Access Audits

I really like this part of the job – an access audit, auditing somewhere outdoors. Fresh air, sunshine and nothing else to do but explore every path, check every bench, observe every pond – and possibly enjoy a cup of coffee at the end.

There’s a limit to how many accessible toilets you can investigate, how many access ramps you can measure, how many parking spaces you can count – let’s get outside!

Well, we couldn’t quite tick every box today, there’s – no coffee shop in Shroggs Park – but it’s still a beautiful day out.

What a team

What Shroggs Park has in abundance though is lovely people. I was accompanied on this outing by locally famous urban warrior/activist Joan (complete with dog), and what she didn’t know about the park is not worth knowing.

What a team! I know what I’m looking for, Joan knows what’s where and who everyone is, and the dog attracts other dog walkers as well.

We spent a fruitful couple of hours covering every path, climbing every gradient (and this park has its fair share of gradients!), checking every bench, and reading every sign.

What you don’t notice – taking notes and photos, chatting to everyone you meet, asking questions – is that you quickly cover a considerable distance. All this exercise for free! Love it!

So, we circulated slowly and chatted to everyone, learning about the history of the place – there used to be a pond there, the children used to tend a garden over there, I think there used to be some toilets and a café in that building over there, no they’re going to knock that down, the bus used to come up ……and so on. We also collected a lot of dog walkers en route – we should have a field over there to let the dogs off the lead, why don’t they do that?

A particular destination was the children’s play area. Some money has come into this sort of provision, so watch out for upgrades in your local park – you might be lucky. If nothing seems to be happening, ring up and ask why.

Conclusions from our Access Audit

Having walked every path, overcome every gradient (there are some challenging gradients here), checked every worn surface and reached every bench I remembered I had to take pictures for my report. So, a quick recap and images of gates, potholes, worn paths and wonky benches. Unfortunately (or not, depending on your point of view) most of my pictures featured part or all of a dog as we had attracted a fair number by now! The combination of taking our own dog and having a wheelchair is irresistible to all dogs!

But lots of potential here. I like old municipal parks – space, tranquillity and good access. They were built for the right reasons, and we should treasure them. Something for everyone, whatever your age or status or interest.

What we need here is some care, improving surfaces, upgrading the play area, repurposing of some areas – but a lick of paint, some serious gardening and a bit of imagination will do wonders.

See you next time, Chris

Our New Co-Designed Accessibility & Inclusion Training Course for Calderdale

July 2023

Well, after what seems like a very long absence, face to face accessibility & inclusion training is back!

Covid made us all relatively expert at Zoom, Teams, Skype and all the others, but I’ve got very limited interest in taking several hours to look at tiny images on a screen and trying to read the tiny script. It’s just not the same as talking to a real live group of people!

So, here we are! Our all new, shiny interactive integrated team made its first appearances at the Artworks Gallery and the Orange Box.

It’s amazing how quickly the old skills come back – timing, remembering the old stories, injection of humour, interaction with the delegates – love it!

But this time, something new, something I’ve not had to deal with before, I’m part of a super new Team! Four of us in the same room at the same time – the delegates didn’t stand a chance!

It’s strange at first – you don’t need to fill the whole session, you can learn from others, you can ask questions – but I like this brave new world. Slightly easier on us because we’re sharing, but tougher on the delegates because we’re relentless, we don’t get tired!

Our brand new three hour session, Accessibility & Inclusion Training

Our brand new three hour session covered all the bases and gave a strong introduction to access and inclusion. Delivered as part of the Calderdale/Culturedale project, with an eye on Calderdale year of Culture 2024, we were keen to roadtest our scheme, ready to roll it out in earnest.

We covered the lot in a very concentrated but lively session, including lots of lived experience.

I kicked things off with the basic structure of Social model, appropriate Language and appropriate Behaviour. Can be a bit worthy and politically correct, but that’s not my nature and with a lifetime of lived experiences, mostly happening before legislation was enacted to protect people like me, I can usually hold an audience.

After I’d wound everyone up it was Katie’s turn to express the voice of reason – some legal stuff, can you actually get away with that? Is that actually legal? Then some numbers – how many of us are there?

