Access For All
The National Lottery Community Fund funded Access for All – a project which aimed to make Gift to Nature sites more accessible and fulfilling for everyone to enjoy.
Many of our Gift to Nature sites are relatively small but no less important to their local community, and as custodians of the sites we are keen for everyone to benefit from them. We have made improvements to the individual sites and our Engagement Officer has worked with local people to develop and deliver a range of activities and volunteering opportunities. We also understand not everyone can visit our sites so we have created a “Nature at Home” sensory experience.
During the project, we:
- erected an activity pillar at the entrance to each Gift to Nature site,
- improved access and introduced a sensory trail to Medina Riverside Park in Newport,
- introduced interpretation and a sensory trail at Shide Chalk Pit in Newport,
- introduced a sensory trail and installed a totem pole at Haylands Wood in Ryde,
- introduced a sensory trail and installed a troll, with an accompanying recording of the story of the, ‘Three Billy Goats Gruff’ at Munsley Bog in Godshill,
- introduced a song trail at Sibden Hill in Shanklin,
- published access statements and audio-visual guides for each site,
- added cycle-racks and picnic tables where we can.