Badenoch and Strathspey Access Panel to boost pioneering Guide
BASAP, the Badenoch and Strathspey Access Panel, is refining its highly successful “Access Guide” to provide crucial accessibility information to both residents and visitors to the strath living with disabilities.
It will be an in-depth and updated follow up to its ground-breaking publication which has has served the strath well since 2018.
“The project aims to cover 500 locations from Advie to Dalwhinnie,” said Alice Fogg, chief officer of Voluntary Action in Badenoch and Strathspey, “but it will not be possible without input from the public so we are asking for their help.”
The access guide will feature businesses, services and attractions in the strath. It will provide important information on accessibility measures such as parking, wheelchair access and toilets.
“It will be a vital tool for locals and visitors who face the challenge of finding suitable and easy to access places to visit, allowing people to be able to plan with confidence to enjoy everything the area has to offer.”
Once complete, the information gathered will be free and available for all, in a website, app and printed guidebook.
But volunteers are vital to the success of the project, Ms Fogg stresssed.
“Projects like this can’t be done without them. BASAP aims to surpass the outstanding volunteer effort from the 2018 guide by visiting over 500 venues, in a mission that will probably take over 1000 hours.
“This would be a monumental achievement which demonstrates the caring and supportive nature of our wonderful communities of Badenoch and Strathspey”.
BASAP needs readers to contribute to the guide by visiting local venues and filling out their quick online survey. By reviewing places such as shops, cafes, or public spaces to get that information, contributors will help to build a thorough and essential map of the accessibility of locations in the area.
Richard Gillings, chair of the Badenoch and Strathspey Access Panel, calls the Access Guide invaluable: “It will make a huge difference to people with access needs, giving them the confidence to explore and enjoy everything our communities have to offer”.
BASAP is a charity whose mission is to encourage and support accessibility in the strath, and it is eager to offer support to local venues who would like to be more accessible. That can be in the form of assistance and even training in how to introduce more accessibility measures.
Anyone keen to help can do so by emailing BASAP at basapguide@gmail.com for copies of the survey or more information, or find them on Facebook at Badenoch and Strathspey Access Panel.