Today marks the 23rd UN International Day of People with Disabilities. With access and empowerment at the core of the celebrations it’s apt that the day also marks just 100 days until Disabled Access Day 2016.
The annual Disabled Access Day is set for its second year on 12th March 2016 and aims to encourage disabled people, their friends and families to visit somewhere new. Over 100 venues across the UK, including Kensington Palace, the Millennium Stadium and the Scottish Parliament, have already signed up with plenty of time for more venues to get involved before the day.
Euan’s Guide, the disabled access review website and app, is the lead sponsor of the day, other supporters include VisitEngland, VisitScotland, Caffè Nero, Barclays and restaurant chain Strada. Caffè Nero will be offering a complementary hand crafted coffee at selected stores across the country in support of the day and a number of events, including venue tours, children’s activities and special promotions will be taking place.
Other activities taking place across the UK include guided walks by volunteers at the Sculthorpe Moor Community Nature Reserve using their newly opened accessible board walk, a relaxed performance of David Walliams’s ‘Gangsta Granny’ at Sheffield Theatre and British Sign Language and Audio Described tours of the Cutty Sark.
The winner of the Euan’s Guide Fringe Award for ‘Accessible Show’, ‘The Solid Life of Sugar Water’ will be on at the National Theatre on Disabled Access Day and they will be running a special ticket offer for people taking part.
The day is being celebrated across the UK with different activities and deals on offer. Disabled Access Day aims to get the 12 million disabled people in the UK to try somewhere new through promoting accessibility and is an important opportunity for retailers.
Kathryn Townsend, Head of Customer and Client Accessibility at Barclays, said: “Disabled Access Day is a fantastic opportunity for businesses to demonstrate how they are accessible to all – whether that’s physical access to a building, or access to virtual channels – like digital, mobile or telephony. At Barclays we actively seek out ground-breaking and innovative solutions to historical barriers. We are thrilled to be participating in Disabled Access Day for a second year and look forward to making it an even bigger event for our customers and colleagues.”
Tom James, Operations Director at Strada, said: “At Strada we are incredibly proud to be involved in Disabled Access Day. We want our restaurants to feel like home and the opportunity to open our doors to more guests who may be coming to visit us for the first time is incredibly exciting. Hospitality is, at its core, about making people happy and all the teams at Strada are relishing the chance to make a special day even more memorable for everyone involved.”
Euan MacDonald, co-founder of the disabled access reviews website EuansGuide.com, the main sponsor of Disabled Access Day, said: “There are around 12 million disabled people in the UK and an estimated 1 billion worldwide. It’s important that we raise awareness of the issue of disabled access and encourage venues to highlight their accessibility on Disabled Access Day. Last year’s event has given us a great foundation to build on but now we have to push on and not only promote accessibility, but highlight the commercial value in catering for the UK’s disabled people and their family, friends and carers.”
Don’t forget to get involved with Disabled Access Day on Saturday 12th March 2016 and keep an eye out for more special offers set to be announced: http://www.disabledaccessday.com/
