Archive for November, 2009

OpenBritain Guide Book Now Available!

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Order OpenBritain 2010

The OpenBritain Guide is now available to order and comes packed full of useful tourist information for disabled people.

For the first time, the three leading travel and accommodation guides for disabled people have become one. Easy Access Britain (published by Tourism for All) and Where to Stay and There and Back (both published by RADAR publications) have now joined forces to create this new, all encompassing guide book.

The new OpenBritain Guide is now the definitive book for the traveller with access needs. The guide is packed with easy to use information – from where to stay, how to get there and what to see and do once your there.

The Open BritainGuide contains everything you need to explore and enjoy Britain to the full if you are disabled.

The book is designed to:

Help disabled people travel and book accommodation with access facilities that are suitable for their needs, by providing an easy to use, one stop solution.

Promote the range of suitable quality leisure activities.

Provide a platform for businesses wishing to promote accessible accommodation, travel, attractions, retail and leisure and sports facilities to people with disabilities.

Build a UK based travel community for people with disabilities so that they can share their experiences, views, suggestions and advice regarding tourism in the UK.

So what are you waiting for? Why not order you copy today!

Manaros Luxury Accommodation, Wales

Friday, November 20th, 2009

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Manaros purpose built luxury accommodation sleeps up to 8 people and is located in the beautiful Welsh village of Aberdaron on the Llŷn Peninsula, Gwynedd. The village boasts a glorious sandy beach, known as “The Land’s End of Wales” and the Llŷn Peninsula is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Seals and dolphins and all manner of bird life are plentiful.

Manaros is an accessible, single-storey, luxury accommodation purpose built for letting to groups of friends and families that wish to enjoy all the benefits of a spacious and comfortable open plan living area together with the privacy of a secluded position and 4 en suite double bedrooms.

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The Manaros website gives lots of vital and useful information for disbaled people and includes a full access statement which includes relevant information such as:

Manaros was built on one level in 2008 to the highest possible access standards.

The property has been designed to comply with the Disabilities Discrimination Act and Part M of Building Regulations to enable people, regardless of disability, to have access to and use the relevant areas of the building.

-There is ample car parking with a spot reserved for the Disabled right by the front door with external lighted area to the front door.

-There is no significant step or sill on internal or external doors -with the exception of (a) an internal door into the garage/utility room. Wheel chairs can still access this from the front garage door which is wide and on the level. (b) the conservatory door onto the patio which has a 63mm sill. The patio can still be reached by wheelchair from the adjacent lounge and by a level path around the property from the front door.

-Main external doors are double doors min 1.8 metres overall. Two escape doors are 820mm wide. Entry doors into the bedrooms and a Disabled Shower room and WC are a minimum of 830mm. Bedroom One has a 860mm wide door into the en suite. Bedrooms 2, 3, and 4 doors into their en suites are .750mm wide.

-All bedrooms and have laminate floor covering and no carpets or rugs.

-Bedroom en-suites have Marley non-slip safety flooring.

-There are two shower rooms/WC which are specially equipped for wheelchair users – Bedroom 1 and the communal Disabled Shower/WC/wash room off the hall. Both are designed to Part M of the Building Regulations.

It’s great to see that individual accommodation providers are beginning to supply such information for disabled people and you can also read the full access statement on the OpenBritain website.

For further information please contact Peter or Simon on 01758 760 652 or email them at: enquiries@aberdaronbandb.co.uk

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OpenBritain to Launch OpenLondon

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

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The new OpenLondon guide is the definitive guide for visitors to London with access needs. The guide contains everything required to enjoy London to the full.

OpenLondon is packed with useful information on accommodation, places of interest, transport, theatres, restaurants and shopping.

Clear, attractive entries present the reader with facts at their fingertips and useful maps help find locations.

Inspirational information about places to visit and practical advice on getting around the city make this guide an invaluable holiday or business trip planning tool for anyone with access needs.

Why advertise in the OpenLondon guide?

If you want to promote your accessible services to an enormous, largely untapped market, this is the publication for you.

• The OpenLondon guide is a unique publication – a definitive travel guide for people with access needs. OpenLondon has everything needed to explore and enjoy London to the full

• Display advertisers also receive a free detailed listing including photographs and a link to your website on www.openbritain.net

• OpenLondon will be marketed through networks used by disabled people including RADAR and Tourism for All UK

• OpenLondon is available in newsagents, bookshops and Tourist Information Centres throughout the UK

• The OpenLondon guide is a full colour, high quality book

• This publication is the OFFICIAL guide which is supported by The Mayor of London, Visit London and the London Development Agency

For further information please download the OpenLondon Media Pack below.

pdficon_large OpenLondon Media Pack

Woodlands Country House, Cornwall

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

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Woodlands

Woodlands Country House is a comfortable, award winning, family run B&B guesthouse, standing in a rural setting with farmland views, sweeping down to Trevone Bay, just around the corner from Padstow, Cornwall. The accommodation has 1 adpated bedroom with facilities for disabled people including a roll in shower and also an Access Statement.

The Woodland’s website has an Out and About page for local actvities and they have indicated which attractions have facilities for disabled people.

Information regarding the Woodlands Country House can also be found on OpenBritain.

Wall Hill Farm, Cheshire

Monday, November 16th, 2009

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Wall Hill Farm is a 7 bedroomed grade 2 listed property in Action Bridge, Cheshire. The 250 year old brick built, traditional Cheshire barn was converted in 2009 and includes a bedroom which is adapted for disabled people.

