A unique on-line access guide that is designed to empower Thurrock’s disabled residents to get out and do what they want to do, has officially gone ‘live’ in the area.
Thurrock Council has worked with DisabledGo and hundreds of shops, pubs, restaurants, theatres and other public venues to help create DisabledGo – Thurrock, which details how accessible a specific venue is.
By logging on to www.disabledgo.com, people with a disability and their families and friends, can find out within a matter of seconds information including how suitable a pub is for a wheelchair user to visit or whether a particular hotel offers adapted rooms.
Cllr Amanda Arnold, Thurrock Council’s portfolio holder for Disability Services, said:
“The website is about giving disabled people the freedom to make informed decisions, as well as be part of their community. We have worked hard to transform services to ensure that vulnerable people have a good quality of life, and DisabledGo will enable residents to decide which shops and services they can access, with confidence.”
Commenting in advance of the access guide going live, the founder of DisabledGo, wheelchair user Dr Gregory Burke said, “The constant need to write or telephone to enquire about access really affects people’s confidence to get out and do what they want to do. Never knowing whether a building will be accessible or whether staff will have a helpful attitude makes you think twice before going out. DisabledGo ends that uncertainty by proving detailed access information and enabling people to judge for themselves whether a shop, restaurant or theatre is accessible for their own requirements.”
Dr Burke concluded, “Disabled people are no small minority. One in six of the British population is disabled and disabled people have an annual spend of £80 billion. Those are numbers that any business should take seriously. I’m immensely grateful to Thurrock Council for the support they have given us, and I hope that this guide will open up all that Thurrock has to offer to everyone.”
For more information on the guide, contact Vicky Taylor, Partnership Manager of Disabled Go, atvicky.taylor@disabledgo.com or call 01438 842 710.