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Disability Awareness Training

Delegates from a Disability Awareness Training Course in 2015

Delegates from a Disability Awareness Training Course in 2015

Today the staff of Pontyclun’s Old School surgery will join the many other people who have been trained by Accessible Wales to become more aware of disability.

We will be carrying out a half day course, this is not the first time we’ve trained staff from this surgery with Practice Manager Raechel Baker being one of our first clients.

If you would like to know more about our training, visit the training page… or better still give us a call on 01685 810432.

Working With Aberdare Community School

Working With Aberdare Community School
Principal Consultant Richard Jones outside Aberdare Community School

Principal Consultant Richard Jones outside Aberdare Community School

Accessible Wales is pleased to say that Principal Consultant Richard Jones met with Aberdare Community School’s Headteacher Sue Davies and Rhondda Cynon Taff Education Authority’s Esther Thomas to discuss the access for people with disabilities at the school.

Discussions took place as Accessible Wales have been asked to study the access in and around the school.  Principal Consultant Richard Jones was taken on a tour of the school and cannot express enough how impressed he was with what was on offer in the school regarding facilities, curriculum and staff attitude.

The school is a new building, however, in the past it has often been the case that what is accessible on paper isn’t necessarily accessible in practice.  Rhondda Cynon Taff are taking the proactive step to ensure that they have a working understanding of the schools accessibility, and for that they should be commended.

Principal Consultant Richard says:

Access isn’t always about ramps and steps, approximately 8% of people with disabilities use wheelchairs.  We strive to help our clients improve access for people with all abilities.  It is important to remember that making access changes does not always cost vasts sums of money, sometimes something as little as moving a chair or a table can make a huge difference.

All our access reviews are written from the viewpoint of a service user, led by Principal Consultant Richard Jones we not only have a theoretical knowledge of access issues but also a practical knowledge of day-to-day issues.

Remember you can keep up-to-date with our latest goings on by visiting us on Facebookicon_external and Twittericon_external

New Client – Aberdare Town FC

New Client – Aberdare Town FC

Aberdare Football Club LogoAccessible Wales is pleased to announce that we will be working with Aberdare Town FC to carry out a Walkthrough Access Review.  Aberdare Town FC is keen to improve their facilities for people with disabilities and has commissioned Accessible Wales to help them do this, as a keen football fan Principal Consultant Richard Jones said it was “an exciting opportunity”.

Richard went on to say:

When reviewing access to sports clubs and sports grounds there are various challenges that are not necessarily present in other types of reviews.  It is important, as always, to take into consideration the hurdles that face not only people with physical disabilities but those with sensory needs, learning disabilities and many other impairments.

Steve Pearce Treasurer/Safeguarding Officer for Aberdare Town who commissioned Accessible Wales said the following:

The Club are delighted to work with Accessible Wales to make the whole experience at Aberdare Town FC accessible to people with disabilities. We have improved lots of facilities at the Club over the years but realise we can do more to improve access for people with disabilities and will endeavor to do so with the help of Accessible Wales.”

You can find out more about Aberdare Town FC by visiting their website here.

Telephone Problems

telephone-1055044_1920We have been experiencing technical difficulties with our telephone system, however these have now been resolved.  If you experiencing problems contacting Accessible Wales you can however email us through info@accessiblewales.co.ukicon_mailto or you can contact us via facebookicon_external or twittericon_external.

New Client – Old School Surgery, Pontyclun

Accessible Wales are proud to announce that we will be carrying out training for Old School Surgery in Pontyclun in May.  We will be carrying out a custom 3 hour course which has been created by our team and their Practice Manager.

You too could have a training course at your venue, for more information get in touch with us via our contact page.  We also have two courses running at the end of the month, see below for details.Introduction to Disability Awareness(1)

This course is taking place in our own accessible training venue, for more information remember to get in touch.

Alun Evans, a true friend

Alun Evans, a true friend
Alun Evans, Roy Noble and Wynne Williams (Cymru Healthcare) with myself at the Launch of Accessible Wales

Alun Evans, Roy Noble and Wynne Williams (Cymru Healthcare) with myself at the Launch of Accessible Wales

Friday 8th January 2016 marked the loss of one of one of Accessible Wales close friends and a personal friend of mine, Mr Alun Evans, or “Alun The Glan” as he was known to his friends.

Alun was a big supporter of Accessible Wales and someone, who for many years, I was lucky enough to call a close friend.  He was instrumental in the early development of the company and hosted our launch at The Glancynon in September 2007 and the launch of Accessible News in 2008.

The launch marked the start of a long journey for Accessible Wales and one that saw us working with clients such as Celtic Manor, Leekes, the BBC, Penderyn Distillery and many, many more, some of which were recommended to us by Alun.

Alun always believed in the importance of access and the importance of providing opportunities for people with disabilities. Accessible Wales launch was filmed by the BBC, when asked why he felt access was important he said:

“My father was a wheelchair user and the number of places I could take him was limited.

“This is why I felt it was important to create a facility which was accessible to people with and without disabilities.”

Providing business support with a pint Alun was someone who I relied upon in the early years for advice on many issues from sales and marketing to business development. Under his helm and with the guidance of myself and my team The Glancynon Inn turned in to Accessible Wales flagship for access for people with disabilities, a project that started with renovating the car park and finished with an accessible toilet and Braille menus.

