Access all areas

Over this summer the Dude, Mr V and I have been very, very busy. From visiting friends, going on day trips and finding new places to explore, it’s been quite the holiday despite us not leaving home! Something we were determined to do as the Dude grew older (and bigger, and heavier) was to investigate new activities we could do as a family, and to find new places we could visit.

When he was a baby, I can still clearly remember the creeping fear that came over me as I thought about how difficult changing him would be as he grew from a sweet little baby into a young adult as tall as me, but totally unable to support his own weight.

Over the past decade, the wonderful Changing Places campaign has made sure that more and more places are starting to wake up to the need for truly accessible toilets. Some as better than others – a recent visit to a well-known shopping centre was blighted by issues with their accessible toilet when the hoist wasn’t set correctly so couldn’t lift our boy out of his chair; but issues like this can be sorted relatively easily. Not having a hoist at all is a much bigger problem.

It isn’t just toilets that need to be accessible though.

We are very lucky that we have a fantastic volunteer-run charity near us which provides accessible cycling, kayak and canoeing at various locations. So, on a gloriously sunny day in August, we decided to see how we got on with a family bike ride. Bear in mind, dear reader, that I have not been cycling in around 10 years…

Attaching the Dude’s wheelchair to the front of the specially adapted bike (called the ‘velo’) took around 3 minutes, then we ventured off for an hour of cycling around a defined bike route.

While Mr V took charge of the velo, I had a standard bike and somehow managed to remember how to ride… despite being behind the two of them it was clear the Dude was enjoying himself by the squeals of amusement when his Dad sped up, or rang the bell to warn a hoard of pigeons to move out of the way!

I will admit, an hour may have been a bit too long – but to see the smile on my boy’s face made any stiffness from the bike more than worth it. Next stop, canoeing?!