Hi everyone and welcome to the very first Disabled Access Day

podcast! The place you can find out all the latest news and

hints and tips regarding Disabled Access Day this year, that is

taking place from the 10 to 12 March 2017. Now, this might be

the very first time that you've heard of Disabled Access Day. So

let me tell you a little more about it, of course in an ideal world

Disabled Access Day will technically be every single day.

Society will be step free and barrier free for everyone all of the

time. But I think it's fair to say there were not there yet and until

a day of total inclusion arrives Disabled Access Day is here to

showcase what really can be done when we strive for the

reality access and inclusion being a top priority for many, many

people.

The idea came from Paul Ralph who is a power chair user and

lives in Edinburgh and he was invited to go to try out day's local

bus company. He had the chance to explore a stationary bus it

was a great opportunity for him to say I’ve tried something new

and I really really enjoyed it. He was chatting to his friends

afterwards and thought it would be amazing if other disabled

people had similar opportunities and experiences available to

them, happening across the UK, all at the same time.

But, without the same amount of pressure that can often

surround accessibility today. You all know, what I mean all of

those electric ramps on London buses that everybody watching

you get up we absolutely don't want that all of the time. Now,

disabled access is three years old and the events just keep

growing with over a 1 000 places doing something and more

than 10 000 disabled people and their friends getting involved

in the spirit of you and someone new. Which is really our

slogan for this year. It doesn't matter what you doing or where

you going or what your preferences are really as long as you go

out there and go and try somewhere or something new. And,

you can relay that information and that experience back to your

friends, that's really all we are hoping for. And, of course this

isn't a quick fix, Disabled Access Day is not a quick fix. What

we are really, really trying to do is encourage venues to see

what a difference it makes when accessibility is put on the top

of their agenda. And actually what a difference it makes for

disabled people their friends and their family, and how much

more accessible it makes society as a whole as well.

So, as this is our very very first podcast I thought we would

focus on disabled individuals themselves and as a disabled

person that's a brilliant thing for me to be focusing on as well.

We often get asked about what we can do as a family on

Disabled Access Day. We often get asked about transport and

Disabled Access Day and we often get asked about how we

can then review what we've done in the amazing experiences

that we've had other disabled people can get involved and have

those experiences too.

So those are the three things that I'd like to focus on on today's

podcast. So, first of all how can we make a family day out of

Disabled Access Day. So it is running from March 10 to the

12th as I said it's a whole week and this year because we had

such an amazing turnout for the last two years, we thought why

not expand a little bit and see what happens. So that's really,

really exciting. But in terms of family time that makes it even

better as well because now we've got a whole weekend to get

involved. Whether you are a parent or whether you're a child

listening to this and whatever you want to do this something for

you to get involved in, that we can assure is accessible safe

and loads of fun as well. And of course fun for the family is a

phrase that is in high demand. For the many people that are

looking for a day out for everyone to enjoy many, many parents

have different preferences and things that they enjoy to their

children and what we want to do when no different here are

Disabled Access Day, we want to make sure that we can find

things that all the family can enjoy. And here are just a few

venues and attractions they can provide incredibly accessible

experiences whatever your age and especially if you're a big

kid at heart which let's be honest, is many of us.

So first of all I want to tell you about a venue that will

particularly have the water babies within is getting quite excited.

have you heard of Sandcastle Waterpark in Blackpool if you

haven't I really, really do suggest going for a family friendly and

fun place with brilliant inclusive facilities, such as changing

places toilets, pull friendly wheelchairs and water ambassadors

to help navigate the pool for anyone who might require

assistance, Sandcastle Waterpark really is the place to be on

Disabled Access Day. And any other time of year as well. So

the accessible parking on site the reception is fitted with

induction loops and accessible changing and lower desks and

things like that, are just considered the norm here. So you go in

as a wheelchair user the lower desk for you to book your tickets

to get involved and then you can go you can get changed in the

accessible changing room and there are even Water

Ambassadors there to get you get you into the pool and give

your hand navigate in the pool if that's what you need. So

really, really access and inclusion is the priority here don't

forget to brave the waterslides if you dare! There’s much fun

that can be had for anybody who is a bit of an adrenaline junkie

as well. So isn't it wonderful there are actually adrenaline and

accessibility can go hand in hand. I don't know about you but

that's something that I don't have much experience of so it's

great to see that it's starting to happen.

