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Disability Champions to Help Welsh Companies Tap into Purple Pound

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A search has been launched in Wales to recruit a team of young disability champions to improve access at tourism and hospitality venues.

 

Leading the campaign is community interest company PIWS (meaning purple) which is looking for disabled people to become Access Ambassadors to check out facilities and suggest ways they can be made more accessible and inclusive.

 

At stake is a share of a £274 billion purple pound bonanza – the combined spending power of households in the UK with at least one disabled person.

 

According to PIWS, there are 670,000 people registered as disabled in Wales – that’s over 20 per cent of the population - and the vast majority of events, attractions and hospitality companies are missing out on a potentially lucrative business opportunity.

 

PIWS founder Davina Carey-Evans, who has two sons with complex disabilities and whose husband was severely disabled in a fall, is spearheading the drive.

 

As part of the scheme, young people aged between 16 and 24 will be paid a wage to review venues across Wales.

 

The aim is to provide feedback on their experiences so attractions and other venues can be supported to understand the challenges of families – including those with hidden disabilities – so they can make reasonable adjustments to accommodate them.

 

“Anyone living with a disability should get involved with reporting back on their experiences, the more we work together, the quicker we will see change,” explained Davina.

 

“We're encouraging and prepared to pay young adults between the ages of 16 and 24, because we want to give them the confidence that they can leave their homes with a purpose, with an end goal of hopefully encouraging the tourism sector to employ them on their accessibility journey.”

 

Helping to recruit the new ambassadors and playing an ambassadorial role herself is Manon Wyn Jones, from Carmel, near Caernarfon, whose two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Nansi, was born with spina bifida (pictured above).

  

“We have to plan everywhere we go and everything we do,” said Manon.

 

“Nansi is unable to walk or stand unaided and her catheter bag has to be emptied every two and a half hours.

 

“We have been to places without proper changing rooms which has meant having to do catheter changes in the boot of the car.

 

“My mother and sister bought her a small wheelchair which she is now outgrowing, and we know she will be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, so I realise just how important the work being done by PIWS is.”

 

For more information visit www.piws.co.uk

 

Picture credit: Mandy Jones

 

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