10 year anniversary, time for a new logo encompassing all

On January 1, 2017 / Front Page, News

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

Operating from the heart of the South Wales Valleys, Accessible Wales, has been tireless in motivating and supporting businesses to become accessible to people with varying disabilities. All our work is underpinned by a desire to see people across a spectrum of disability and health conditions able to access goods and services without having to struggle through buildings and processes that make it difficult for them.

With that in mind we will be commencing a phased rebrand, starting today, when the new logo (as shown below) will become our new brand.

New Logo 2017

The new logo represents our recognition of unseen disabilities, such as learning difficulties and mental health conditions. Company founder Richard Jones says the following:

“When we opened in 2007 we adopted the wheelchair symbol as part of our logo because it was the international symbol of disability. However, we feel now that it is time to recognise that in Wales, and the UK generally, only a small percentage of people with disabilities use a wheelchair.”

The company celebrates its tenth year anniversary in September 2017 and aims to have all the rebranding complete by then. Richard Jones also commented:

“The tenth anniversary of the company provides an ideal time to mark the progress of Accessible Wales and the encouraging change in awareness of disability issues. The creation of the new logo and branding reflects these positive markers and the achievements of the company in this challenging arena.

Accessible Wales has always taken the broad view of ‘disability’, including a whole spectrum of chronic medical conditions, when carrying out both our access consultancy and training services. While the difference in the logo is subtle, “thumbs up” is a symbol of solidarity and positivity, something Accessible Wales has always strived for. ”

As a company Accessible Wales’ ethos is to be positive about disability and accessibility, recognising good practices and helping to correct practices that need improvement. Businesses are not experts in understanding the needs of people with disabilities. Accessible Wales is, and can ensure not only compliance with the current legal obligations, but increased opportunities to sell their goods and services to this particular sector of the market.

W38 Media Logo

In January 2017, Accessible Wales will be taking over sister company W38 Media , which will then become a subsidiary company.

Our thanks go to James Francis for the original design concept, and to all those companies, friends and colleagues we’ve worked with in the last nine years.

We will announce more on how we plan to celebrate our tenth anniversary in the future along with what the future has in store for us.

Happy New Year, and here’s to a fantastic 2017

Two Access Reviews Completed

On September 12, 2016 / Access, Cllient News, Front Page, News

Two Access Reviews Completed

Public Health Wales and Aberdare Community School reviews before presentation

Last week Accessible Wales handed in two Access Reviews, one for Rhondda Cynon Taff on Aberdare Community School and the second for Public Health Wales on their new offices in Capital Quarter 2, Cardiff.

These two jobs represent the two opposite ends of the work we carry out as part of our Access Consultancy Service.

Aberdare Community School

Firstly was a review of the new Community School, a school designed to be fully accessible. This building was already open and our review involved looking at access from a pupil’s perspective.

Public Health Wales new office

The second piece of work was reviewing the access to a new building. Previous clients Public Health Wales were moving offices into a new building and commissioned us to look at the accessibility before any of the furniture was put in place. This is always good practice as it can save on alterations once the building is finished. While these are not always costly they can have an impact on the way a building is used.

Both pieces of work were a pleasure to undertake, both buildings have the potential to be beacons in relation to access.

If you would like to know more about the accessibility of your building please get in touch. All our access services can be tailored to any building, whether it’s a one room shop, hospital, listed building or six story new building we cater for all.

Some of the varied clients who have benefited from our access consultancy service

For more information visit our Access Consultancy page, or contact us.

Or just call us now

Cynon Valley Museum Is Now Open

On September 8, 2016 / Events, Front Page, News

Cynon Valley Museum Is Now Open

Cynon Valley Chairperson Dinah Pye (front) with Vikki Howells AM, myself, Roy Noble, Lord Aberdare and Ann Clwyd MP

I was extremely pleased to be invited to the launch of the Cynon Valley Museum recently. The museum was one of the first clients Accessible Wales worked with and I’m proud to say that relationship will continue again.

A photo taken from our first access review of the Cynon Valley Museum in 2007

Since opening in 2007 Accessible Wales has had a strong working relationship with the Cynon Valley Museum, carrying out a number of access audits/reviews and basing many training courses in the suite upstairs. We’ve even used the museum as a base for our training/refresher Access Reviews.

As part of our non-profit organisation Accessible News I established an information surgery which operated from the museum for a number of years helping local residents with issues such as benefits queries, supporting people with employment issues and more. The museum was ideally placed to offer this service as it has the meeting room on the upstairs which offers confidentiality and a more relaxed area in the cafe for general conversation.

People studied the exhibits enthusiastically

Accessible Wales will be continuing to work with the trustees, staff and volunteers of the museum over a prolonged period of time to improve the access in and around the building as well as improving features for people with varying disabilities. The trustees are keen to make the museum the heart of the community and I know they share my view that providing access and facilities for all is the ideal way to accomplish this goal.

A Recent Photograph of the front of the museum

Congratulations to the trustees, Charlotte Morgan (Development Manager) and volunteers on their fantastic effort in getting the museum open and hosting such a fantastic event. Thanks to Clint Elwyn Thomas for some of the photographs.

Thanks for reading

Richard Jones

Principal Consultant

Accessible Wales

Working With Public Health Wales

On August 1, 2016 / Access, Front Page, News

Richard Jones outside Capital Quarter 2, Public Health Wales Office

We are proud today to have been access reviewing Capital Quarter 2 building in Cardiff for Public Health Wales. The building is a blank canvas, with no furniture in. Public Health Wales and their designers have put an exceptional amount of work in making the building accessible, and we are very impressed that we’ve been asked to consult on the access at such an early stage.

Temple of Peace a building that was occupied by Public Health Wales

In 2015 Accessible Wales consulted for Public Health Wales on access to the Temple of Peace. The Temple of Peace is 70 – 75 years old, and is a grade two listed building. This means that there can be difficulties when making physical alterations regarding access improvement. The building is used for external events such as weddings and filming by television companies.

Capital Quarter 2, Public Health Wales Office

If you would like more about about our Access Consultancy service visit the page, or you can get in touch by visiting our Contact Page. Our access consultancy service has worked with small one roomed shops, new buildings and listed buildings, we can tailor our service to meet your needs.

Working With Aberdare Community School

On May 12, 2016 / Access, Front Page, News

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 Facebook and Twitter

New Client – Aberdare Town FC

On April 29, 2016 / Front Page, News

Accessible 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.

Alun Evans, a true friend

On January 13, 2016 / Front Page, News

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

Friday 8^th 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 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,

Richard Jones

Principal Consultant

Training Feedback Online

On March 10, 2015 / Front Page, News

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

Disability Awareness Training – 15th April 2015

On February 28, 2015 / Front Page, News

Wednesday 15th April 2015 at Cwmaman Institute £30 per person 10:00 and 13:30 start

Accessible Wales is pleased to announce that we are hosting two Disability Awareness Training courses Wednesday 25th April 2015. Why are we telling you that – easy, we 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.

Each course is 3 hours course, we have two available, both are Wednesday 15th April 2015 10:00 – 13:00 and 13:30 – 16:30. The course costs £30 per person and is being held at Cwmaman Institute, for that those attending will be trained in a subject which is on times, heavy and more often than not overlooked. Each session is hosted by 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! 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 Page – Remember we can train at your venue

Telephone and Internet Failure

On February 1, 2015 / Front Page, News

Accessible Wales is currently experiencing telephone and Internet difficulties. Please bear with us while we correct this problem. Thank you for your patience, we will be back online as soon as possible.

Posts Tagged news

Two Access Reviews Completed

Cynon Valley Museum Is Now Open