Removing Barriers: Access for All
Forest of Bowland National Landscape hosts a celebration of what’s possible
A free accessibility event held in Gisburn Forest proved to be a resounding success, with every spot on the two-day symposium quickly reserved.
Hosted by The Forest of Bowland National Landscape team and Access the Dales, the event was described as an ‘exciting celebration of what’s possible’, and was designed to help organisations, businesses and individuals learn more about accessibility, share examples of best practice and engage in inclusive activities in a beautiful outdoor setting.
Activities included bushcraft skills, foraging, forest bathing, charcoal sketching and more, with workshop discussions focused on autism, dementia, mental health, inclusivity in the outdoors and tourism.
A variety of all-terrain wheelchairs were also available for the duration of the event for delegates to try out for themselves.
Organisers were delighted to welcome staff from Paralympics GB who were filming for their Everybody Moves programme during the event.
Sustainable Tourism Officer for the Forest of Bowland National Landscape Hetty Byrne explains: ‘Feedback from the event has been incredible and very humbling. We were joined not only by visitors from the local area, but also from Kent, the Wye Valley, the Lake District, Northumberland, and even Fife and London.
‘We were thrilled that the event was so well received and opened up some really important conversations around accessibility and inclusivity.
‘Delegates were keen to take part in a host of outdoor workshops while sharing ideas with each other and learning from our session leaders.
‘We know we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible, and we hope that attendees will take lots of ideas away and be inspired to create their own events or implement what they’ve learned on a day-to-day basis.’
Sarah Dornan, Countryside Access Officer for the Forest of Bowland National Landscape said: ‘Events like this provide a wonderful opportunity to come together and share experiences and best practice. We are proud to showcase what’s on offer in Bowland and delighted that we could offer this event to people for free, which was made possible via DEFRA Accessibility Funding’.
For details of Access for All opportunities in the Forest of Bowland visit: www.forestofbowland.com/access-all-guide