Moors Valley Country Park and Forest, near Ringwood is offering wide-ranging choice of events and activities for people with disabilities to enjoy on Saturday 12 March.
Already highly regarded for its access for all policy, the park is hosting this special day as part of the national initiative, Disabled Access Day. The initiative encourages disabled people to go out and visit a place they’ve never been to before, as well as encouraging venues to promote their accessible facilities.
The full day programme at Moors Valley will cater for adults and children and includes the opportunity to try out Tramper mobility scooters, wheelchair bikes, manual wheelchairs, the park’s Braille leaflet and accessibility maps as well as children’s activities with British Sign Language interpreter support.
Wessex Accessible Cycling will be demonstrating the range of accessible bikes available at the park and there will also be the opportunity to find out about the Paddleability canoeing courses in Wimborne at the Activate Coast and Countryside information stand.
Additional activities include a nature ‘touch table’ with a park ranger, an evening performance of ‘Up Beat’ by Forest Forge and the chance to join the regular parkrun at 9am.
Moors Valley will also be launching its first audio trail on 12 March. Styled as having a ‘ranger in your pocket’, the short tour leads around the lake describing the park and its wildlife at key locations on the journey. The trail can be downloaded at the park, or in advance of your visit from the Moors Valley website.
Clare Gronow, team leader at Moors Valley, said, “We do all we can to remove barriers to participation so that people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds can enjoy what the park has to offer.
“We work with a variety of special interest groups and schools for those with additional needs to help us to make sure our services and facilities are as accessible as possible, and are delighted that a range of other like-minded organisations will be supporting us on 12 March. Taking part in national Disabled Access Day is an ideal opportunity for Moors Valley to showcase what we do and enable those with particular needs to experience a great day out.”
Moors Valley held its own accessibility open day in 2014 which provided valuable feedback to further improve accessibility. The park also took the silver award in the Access and Inclusivity category of the 2015 Dorset Tourism Awards. More information about the Moors Valley Disabled Access Day together with downloadable maps for all terrain mobility scooters, and accessibility around Moors Lake can be found online at www.moors-valley.co.uk or call 01425 470721.
Details on Disabled Access Day around the UK can be found at www.disabledaccessday.com
