Our Chief Officer David Shaftoe enjoyed a splendid day at Pateley Bridge delivering a training course on disability and awareness – part of Open Country’s work with Nidderdale National Landscape’s ‘Access for All’ project.
Representatives from organisations such as Nidderdale National Landscapes, North Yorkshire Council, National Trust, The Skell Valley Project, and Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust gathered to discuss access issues, with an emphasis on practical, collaborative solutions.
A particularly popular element of the day was a disability empathy exercise on the town’s Millennium Green, involving wheelchairs and glasses to simulate visual conditions such as glaucoma.
While the Millennium Green is a very accessible and popular recreational area in the town, it’s a different story when you try to reach a picnic table across long grass in a wheelchair, only to find out you can’t reach a drink from the table top, or you have to navigate a kissing gate solo….
It was great to meet such an enthusiastic group of people committed to improving access in the countryside and receive some encouraging feedback.
“It shows you don’t have to do too much to make things a little easier for people with disabilities.”
“It really highlights what a difference a slight incline or camber, or a rough path can make to someone with mobility issues or visual impairments. Very thought provoking.”
To find out more about Open Country’s services, visit www.opencountry.org.uk
The images shows a woman in a wheelchair with someone pushing her. There is an obstacle making progress over a bridge difficult.
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