What if water parks aren’t the place that you want to be on

Disabled Access Day. Well we have museums of all shapes

and sizes, that can guarantee an interest for all ages. Museums

really are one of the places to be for an accessible family day

out especially on Disabled Access Day. Last year Kelham

Island Museum in Sheffield introduce so many inclusive

activities including an autism friendly hour storytelling with

puppets and British sign language, interpretation including

touch tours of the museums and stalls run by several disabled

access groups. There were also a number of incredible talks on

topics such as inclusive design, improving access for disabled

children and becoming a dementia friendly museum. So you

can go and have an amazing time looking at all these different

exhibits, in a way that is accessible to you but you can get

involved in some cool talks and swot up on all things inclusion,

which let's be honest we all should be doing. So museums

really really are a fantastic choice, feel free to go onto the

Disabled Access Day website at www.disabledaccessday.com

and have a look at all the different museums that are getting

involved this year. There is a place you can go if you, go into

the what's on tab in the website you can go and have an event

search and put in somewhere near to you see if there get

involved in Disabled Access Day. So it really really is a brilliant

way to find out where to go and what to do.

So if you looking for something a little more on the exotic side

why not go to Belfast and try out Salability. This is a really really

amazing project and they really do have something for

everyone from boats with drop-down bows, to allow wheelchair

users to stay in their chairs whilst on the water to motorboats

and quayside hoist allow everyone to get into position and have

a go at steering themselves. That's pretty cool hey! And if

you're lucky you just might spot the friendly colony of seals that

regularly swim near by. I don't know about you but that sounds

like why a great access day to me.

And of course, we want access to to be a memorable family

day out everybody and we want you to take loads of pictures.

Tell us about your experiences so feel free to tweet us

Access_day and use the hashtag #AccessDay. Tell us about

the amazing experiences that you've had because one thing

that is really really important about Disabled Access Day is it

not just one day of the year hopefully. And, hopefully long-term

we can get disabled people from all over the country getting

involved in different venues and different experiences every

single weekend. And if you can tell is about an experience that

you've had from March 10 to the 12th this year on Access Day

then we can hopefully share that around and make sure the

other disabled people get to enjoy those experiences as well,

that's what it's really all about.

so let's look at transport than two of course all of these venues

and the brilliant things that the putting on a really really

important the destination is important but so is how we get

there. What's the point in having an amazing exhibition if

actually disabled people can't get to that venue? So transport is

a really really big issue for us and it's something that we don't

take very lightly. And we are aware that it can either make or

break an experience depending on how accessible it is and

how much assistance is available and how clearly it signed. In

recent years were happy to say that many transport networks

have really improved when it comes to inclusion for all.

And here are just some of our favourites, because obviously I

can't tell you about all my favourite ones on a short podcast.

But here just dotted around the UK are some of our very, very

favourite ways of transporting. First of all let's look at the

Thames Clippers now if you haven't been on the Thames

Clippers I really do recommend it is an amazing way is nothing

else to see London from the water, what a great opportunity.

But it's also so accessible, so if you rushing around from

meeting to meeting or if you going around with the family on

Disabled Access Day and to want to get with few different

venues around London are you unsure how to do it without

traffic jams and taxi fares then try the Thames Clippers. As

Paul founded did, they are totally accessible spacious and

provide much less stress and a much nicer view than the two

the water transport is definitely making waves in London so it's

a brilliant thing to experience for Disabled Access Day itself.

If you are going to London or if you don't really fancy getting on

the water, there are other things for you to get involved when in

in terms of transport. One of them is the tram network in

Manchester and this is a tram network running right through the

city, with level access throughout so if your wheelchair user or

you got some kind of mobility impairment this will be a really

really great way of getting round the city for you. It's really one

to be rivalled is the Manchester Tram Network when it comes to

city living on a budget as well. So you can forget all these high

car parking fees and just enjoy the experience of going around

on this tram and looking at Manchester through the window, it

really is brilliant. And the best bit there’s no special equipment

needed for disabled people to get onto and off the trams, not

even any portable or automatic ramps are required so is no

dependence on staff necessary, winner, winner!

Let’s look at planes, if you are wanting to go somewhere quite

exotic for Disabled Access Day, and we do have many many

different countries taking part including Iceland, Portugal and

Belgium. Then one of our main partners for Disabled Access

Day is Gatwick Airport. and they really really had to be

mentioned not only for their willingness to place inclusion in

which is one of their priorities but also how they demonstrate

this on the ground. And how they introduce access and

inclusion from a ground level. The staff at the airport are given

brilliant training the check-in and the security processes are

made really really quick easy and stress-free as possible. And

they're putting on some extra special events for Disabled

Access Day from the 10th to 12 March. Now we all love a

holiday but those at Gatwick also helping us to love landing

back home as well. So if you are wanting to go somewhere

exotic Gatwick Airport I would truly recommend somewhere to

fly from and to.