When I first met Alun he had never had any dealing with facebook or twitter and didn’t have a website. I’ve heard the saying “an analogue clock in a digital age” – this wasn’t the case, he had his finger on the pulse when it came to most things, with a gentle nudge and a bit of persuasion The Glancynon’s digital era began, with a website, facebook and twitter. We worked on developing the website, striving to ensure it was accessible to people with disabilities and had as much information on it as possible. Alun also wanted his patrons to get involved with The Glancynon and the facebook and twitter took off, sharing photographs and information about upcoming events.

Alun was a big advocate of charity fundraising and helped us in many of the events our non-profit group Accessible News organised, he also supported various charities including fundraising walks in aid of Tŷ Hafan.

Alun Evans and I at the launch of Accessible Wales

Alun Evans and I at the launch of Accessible Wales

Alun once said to me that it is better to reward people for good access than punish people for bad access. This is an ethos I am going to adopt when reorganising my Access Consultancy Service over the next few weeks.

Alun’s passing will be felt by all those connected to Accessible Wales, there are no words to convey the amount he helped and supported Accessible Wales. My thoughts go out to Ffion, Dewi and the rest of Alun’s family, he was a true gentleman and someone who was a great friend and inspiration to me.

Thank you for your time,

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Richard Jones

Principal Consultant

Disability Awareness Training – January and February 2016

3 Disability Awareness Training Courses at times to suit you

3 Disability Awareness Training Courses at times to suit you

It’s January and the weather is damp and dark, is your company/organisation struggling too? Maybe we can help, we are running three disability awareness training courses in January and February at times to suit most people.

We have 8 places available, £30 per person on the following courses:

  • Monday 18th January 10am – 1pm
  • Friday 29th January 2pm – 5pm
  • Thursday 4th February 5pm-8pm

For £30 delegates will be trained by myself, an experienced Disability Awareness trainer with firsthand experience in disability issues on a personal and professional level.

The courses are fun, friendly and informative, all delegates receive a certificate of attendance and can apply any knowledge acquired on a daily basis in both their personal and professional life.

This course is open to staff members, volunteers and management of organisations and businesses as well as, for the first time, members of the public. It is an ideal opportunity to enhance CV’s and improve career prospects as well as customer client service.

For more information please email rjones@accessiblewales.co.uk – you can’t afford to miss this opportunity.  Please remember we can also offer training at your venue, or a venue of your choice at a time that suits yourself.

For more information on these courses you can download our flyer here icon_pdf

See some pictures of our successful training courses below:

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An Opportunity You Can’t Afford To Miss

An Opportunity You Can’t Afford To Miss

Are you looking to enhance your CV? Accessible Wales is running three courses in 2016 at times to suit you. For £30 per person we are offering small intimate informal Disability Awareness Training Courses which we guarantee will help enhance your CV and broaden your knowledge.

3 Disability Awareness Training Courses at times to suit you

Feedback from some of our previous courses

Excellent delivery, fun and interesting

Newport Housing Trust

I would be interested in future course, because had an eye opener attending this

GWALIA Residential Society

An interesting course which raised my awareness of difficulties disabled people face daily. Some ideas we can introduce in the nursery

Celtic Manor

‘Thoroughly enjoyed and learnt about issues that i would never have thought of’

‘’Very clear and easy to understand’

‘Not to long so i was interested in what was being said’

Ysgol Ty Coch

For more information please give us a ring on 01685 810432 or email info@accessiblewales.co.uk

BOOK NOW TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT

Disability Awareness Training – Wednesday 27th May 2015

Disability Awareness Training – Wednesday 27th May 2015

Following the success of April’s Disability Awareness Course we have scheduled another training course, only this time it’s in our own office as part of our new informal training suite called “Accessible Suite”.

Wednesday 27th May 2015, Accessible Suite, Robertstown House (see Contact Page for details) £30 per person 10:30 – 13:30

Delegates from April's Disability Awareness Training Course

Delegates from April’s Disability Awareness Training Course

Accessible Wales is pleased to announce that we are hosting the very first Disability Awareness Training courses in our newly laid out accessible training suite.  Our course is on Wednesday 27th May 2015 and is an ideal time for people who have work in the afternoon or taxi drivers who have school runs.

Accessible Wales feel that that your staff, volunteers, partners or maybe even clients would benefit from attending the course.

Our Disability Awareness course aims to help boost the working practices of those who attend, making them more aware of the needs of people with varying disabilities – in turn providing a better service for your organisation.

The course will times are 10:30 – 13:30, it is £30 per person and there are six places available, as prevously said we are holding it in our office in Robertstown, for directions visit our contact page.

Those attending will be trained in a subject which is on times, heavy and more often than not overlooked.  The host of this session will be Richard Jones, founder and Principal Consultant of Accessible Wales, sessions are informal, highly informative, very affective and at times, highly amusing!

Limited places are available, book now to avoid disappointment – not sure about booking, give us a call for a chat or email us on info@accessiblewales.co.uk! You can find out what other delegates thought about the training by visiting our Training Consultancy page and reading some of the feedback left.

If you have staff that you would like trained at your premises, that’s fine, we can do that to!

Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from you soon!  For more information on this course, click here to download a flyer.

For more information on the training services we offer visit our Training Services PageRemember we can train at your venue

Training Feedback Online

Training Feedback Online

We’ve uploaded some comments from previous Disability Awareness Training courses, Visit here for more information

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