheuermann’s disease, tendinopathy, bursitis, osteoarthritis, DDD, nerve damage and endometriosis (Picture: Jerry Syder)

It got so bad three years ago that she became bed-bound, and has only recently regained enough mobility to return to work part-time.

She describes herself as a ‘reluctant’ activist, but says she has no choice but to fight for change.

‘I really hope I can get everyone’s backing with this,’ she added. ‘I know there would be a cost to roll out such a campaign, but it would make such a massive difference to the lives of those most struggling.’

Corry has met with representatives from TfL to discuss her campaign, who admitted ‘more work’ can be done to help disable passengers.

Mark Evers, London Underground’s Chief Customer Officer, said: ‘Being able to get a seat on public transport can make a real difference to people who are less able to stand and we’ve been working hard make services more comfortable for people with accessibility needs.



‘Our “please offer me a seat” badge and our recent Priority Seating campaign has been a great way to remind customers that not all conditions are visible and to give up their seat to those who may need it more.

‘However, we recognise that there is more work to be done and we are open to discussing new ways we can encourage everyone to look out for their fellow travellers. We have met the organiser of the #lookup campaign to see if anything more can be done.’