Connect

This three year project, funded by Lloyds TSB Foundation, connects older disabled people and people with learning disabilities with their local public spaces as a way of building lasting links between them and their wider communities. Both groups of people have been identified as commonly excluded from the benefits of using and getting involved in public green space and are often overlooked by public service providers. Through previous work we have found that these groups share many of the reasons for not using public open space, such as fear and lack of motivation.

Connect is based on what we have learned from listening to disabled people and elderly people to find out what barriers prevent them using and becoming involved with their local area. We have chosen to focus on people with learning disabilities and older disabled people because we have found these groups to be particularly disconnected from their communities. These groups also benefit least from the current focus of many providers on physical access improvements.

The essence of this project is working with a diverse collection of people to overcome barriers to access and to find easy, effective ways of bringing disabled people back into the mainstream of community life. We aim to achieve this by bringing about positive change in the attitudes and actions of service providers and disability organisations and in the motivation and expectations of people with learning disabilities and older disabled people.

This project is a partnership led by the Sensory Trust with core partners Mencap, Eden Project, Disability Cornwall, and Widgit. A further 12 organisations, yet to be decided, will be involved as collaborators and many older disabled people and people with learning disabilities will be involved in consultation and development over the course of the project.

It is widely understood that public green spaces can make an enormous contribution to people’s quality of life and wellbeing. The benefits go far beyond providing something attractive to look at. Research studies have shown that spending time in outdoor spaces can lower blood pressure, reduce stress, help motivate people to take exercise, to look forward to things and offer the chance to take responsibility for the care of something living. It can also bring a whole range of social benefits, for example an attractive park or public garden is often a topic of conversation or somewhere to meet others and can help overcome problems of social exclusion and isolation.

Public open space is one of the main places where the day-to-day life of a community takes place. The experience of informally sharing space with people who are of different cultures, races, ages and genders is of benefit to everyone and something that most people take for granted. By dealing with some of the barriers that prevent older disabled people and people with learning disabilities from enjoying public open space we will enable more people to spend time in public open space and therefore engage more fully with the whole of their community.

Access to these spaces can be particularly important for people with limited mobility who feel isolated from their local community or whose lives involve considerable amounts of time spent at home. This is the case for many older disabled people and people with learning disabilities.

Unfortunately, such people often find themselves excluded from enjoying local parks, gardens or woodlands because of a range of physical, social and intellectual barriers. From previous work, such as the Making Connections study, we have found that some of these barriers result from poor design and management but many are linked to more complex issues. These include people’s low expectations of what will be available to them, lack of confidence in getting involved and insufficient access to information. It is these less tangible aspects that can make all the difference to whether people feel motivated and able to connect with the opportunities their local community has to offer. These less tangible aspects, such as lack of motivation or fear, are particular barriers for older disabled people and people with learning difficulties. This project is designed to address these issues and to work with older disabled people and people with learning disabilities to identify realistic and effective changes and opportunities.

Some of the project activities are aimed at giving people with learning disabilities and older disabled people the motivation to play a more active role in their communities. For example, through volunteering, helping with evaluation work and creating information for others to use.

Sensory Trust consider the people we work with as design and development partners, not simply as users to be brought in to try something we have developed. This partnership approach leads to a deeper understanding of needs by the Sensory Trust and to a richer and more rewarding experience for the people involved as they see their input make a real difference over the course of the project.

It will be a fundamental part of a new phase of development of the Sensory Trust. This phase is focused on developing initiatives to test on-the-ground techniques, producing guidelines and creating real examples of good practice for others to use.

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