Why Geordie ravers are clubbing it in Deptford

LONDON'S nightclubs helped to put the Cool into Britannia. But world famous names like the Ministry of Sound are facing new competition for the title of top hot spot. The Beautiful Octopus club in Deptford regularly attracts 500 ravers from as far a field as Newcastle.

This month it even had to add an extra night to cope with demand. But what makes the success of the club so remarkable is that it is Europe's first club for people with learning disabilities run by people with learning disabilities. And by 10pm the dancefloor is heaving.

As loads of snappily dressed clubbers stagger around with huge smiles and cans of Red Stripe in their hands, the open mic slot gets under way. First up to wild hoots is a male stripper, then a blues guitar version of Johnny B Goode, followed by a musician with cerebral palsy who plays a set of hardcore techno, controlling a synthesiser with his feet. The club is revolutionising attitudes to the learning disabled, forcing more traditional agencies like Mencap to rethink their policies. "There's been a huge growth in the culture of people with learning difficulties wanting to go out in the evening," explained event founder Mark Williams. "And they want something more than the local scout hut. Essentially they are demanding something a bit more - like what everyone else gets." Sadly what most learning disabled youths experience instead is pure discrimination. "People with learning difficulties kept telling us they weren't getting into mainstream clubs," added Williams, who set up the Octopus club three years ago. "Bouncers make excuses like: 'You're not wearing the right shoes', but our crowd knows the real reason they're not let in - it is because of who they are. "We've turned the whole thing around, taken over a night at a mainstream venue, let people with learning difficulties do what they want, and it's turned into the venue's most successful night. There's a huge throbbing demand for it." Indeed with sophisticated lighting and a high standard of DJing, The Beautiful Octopus feels no different to a mainstream club. Except here everyone is smiling. Upstairs, in the chill-out bar, learning disabled DJ Richard West explained the club's appeal. "Just because some people have a disability doesn't mean they should be discriminated against when they want to enjoy themselves. That's what makes the Beautiful Octopus Club so good. It's our club, we have a chance to do what we want to do." Between a raucous version of I will Survive and Summer Holiday, complete with Tom Jones-style knee drops, learning disabled MC Mark Burgess added that for all the disco lights, Internet caf, and chill- out room, the club is not just about unbridled hedonism. "We support each other. It's like a family. It helps people to think positively, look at the future, not at the past." Mark Williams believes the event will have a huge effect on the learning disabled "industry". "I know we are influencing organisations like Mencap who have, for the first time this year, proposed that they're going to have an arts policy, for example. Essentially what's happening is the youth are taking the lead now. The whole ethos behind the Octopus club is people doing their own thing, and taking far more control over what they want to do." More importantly several Octopus DJs are being booked to play on a freelance basis at mainstream venues. "We're seriously considering the possibility of setting up a DJ agency," enthused Williams. And the club itself has just been approached to host an arena in the Millennium Dome.

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