Accessible Derbyshire (charities no: 1155675) was founded in 2013 after several years of research.
Gillian Scotford was the Founder of the Accessible Derbyshire website. It was this extensive self led project, that introduced Gillian to a professional career in Accessible Tourism.
The Accessible Destination website, has been used over the years as a template on how to create an accessible destination.
“The inspiration for this was my two disabled children. My aim was to bring together information about the accessible tourism offering in the Peak District and Derbyshire so that disabled people and families like ours could easily find things to do and places to go that are accessible for them.”
We also wanted to raise funds to buy equipment and provide facilities that improve accessibility. A trust was established which produced the website from Gillian’s years of research, and paid for filming of 30 holiday properties and equipment to improve access within them.
A chance meeting with Jane Cooper, who’s daughter Megan had been at school with Gillian’s son Thomas, and a decision was taken to jointly turn the trust in to a Registered Charity.
Since its launch, Accessible Derbyshire has gone on to win a number of awards and in 2017 we were shortlisted as VisitEngland Tourism Superstars for our work in accessible tourism.
Our charity won the support of the local community, the Mayor of Chesterfield 2016-2017, The Rotary Clubs of South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire and many, many more.
Take a look at some of our projects and achievements at Accessible Derbyshire
