National Trust
for many people in Belfast, Northern Ireland and further afield. Moira Scanlon, an occupational therapist lobbying to improve access to community facilities, said: ‘Enable NI are very proud to have lobbied for the provision of a Changing
Case study:
Disability Stockport digs into Quarry Bank Mill Garden
Disability Stockport were asked to contribute their ideas to Quarry Bank Mill Garden, in the grounds of an eighteenth-century cotton mill. Peter Wilkins, a trustee of Disability Stockport, explains their contribution.
I was given the chance to listen to examples of work done by Soundmaps, which impressed me greatly. I also had several opportunities to read the script for the guide, and I made suggestions about the wording. We had a couple of meetings when we went through the script with a fine-tooth comb. Later, I was asked to examine a number of MP3 players to be used by visitors, and to give my opinion on the layout of the controls, and how easy I thought they
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would be for visually impaired people to learn and use. On another occasion I took part in the recording, and was given the opportunity to say a few words. I have enjoyed all my meetings at Quarry Bank Mill, and have found the staff there, and their National Trust Colleagues from other parts of the country, very pleasant people to work with. I hope everyone will enjoy the garden, and hope that the audio guide enhances their visit.’ The audio tour for Quarry Bank Mill Garden can be downloaded from the National Trust website 8 http://tinyurl.com/QBM-national-trust
© NT/Emma Williams
‘A group of people from Disability Stockport visited the garden to advise on various access issues. These included working out the best route through the garden for wheelchairs: although difficult terrain prevents wheelchair access in some places, where practicable, alterations were made to the pathways. Being visually impaired myself, I became most interested in setting up the audio guide, which is designed for everyone to use. On my first few visits I was able to make suggestions as to how various parts of the walk could be described in a way which would be helpful to blind people, and, at the same time, be useful for everyone else. This could be an explanation about terrain, the position of handrails, uneven steps and so on.
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Places toilet on Divis Mountain. This is a unique opportunity to enable a significant group of people previously excluded from many activities that most of us take for granted. We now need to encourage people to make the most of the new possibilities open to them.’
Disability Stockport’s Peter Wilkins visits the Quarry Bank Mill Garden