NORTH WALES ACCESSIBLE HOLIDAYS FOR BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED

The criteria to book our caravan is that you must be registered blind or partially sighted...

North Wales Accessible Holidays for Blind and Visually Impaired (Reg Charity No: 1171132) Established 16th January 2017.

My name is Nigel Garry, a registered blind person. On the 17th October 1977 at the age of 19 I had the devastating news that I had lost my sight. I'm sure anyone reading this will surely imagine my world and life was completely torn apart. I spent the next 3 years in depression before starting to come to terms and accepting that I was faced with living the rest of my life with blindness. However I was determined not to sit with my feet in the water and freeze, and as a result of this my wife Karen, who is my rock and soulmate, and has been for 40 years. Together we have raised £1.7million for 3 popular National Blind Charities.

My experience in life as being a blind person is when you can not see you find that socialising and chatting is a brilliant therapy.
Our aims and objectives with your kind and generous support, are to raise the colossal sum of £85000 to purchase a fully accessible and adapted static caravan to meet the needs of blind and visually impaired adults and children.
The holiday caravan will consist of sympathetic lighting, additional lighting, talking microwave, plus any other conceivable equipment to ensure that our client group will have a safe and comfortable stay.
Our holidays will be free and heavily subsidised. The proposed site will be Lido Beach Caravan Park, Prestatyn North Wales. It is inevitable there will be an ongoing fundraising programme to enable us as a charity to donate free and subsidised holidays to meet the most needy and deprived part of our client group whether it be children or adults living with sight loss and other disabilities.
The beauty of our organisation is (we must emphasise and reiterate) that no one will be waged or salaried.

NORTH WALES ACCESSIBLE HOLIDAYS FOR BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED.

Introduction:- North Wales Accessible Holidays for Blind and Visually Impaired currently have two caravans sited in North Wales one at Robin Hood Park Rhyl and one at Lido Beach Park Prestatyn, I understand that there are currently plans to site a third caravan at another Lyons Park in North Wales. This review is only based on the Robin Hood Park.

Travel:- Travel to the Robin Hood Park is relatively easy, there are train services from Holyhead involving a change of trains at either Bangor or Llandudno Junction, trains from Manchester offer direct services or from Liverpool require a change at Chester. Staff at Rhyl station are very helpful and passenger assistance can be booked via most train operators or via National Rail Website. Prestatyn station is, much smaller and has less staff available to assist passengers. There was a large Taxi presence at Rhyl, when i visited, but Prestatyn had no taxis waiting when i visited.

National Express Coaches, offer a service from both Birmingham and Manchester to Rhyl twice a day, from both departure points, there are possible connections from other UK towns, contact with National Express for details, services operate to Rhyl Bus Station. There was no information available about Assistance for Disabled Passengers.

The easiest method of transport by far is by car. North Wales Accessible Holidays for Blind and Visually Impaired offer a meet and greet service at the main gate. Robin Hood Park do offer a buggy service to take you to the caravan, i was not able to find information on this service.

Location :- The caravan is located a fair distance away from the main complex, this has both advantages and disadvantages for a Blind visitor, advantages, the Caravan is located amongst owners caravans at the end of a cul de sac, so it is quieter than other areas of the park, disadvantages are for orientation, especially after dark, it is not easy to find when walking independently! Signage on the Park is poor.

Caravan :- The caravan is large with lots of space, it has been set up and stocked with every attachment and appliance designed with Visually Impaired visitors in mind, a ramp leads up to a pvc decked area that covers one side and the front of the caravan. There are two areas complete with chairs and tables where you can sit in comfort outside. The lounge and dining areas again are spacious and comfortable, all light fittings are easily located with reflective tape surrounds making them easily located. As part of the meet and Greet, service, all areas are introduced and explained and useful hints for use given. All linen ( with the exception of towels) is provided. The Caravan was extremely clean and well presented to a very high standard.

Holiday bookings are managed by Karen Garry, and quick responses either by phone or email are very much appreciated.

Sightseeing:- If not using a car, there is a 15 minute frequency of buses traveling along the Coast Road, with two bus stops very close to the park entrance, please note that ENCTS disabled and pensioner bus passes issues with England, Eire and Northern Ireland are not valid on local bus services, although Arriva Wales buses do offer a Freedom Pass for 3,4,7,14 days I'm not sure if a monthly pass exists.

In all I would recommend North Wales Accessible Holidays for Blind and Visually Impaired as an excellent venue for a holiday

Alan Hughes