Disabled Motoring UK - Disabled Motoring UK is the charity for disabled drivers, passengers & Blue Badge holders.

Mobilise member Fred Walden is a regular visitor to London. He tells us about three of his favourite accessible hotels.

Copthorne Tara Hotel, Kensington

Over the last twenty years I have stayed many times at the London Tara Hotel in Kensington and booked one of their adapted rooms. The Tara was one of the first hotels in London to properly cater for visitors with disabilities and they have adapted around a dozen rooms on their Mezzanine floor by fitting roll-in showers, ceiling hoists, automatic doors and special furniture. Continue reading »

Suselle Boffey  tells us about her early adventures with her mother, who inspired Suselle’s lifelong love of travel.

My mother was quite an unusual person.  From an early age, she bucked the trend – a trait she probably inherited from her father, who chose to follow a professional career and so alienated his family of traditional Jewish business-people.  Mum’s own mother was absent for most of Mum’s life (she was sent to a distant psychiatric hospital when Mum was seven years old). As a result, Mum’s upbringing was left to her dad and the housekeeper. Perhaps it’s not surprising that she followed her own thoughts and ideas as she grew up, developing an enquiring mind and a passionate curiosity about the world.  Even in the early 1950s – still a period when convention and tradition ruled, she chose to go into nursing and to hitchhike across France and Germany with her nursing friends! Continue reading »

Mobilise member Greg Hayball from Dorset tells Mobilise about his travels through France and Spain in his new Ford Focus Zetec.

Having visited France and Spain on numerous occasions I decided to avoid the chills of the bleak UK winter and head across the continent for a few days on a mini motoring holiday.

I’d recently taken delivery of a new Ford Focus Zetec with sports trim and all the extras I could afford. This was an upgrade from my previous Focus, from my Motability dealer in Weymouth, and the Zetec goes like a rocket. It has good handling, steering and suspension, and the 17.5” alloy wheels hang on to the road as if their lives, and mine, depend upon it. I feel as though I’m almost glued in to the driver’s sports style seat, and the ‘rally style’ automatic, tiptronic gearbox is easy to use.  The car has adaptive headlights; those that follow the direction that you turn the steering wheel, which really do let the driver see round corners. Definitely a great choice! Continue reading »

Mobilise member Spencer Flynn tells Mobilise about his enjoyable trip to New York.

In 2008 my wife and I decided that because we hadn’t had a holiday for at least five  years, we should ‘spoil’ ourselves and repeat part of our 40^th wedding anniversary trip by sailing to New York. Our journey was to cross the Atlantic on the new Queen Mary and then to stay at the Waldorf Astoria for three nights, before flying back to Heathrow. We booked in advance tickets for the Empire State Building including the ‘virtual flight’ over the New York, seats for Mamma Mia and dinner at the Marriott revolving view restaurant in Times Square. Continue reading »

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” So mused Ratty, in Kenneth Grahame’s famous book “The Wind in the Willows”.   Jim Rawlings follows suit and explores different ways of getting waterborne on Britain’s inland waterways.

Harvey’s was founded by Paul Harvey after an industrial accident.  Having lost three fingers and undergoing intense rehabilitation, Paul Harvey was advised to give up carpentry and find himself a desk job.  With sheer determination and passion for his trade, he started his own business which has now grown from a Joinery to incorporate his other passion, boats.  Collin his chief joiner and foreman is deaf, while Tim who does sanding and preparatory work on the boats is registered blind. Continue reading »

In spite of the current economic climate many holiday makers will still be jetting off this summer in pursuit of sun, sea and sand. To help make sure everything goes according to plan, Mobilise Information Officer Marta Bartosiewicz has compiled this checklist of useful information for travelers with disabilities.

Booking your holiday

When contacting the holiday company, airline or hotel be clear about your access requirements.  You may find it helpful to use a form such as the Checklist for Disabled and Less Mobile Passengers which is available to download from www.abta.com or call 020 3117 0500 for a copy.

Confirm reservations in writing and check all arrangements before you leave.

Make sure you know the airline’s policy on the carriage of mobility equipment and oxygen cylinders.

Contact the airline and discuss your disability or medical condition with them. Some airlines may require your doctor to complete a Medical Information Form (MEDIF) which will last for one journey. Continue reading »

Venice is built on 117 small islands, with over 150 canals, and connected by an amazing 409 bridges. It may not sound the most accessible holiday destination for a wheelchair user but Mobilise member Maisie Carter was pleasantly surprised to find that it was! She tells Mobilise all about her trip.

Maisie trying out a wheelchair lift in Venice. Photo courtesy of Maisie and Nick Carter.

It was magical sailing into Venice at noon, the sun glinting on the water as a wonderful spectacle unfolded before us. Suddenly large buildings appeared on our left and to the right St Marks Square. We cruised along Canale della Giudecca, so close you could clearly see people enjoying their lunch at the cafe tables that lined the waters edge.

This was my first sight of Venice as we sailed into port aboard the Fred Olsen cruise ship Boudicca. The cruise to the Adriatic called at numerous other destinations, but the time spent in Venice was the most important for us. This was a place I was initially reluctant to visit – I use a lightweight wheelchair and couldn’t imagine how I was going to get around – but the next two days proved to me just how accessible a city Venice is. Continue reading »

Most towns and cities across the UK offer a wide range of hotels to choose from. As well as location and price accessibility is another consideration for disabled people. The big hotel chains all offer accessible rooms but as Helen Smith found out, no two are the same!

Yancey the Assistance dog checking out the facilities

One of the main variations between the rooms I visited at four different hotel chains in the Norwich area was the height of bed, bath and loo. I also wanted to find out if a shower or bath is on offer, as well as the width of the doors. Most chain rooms are pretty much exactly the same, whichever branch of the chain you are staying with, so I hope the following information will be useful if you’re planning to stay in one this summer.

Holiday Inn Express

As I drew into the car park I realised that the bay marked out for a disabled person was the same width the standard spaces; I had to straddle two parking bays to give myself enough room. The hotel itself was newly refurbished and all the doors to reception opened automatically. I was then shown up to my room, which was fairly spacious with a double bed and a sofa bed. If a carer needs to sleep in the same room the sofa bed is made up. Continue reading »

Perhaps you spotted them in our Classified ads section and had the holiday of a lifetime… or you turned up late at night, on the off-chance that there might be a room at the inn? However you found them, we want to know all about the best accessible accommodation you’ve stayed at in the UK.

From campsites to B&Bs, five star hotels to self-catering chalets, tell us about the comfiest beds, scrummiest breakfast, fluffiest towels and hottest spots for night owls. We’ll be publishing a series of your recommendations for other Disabled Motoring UK  members to read over the next few months, so that we can all get planning our summer holidays!

Recommendations can be sent to us using the Contact form or by post to DMUK National Office, Ashwellthorpe, Norwich, NR16 1EX.

And if you’d like to write about your holiday experiences in more detail, just let us know – we’re always looking for great stories from Disabled Motoring UK  members. We’ll supply you with full instructions and support you all the way through the writing process, from the first idea to publication. Sadly the charity doesn’t have the resources to pay contributors to our magazine, but we will supply you with some free copies so that you can share your stories with your friends and family.