Just because you are disabled doesn't mean that you can't get out and about and enjoy Britain's lovely countryside!

Below are a few great organisations to get further advice from.......

The specific problems encountered by people with disabilities in enjoying the outdoors vary according to the individual disability.........

We are a group of like-minded disabled people who enjoy being in the countryside, and who get about using paths and trails of all kinds. We are truly ‘ramblers’, although very few of us can walk more than a few yards! Our membership consists mainly of mobility disabled people and we get about mainly through use of a wide variety of mobility aids, ranging from electrically powered pavement buggies, scooters, powerchairs and, in some cases, manually propelled wheelchairs. We organise rambles of varying difficulty from easy to challenging all over England and Wales, and, along with our volunteers, spouses and friends, each event provides recreation and challenge to suit every taste.

Fieldfare works with people with disabilities and countryside managers to improve access to the countryside for everyone.

For countryside service providers we provide advice and training services, supported by our research into national standards for accessibility under the BT Countryside for All Project.

For members of the public we run projects which can enable them to take action locally, provide information on accessible places to visit and run events like the Kielder Challenge which encourages young people to get active in the countryside.

WALKING ON WHEELS

50 Wheel-friendly Trails in Scotland

Eva McCracken

Introduction by Cameron McNeish, President,

Ramblers Scotland and Editor of TGO

Note for the Reader by Anne Begg, MP

ISBN 10: 0-9544416-8-0 / ISBN 13: 978-0-9544416-8-5

£10.99

Walking on Wheels is a map book with a difference. It is the first book of its kind - a guide for wheelchair and electric scooter users who wish to enjoy the Scottish countryside. The need for information on trails that can be accessed by the less able- bodied in wheelchairs or electric scooters has not been addressed here before and this book attempts to give the reader accurate and relevant information. This is not a scientific treatise on the 50 paths and trails. Rather, the author has drawn on her own personal knowledge of the paths and trails and her own professional experience to provide the reader with a practical guide to the degree of difficulty and the sights and attractions which the wheelchair or electric scooter user might encounter on each route.

Eva McCracken had been a keen walker before Multiple Sclerosis resulted in occasional and then more frequent use of a wheelchair. In 2000 she discovered the joys of exploring the outdoors using her electric wheelchair and her electric scooter. For the past five years she has collected information on trails accessible to wheelchair users here in Scotland and has selected the top 50 routes, all with varying degrees of difficulty.

Eva practised as an Occupational Therapist north and south of the border in health and social care settings. Having lived with benign MS for twenty years she retired from clinical work in 1996. In 2000 she founded the Scottish Disabled Ramblers which, since that time set up four regional groups in Scotland.

‘Everyone should be able to enjoy our glorious countryside and Eva has done a wonderful job in suggesting areas that can be visited by those unable to explore on foot.’ - Roger Smith, guidebook writer and former editor of the walkers' magazine, TGO.

‘A truly liberating book!’ - Anne Begg, MP

Click the book for a link to buy it........