Accessible Leominster
Accessible Leominster was funded by Herefordshire Community Foundation in order to uncover opportunities in the town to increase access and inclusion. There will be a mini guide for Leominster visitors with disabilities. Volunteers and disabled people have been consulted and contributed.
We are delighted to have been awarded funding from the Community and Personal Resilience Round 2 Fund by Herefordshire Community Foundation
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Training : Becoming a Leominster Access Ambassador
FREE online training took place on a number of dates in November and December. The training webinars were for those interested in Leominster accessiblity and to give a warm and inclusive welcome to local communities and visitors. The training was friendly with small numbers. This training combined an online introduction to inclusion and accessibility, a practical mini Leominster access reviews with support from Accessible Herefordshire. A follow-up session was arranged to gather reviews and feedback. This will contribute to the Access Leominster mini guide. Trainers were Angela Martin and Vicky Nicolson James. This training is part of the Access Leominster Project funded by Herefordshire Community Foundation. Funding was provided for those requiring support to attend the training. We were able to get many volunteers on board to help us with accessibility audits going forward in Herefordshire.
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EVENTS
Food Friends and Flowers Events
Several festive foliage and wreath making sessions were arranged to engage with communities within Leominster. We had sesssions with Echo members, Dementia Groups, local parent/carers, Town Council members, Leominster Tourist Information, AgeUK Hereford & Localities, Sheds Together Project, Herefordshire Healthwatch, Leominster Walkers are Welcome and Shopmobility Leominster.
ACCESSIBLE AMBLE
We had an official celebratory Accessible Amble walk around the newly surfaced Grange paths with all
types of wheels. We were just lacking roller skates! We tracked the short amble with our Ordnance Survey
app and newly acquired GO Pro.
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SHOPMOBILITY LEOMINSTER
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Accessible Herefordshire have been working closely with Shop Mobility in Leominster to see how we could
add value and help this town asset. A professional review and report of their website was undertaken by Ben
at Really Inventive. Leominster are now members of Shop Mobility UK, the nationwide organisation and
benefit from the association.
Shop Mobility Leominster took part in our Ambassador Training sessions along with our wreath making
sessions - great connections were made. Shop Mobility in conjunction with Accessible Herefordshire
made a video to give a wheelchair's perspective view of shopping in Leominster town on a busy Friday.
You will see that being in a wheelchair means you are on a level with planting tubs and A boards
on pavements to get around. This can be tricky to negotiate around on wheels in addition to shoppers
and other wheels. We are hoping this gives a different viewpoint for business
owners and shoppers, to a greater understanding of the feeling of being in a chair.
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COLLATING OUR RESULTS
Our volunteers are out and about tracking and mapping accessible walks - see our You Tube channel for
Herefordshire walk videos undertaken by our volunteers. Our vounteer group have undertaken a number of
audits and accessible walks will be added to our Accessible Leominster mini guide.
We contributed to the writing and publication of Aida's Accessible Amble leaflet
and two other family walk leaflets which have been well received.
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Stop Press:
Accessible Herefordshire can recommend a spacious, contemporary new restaurant and cafe at Newton Court. It is
a great accessible destination for Herefordshire dining. The menu was created to showcase the amazing produce
that the county offers and they work with a number of local suppliers to keep food miles to a minimum.
There is a small step at the entrance (a ramp is on the list), a Disabled loo, good parking, and it is spacious with a
variety of seating options.
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