23-07-2025
Guernsey deputies use wheelchairs as part of accessibility event
A deputy who took part in an interactive accessibility event in Guernsey said the session offered a "massive insight" into the lives of wheelchair Aindre Reece-Sheerin, access consultant and rights campaigner, invited deputies and civil servants to use wheelchairs and wear blindfolds to navigate around the Model Yacht Pond and Castle Cornet on Wednesday Tina Bury, who used a wheelchair as part of the session, said: "It just gave me a massive insight that you just don't have as an able-bodied person." Mr Reece-Sheerin said he hoped the session would "sow a tiny little seed" and bring home how improving accessibility would change lives.
He said "Every time somebody talks about a policy, a practice or a procedure, a light will go on and they'll say... 'where does this policy, practice or procedure sit within the new disability ordinance?'."Bury, president of the Committee for Employment and Social Security, said the challenge highlighted how each "tiny dip and incline" became a "massive" hurdle while using a wheelchair."This has been really valuable to everyone," she Gary Collins, vice-president of the Transport Licensing Authority, wore a blindfold and used a cane as part of the event.
He said: "You felt totally out of your comfort zone."Being totally blind was a very new experience and a real challenge."Things like this highlight what we need to do, we know we've got an ordinance in place about accessibility for certain things."He said the experience would "remain with him" and added "it's something to really take forward".
Deputy Adrian Gabriel, president of the Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure, said the experience was "hard physically" and "you don't appreciate what your legs do"."You take them away and you appreciate how everything else works harder," he added."My arms are buzzing from getting up and down ramps over uneven surfaces."The deputy said some disabled people were unable to visit Castle Cornet due to accessibility, which he said was a "real sad state of affairs I'm afraid".Gabriel said measures needed to be put in place in order to make sure it was "accessible to all".
'Real, everyday problems'
Chantelle Tucker, vision support services officer at Guernsey Blind Association (GBA), said: "It was an eye-opener for them to see the difficulties that people locally faced on a day-to-day basis."It was a really positive experience."A lot of them [deputies] made comments about their depth perception, about the distance, disorientation and it's trying to explain that these are the difficulties and challenges that people face on a day-to-day basis."These are real everyday problems that most people face."