Nadia then gave us all an astonishing insight to her life from her electric wheelchair as she enjoyed a weekend at Glastonbury (Where? Really?), her experiences in dance workshops and so much more, holding goal attention until you could hear a pin drop as she programmed her voice apparatus.

Big thanks to the lovely Sam from Curious Motion who brought a new perspective to our training and highlighted the importance of soft skills and how a bit of compassion and values goes a long way.

And then, after an exhausting, mind-stretching few hours, we finished with some much appreciated mindfulness to relax the tension we’d created with our mix of knowledge, horror stories, humour and general bloody mindedness. Great way to bring the event to a close.

How was the session?

The sessions seemed to go well and were certainly appreciated. The delegates seemed to gain something, and we’ve also learnt a lot. Hopefully there’ll be plenty more sessions including our accessibility & inclusion training for us to inflict our unique blend of knowledge and experience on you all, delivered in our own personal style.

We’ll know what we’re doing by the end of it all!

Anyway, feedback so far has been excellent which is always energising. I particularly liked one comment made to me over a cup of coffee at the end –

“Chris, I particularly liked your comedy moments, lifted the whole thing for me!”

“Comedy moments? Comedy moments?” I replied, “That’s my life you’re talking about!”

See you next time, Chris

December news! & Accessible Calderdale Updates

Seems to be a very long time since I wrote anything, but that doesn’t mean I’ve not been busy – oh no!  Work is as interesting and demanding as ever, if not more so, and the rest of my life hasn’t been dull either. Read on for news of the Accessible Calderdale Project.

I recently completed a long report for Calderdale on a huge road project connecting Halifax to Huddersfield, touching Elland etc which involved a lot of driving along busy roads, checking out possible crossings, negotiating roundabouts, coping with tricky gradients and discussing the dreaded “shared space” beloved by planners and hated by disabled pedestrians.

I’m still on the Accessible Calderdale project – stalled by Covid but still in operation – and found myself at St Matthews Parish Centre this month. Lovely, welcoming space inside but a crazy car park, too steep to push my wheelchair out of and a busy road to cross from the church without the benefit if a crossing. (The absolute downpour I encountered didn’t help – especially as I left my coat in the car. It’s a man thing).

I also noticed that the Calvert Trust were advertising for Trustees this month so I thought I might apply to see what they were all about. I’m happy to report that they’ve co-opted me onto their Operations committee. Little do they know…..

A lovely weekend break Shropshire

Outside work my car passed its MOT. It’s Motability but they extended my lease because I couldn’t get around car showrooms which were shut during lockdowns.

Had a lovely weekend break Shropshire in a country house which has an RHS connected garden. Very accessible garden and only one tiny portable ramp in the house. The staff used it so much they are going to leave it in place permanently!  On one day we mentioned a nearby house with a stunning garden which was unfortunately shut for the winter. They immediately rang them up and arranged for the garden to be opened up just for myself and partner!

Finally, I’m fully jabbed and now hopefully bullet-proof. Both Covid jabs, official booster, flu jab and even Shingles. Are there any more?

Northern Rail work continues at pace. Very exciting developments. Next week I go to check out a mock-up of an accessible toilet pod. If it stands up to scrutiny then it could be the answer on hundreds of Victorian stations which don’t have appropriate buildings to construct an accessible toilet in or don’t have many buildings at all. Watch this space for developments.

My most recent Audit on the Accessible Calderdale Project

I conducted my most recent Audit on the Accessible Calderdale project at AgeUK in Halifax. Great place, friendly staff and the strangest door system I’ve ever come across. Two narrow single doors next to each other, with a central column? Unless one was originally “in” and the other “out” I can’t fathom it.
Some work to do soon for the new Leisure Centre – can’t wait for that! Just my cup of tea.

Outside of work, we had to say goodbye to our beloved caravan (over twenty years old) which had endured so many fierce winters on the Cumbrian coast that the chassis was about to collapse. A new one just wouldn’t be the same.

And my final act of the month so far has been to successfully complete an online Speeding Course. Yes, I’m afraid to admit I was caught on camera speeding around. Not racing up to Cumbria, not chasing around Manchester where I live, but driving around Halifax a few mph faster than allowed! But online was better than the classroom version I did a few years earlier! (another story)!

Have a great Christmas and see you again in the New Year.