Handicaching? Handicaching? I hear you all say, has Craig completely lost it? What the heck is handicahcing?!
I became aware of Geocaching last year through a friend, but to be honest, I would have had a similar reaction about handicaching until a few hours ago when I read a post by Liz Carr on the BBC Ouch blog. So to break it down, here’s a quick YouTube introduction from the friendly guys at Geocaching.com:
So, there you are, it’s all about a game to find hidden little treasures around the country using GPS devices and GPS enabled mobile phones! But what’s the difference between Geocaching and Handicaching?
Well, with Geocaching each cache that you look for (the hidden little treasure) normally have a star rating from one to five to indicate how difficult the terrain is with one star being the easiest.
The problem according to Handicaching.com is that the Geocache Rating System uses one star for caches that are wheelchair accessible. This idea is flawed in several ways which include:
The rating system or the wheelchair aspect of the system is often overlooked by cache hiders, who can rate the terrain for caches higher or lower than they actually are
A cache that may be wheelchair accessible may not be accessible to people with other types of disabilities, or even people who cannot use a wheelchair for anything other than short distances
Many non-disabled people are unsure of what constitutes accessible and are therefore unable to rate or mark a cache accordingly
So basically, Handicaching decided to come up with their own system and make it truly accessible for disabled people.
Not only may Handicaching be fun for the participants but I can also think of lots of practical uses for disabled people such as marking disabled toilets, entrances to public buildings, safe crossings for roads, maybe even mark accessible routes along foot and canal tow paths. I think that Handicaching could really be a useful tool for disabled tourists wanting to get out into the great outdoors and have their own GPS map to help guide them through the countryside.
Vitalise which is a charity that provides short breaks for disabled people and carers has recently announced that they will be the subject of a BBC TV Lifeline Appeal to be broadcast on 18 and 21 April 2010.
The charity recently opened their doors to a BBC film crew and comedian Authur Smith who spoke to disabled holiday makers at Vitalise Netley Waterside House in Southampton about the challenges of living with a disability and the difference Vitalise makes to their lives.
This month the Civil Aviation Authority published its review on the implementation of European legislation on the rights of disabled and reduced mobility passengers in the UK.
The CAA concluded that there are some areas where it would be helpful for industry and People with Reduced Mobility groups to work together to consider possible improvements. These include:
increasing consumer and industry awareness of their rights and responsibilities under the Regulation;
increasing the capture of passenger needs at booking, and to ensure these are effectively passed on to airports;
ensuring that airlines/tour operators/travel agents provide sufficient information so passengers can make informed choices about journeys;
ensuring that airports are aiming at a service that covers all parts of the passenger journey (including points of arrival at airport and journey through airport after arrival by air);
increasing the number of routes available for passengers travelling with assistance dogs; and
making airports simpler and easier for PRMs to navigate themselves or with assistance from accompanying passengers, e.g. by better signage and provision of audible and visual information to assist blind and deaf passengers.
A full copy of the Accessible Air Travel Review can be downloaded at the CAA website.
The Mobility Roadshow on the 1st – 3rd July 2010 will be held at the East of England Showground in Peterborough. Don’t know where that is? Have a look at the location map on the Mobility Roadshow website. You can also find local accommodation and other things to do on OpenBritain.
Our partners DisabledGo will also be attending this event as well as Naidex. For those interested in Caravanning and Camping, Nirvana Motorhomes will also be attending the event as well as car manufacturers, companies that adapt vehicles and test drives will be available as usual.
This is a large event so people would be wise to try to deicide what they want to see before they go. You can do research on the Mobility Roadshow website and also download and print the event floor plans.
The event will also be held in Edinburgh on the 17th & 18th September and details will follow shortly.
Naidex has also announced that ”Shannon Murray will be opening the event at 10:00am on Tuesday April 20th at the Birmingham NEC. Shannon is without doubt the UK’s most recognisable disabled model and recently starred in the Channel 4 series How to Look Good Naked. In addition to opening Naidex, Shannon will also be giving a short talk and answering questions within the lifestyle and demonstration zone at 1:30pm.”
OpenBritain partners DisabledGo will be at the event so why not pop along to visit them and other holiday exhibitors.
The Naidex website gives information on exhibitors, floor plan and details on how to get there. Information about where to stay and other things to do in the Birmingham area can be found by using the OpenBritain search engine.
Registration for the event is now open, please do so on their registration page.
Situated on the shore with fabulous views over the sea to the Isle of Mull the Ledaig Caravan Site is “A wonderful 30-acre park that has been awarded the David Bellamy Conservation Award, it is situated on a 2 mile sand and shingle beach on Ardmucknish Bay. Here sailing, water sports and safe bathing can be enjoyed by all the family. Some pitches at the caravan site are almost on the water’s edge and all of them face the sea, offering panoramic view to the beautiful Isle of Mull.”
Although you may have your own suitable facilities in your caravan or camper the site also has a bathroom equipped for disabled people including a WC with grab rails and a level access shower.
Cambushinnie Croft is on a working farm in Cromlix, Perthshire and was completed in 2008. The farm is surrounded by open views of the Ochil Hills and is also only 4 miles away from the Cathedral town of Dunblane.
The 3 bedroom property sleeps up to 6 people and one of the bedrooms is on the ground floor making it accessible for wheelchair users. This bedroom also has an en-suite wet room with shower. Cambushinnie Croft has been assessed by Visit Scotland and has been awarded a Category 2.
The Lovat Lodge Hotel overlooks the Moray Firth in Scotland and is located near to Inverness. The hotel is adapted with facilities including lever taps, adjustable beds, accessible bathrooms and walk-in showers. Lovat Lodge is wheelchair accessible and has wheelchair accessible suites with bathrooms. The staff also have experience in the requirements of disabled people and they have equipment such as wheelchairs and motorised buggies which maybe available during your stay. You should contact the hotel for further information.
Although the hotel does not have a full Access Statement you can contact them directly if you have any specific questions. The hotels contact details and further information can be found on OpenBritain, on page 330 of the OpenBritain 2010 Guide and on the Lovat Lodge Hotel Website.
Crathie Opportunity Holidays are 4 self-catering cottages in the restored Manse Courtyard of historic Crathie Kirk, Aberdeenshire. Located in the Cairngorm National Park, Crathie lies between the villages of Braemar and Ballater some 50 miles west of Aberdeen.
The 4 cottages are all named after glens near Crathie and all have level ground floor access throughout, fully accessible kitchens, level access showers, height adjustable beds and ceiling tracking hoists. Each of the cottages have their own pages where more details are given about the specific accommodation. Please see the Clunie, Gairn, Gelder and Girnock pages for further information.
Proven House provides self catering accomodation situated on a working farm near Alston, Lancashire, in the beautiful Ribble Valley and was converted to a very high standard in 2008. The property has been assessed and given awards for mobility, visual and hearing impairments under the National Accessible Scheme.
The house consists of a fully equipped kitchen/dining area with all modern amenities, comfortable lounge with digital TV/DVD, twin bedded room with adjustable beds and en-suite wet room with disabled facilities.
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