Room 3 is “a  twin room on the ground floor with two 900mm single beds and providing full disability access including wheelchair access to both the bedroom and en-suite bathroom, which contains open area shower, toilet and wash hand basin.”

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The Wall Hill Farm website also gives a list of attractions in the area with relevant internet links. A full Access Statement for Wall Hill Farm is available on the OpenBritain Website.

Tate Collection

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Tate Collection

When I think of the Tate Gallery I think of one gallery in London, maybe this is because I’m simply not in the know, the Tate Collection is actually 4 galleries across the UK and they provide quite a lot of information for disabled people on their website. I would recommend that you visit the website and have a look around for the information that you require but here’s a brief over view of the galleries and some of the available information.

The website is broken down into the 4 seperate gallaries, Tate Britain, Modern (both in London), Liverpool and St. Ives. In each section the format is the same.

On the Visiting  pages there is general information regarding the specific gallery including the address, opening hours, admission prices and how to get there. This information is also available in British Sign Language (BSL) through RealPlayer and it also gives the Minicom number for deaf people.

Visiting Pages:

Tate Britain

Tate Modern

Tate Liverpool

Tate St. Ives
Each of the galleries has an Access and Facilities Page and a page relating to different programmes that the gallery runs for visitors with learning disabilities, blind and deaf people.

Access and Facilities:

Tate Britain

Tate Modern

Tate Liverpool

Tate St. Ives

Programmes:

Tate Britain

Tate Modern

Tate Liverpool

Tate St. Ives

The Tate Boat

There is also the Tate Boat which runs between the Tate Britain and Tate Modern and the site states that:
The Tate Boat can accommodate wheelchair users.

However, exceptionally high tides mean that the Tate Boat cannot navigate certain Thames bridges and a replacement vessel may be used at these times. Some replacement vessels are not able to accommodate wheelchair users so we strongly recommend that customers call 020 7887 8888 on the day of travel for further details.

Guide and hearing dogs are welcome on the Tate Boat.

Access at the Tate Collection

You can find all of this of this information and more on one handy Tate Collection Access Page.

Tate Boat

Your Rights To Fly

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

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“Under European law, if you are disabled or have difficulty moving around you can request assistance when you fly to and from Europe.

Anyone who has difficulty moving around, for example, because of their disability, age or a temporary injury, can receive help when they fly. You do not need to be permanently or physically disabled to benefit from this service.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is the complaints handling body in Great Britain for Air Travel Accessibility. The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland is the body for Northern Ireland and both organisations offer advice and guidance.”

For further information regarding “Your rights to fly” please see the guide provided at the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The “Your rights to fly” guide is also available in hard copy, Easy Read, Braille, audio CD, data CD, and downloadable pdf versions.

For further information you can also look at the European Commission’s page on Passenger Rights.

Tourism for All Publications

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

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Tourism for All have recently updated some of their publications for disabled holiday makers. The new publications include a 30 page “Activity and Special Interest Holidays” and 12 page “Transport” guides.

The Activity and Special Interest Holidays publication gives information and advice regarding:

  • Organisations providing activity holidays
  • Multi-Activity Centres
  • Water based activity holidays
  • Special interest holidays
  • Accommodation with activities available nearby
  • Useful contacts

The Transport publication is a great resource for people wanting to know more about:

  • Travel by Rail
  • Travel by Car
  • Travel by Air
  • Travel by Coach
  • London Transport
  • National Travel Associations
  • National Voluntary Organisations offering assistance

To order your copy of the new publications as well as any of the older ones simply visit the Tourism for All publications page.

Copthorne Tara, London

Monday, November 9th, 2009

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The Copthorne Tara Hotel in London has recently published new information about it’s adapted rooms which includes basic information such as:

Larger bedrooms featuring adapted facilities throughout. Double and twin beds are available and most of them offer the option of an interconnecting room.

All of the adapted bedroom doors open and close electronically, allowing ample time for a wheelchair user to pass through. Door locks are electronically actuated by a key card and the bedside control panels allow operation of the radio, TV and room lights.

Wheelchair accessibility is excellent. Vehicles can stop within feet of the main entrance which is level and has automatic sliding doors. The lobby area is completely level and there is a lower section at the front desk to facilitate wheelchair users.

Conference & Banqueting facilities are also accessible with assisted listening systems available for those with hearing impairments.

The hotel was chosen as the hotel with the best adapted facilities in the UK at the M&IT Awards 2006.

This hotel can be booked at a discounted rate through Tourism for All after registering with the website and the Copthorne Tara have also provided a more detailed 2 page PDF factsheet about facilities for disabled people at the hotel.

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Bonfire Night at Shugborough Estate, Stafford.

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Shugborough

On Saturday 7th November there is a bonfire and firework display at Shugvorough Estate near Stafford. The event is one of the region’s biggest bonfire and firework displays superbly organised by Stafford Round Table. Plus family funfair. (Fair rides additional charge)

Times: Gates open 4:30pm – Bonfire Lit 6:30pm - Fireworks begin 7pm

Ticket prices: Over 12 £7.00, Child 12 and under £3.00, Under 3s FREE, Family (2A+2C)  £15.00 (Family ticket only available in advance only. Other tickets available on the night).

Information for disabled people can be found on the Access at Shugborough webpage.