So family days and transport all covered but what about when

you've had your Access Day experience, when you've had the

most amazing time with the family, friends or even on your own

spiriting someone something or somewhere brand-new. How to

tell people about that, now word-of-mouth is really really brilliant

thing and I really recommend that you go and tell all your

disabled friends and family all about it. There should be a better

and a bigger way to make more of an impact right? Well you

and Euan’s Guide is an amazing charity helping to support and

power Disabled Access Day to help it really make a great

impact. And and Euan’s Guide if you've not heard of them

provide disabled access reviews two places from all over the

UK she can go on Euan’s Guide as a disabled person typing a

particular venue and see if someone else has already been

reviewed it. and they might have reviewed everything from

disabled parking to accessible toilets to how you get in and out

of the venue and what's on offer white once you're inside. It's a

really, really excellent way of circulating accessibility

knowledge. And one thing that we want to encourage people to

do at Disabled Access Day it is to review their venue or their

experience on Euan’s Guide once disabled access date is over.

So that disabled people their friends and their family can get

involved later on in the year or of course on disabled access to

next year.

So, how do you write a Euan's Guide review you can go on to

you and guide website www.euansguide.com. And there's

loads and loads of hints, tips and inspiration for writing your

own review on their if you want that.

What makes a great review, that something that can help you

with on this podcast. Photos, videos and audio clips describing

the venue are really helpful, so don't forget to take the camera

and maybe even give somebody a little interview when you

doubt why not? Potential visitors can then imagine and plan

their experience before they even arrive, because as you know

a lot of disabled people worry about three things. Whether they

can park or get to a venue, how will they be able to get in, or

whether or not the bathroom will be accessible and fit their

requirements. So can get photos of all three of these things and

describe your experience you're onto a winner already. Think of

the highlights of the visit as well with the staff really helpful and

of course that's a massively important thing you can have the

most accessible venue in the world but actually the thing that

we've been told makes or breaks a trip is how helpful the staff

are. So if the staff were particularly brilliant don't forget to

mention it, if there was brilliant signage across the venue again

make sure that that's in the review and if the access ramps

were of a really great gradient for solo travellers you might not

need assistance when once you’re there, again that's

something that a lot of disabled people will want to know about.

So here are some hints and tips from the guys at Euan’s Guide

themselves about what makes a brilliant review in terms of

parking and transport don't forget to let people know if there is

a car park or on street parking nearby and if there are any blue

badge parking spaces as well. What about a convenient drop

off point if you get a taxi? that's something that is also really

really good to mention. If you're not driving and using public

transport as part of your experience, know where the nearest

station is or if there is a bus stop nearby how far away the

nearest public transport is. Those are all things that other

disabled people want to know and if you can let them know in

advance and that's an absolutely amazing thing to be able to

do.

When thinking about access, think about the doors at the

automatic the easy to open is the level access for wheelchair

users, and are there any ramps, if there are steps how many

are there and actually within a venue can disabled people get

to all the main areas and use them. I’ve been to many, many

museums in different galleries where a lot of the access is

brilliant, but some of the most exciting exhibitions are up some

stairs and I can’t get to them, and again that's something that

disabled people it's really good for them to know in advance so

they don't get the hopes up a little bit too much, like I often

have. Again, what’s the signage like and can you easily find out

where to go, what’s the lift like what type are they and how big

are they and other any alternative reading formats as well when

it comes to looking at gallery photos or museum exhibits. Do

they have information available in Braille or large print and is a

hearing late for deaf or hard of hearing customers?

If you stayed somewhere overnight then tell us about the

bedroom and the bathroom to of course it's amazing when you

find somewhere as a disabled person that is not just chain

hotel, if you find somewhere that a little bit independent and a

little bit kooky but really accessible that's a real winner for a lot

of us.

Of course everybody wants to know about the toilets as well, so

let people know if there is an accessible toilet where it is how

easy it is to find, how big is it and is anything been stored in

something that we often know quite how happens quite a lot. Is

there a change of places toilet and does it also have baby

changing facilities is an emergency card and is it hanging

correctly these, are all things that people really, really

appreciate knowing? Of course I've said it before but the

number one most important part of any visit, is the staff let

people know if staff are particularly amazing, if they make you

feel really welcome anything done anything to really, really help

you and of course what could be improved.

Let’s focus on celebrating all of these venues that we go to in

the experiences that we have. Let's try and take so much worry

out of going somewhere as a disabled person and think about

what an amazing welcome some venues give us.

Now that it fully disabled access to podcast this week we

focused on family days out transport and how to write a brilliant

review so other disabled people can have a brilliant experience

at somewhere new very, very soon. I hope that's been really

really helpful if you have any questions feel free to email me at

emily.yates@disabledaccessday.com and what I'm going try

and do is take all your questions in and answer them for the

next podcast and also to hopefully have a guest on the next

show. But, let's see where that goes fingers crossed I thank you

so much for listening, and lots of love access and inclusion to

you all, bye!