Once again Barking & Dagenham Access Group had a stand at the Dagenham Town Show. The Show was well attended and we certainly got a fair share of visitors at our stand. Many visitors were either disabled, had disabled family members or were carers for disabled persons. Naturally we also encouraged non-disabled people to our stand.
This year we wanted to highlight the difficulties disabled persons face with day to day
activities that most people would not usually experience. We designed a game that allowed
people to experience just a hint of a common problem many disabled persons face
regularly.... SHOPPING.
Then we issued a challenge. Visitors had to sit in a fixed position seat which represented a
wheelchair and by using only a stick, retrieve rings from a board. Anyone who collected
sufficient rings won various prizes donated by Tesco.
One of the Council Access Officers, Simon Blewett was on hand once again to support us and give an opportunity to members of the public to voice their concerns over different access issues. From Blue Badge Bay abuse to black bin bags blocking pavements.
We also promoted opportunities for volunteers to attend our Access Planning and Review Forum. The forum is one of the best places to raise access issues and help ensure peoples access needs are met.
