Access to Nature – Cotswold National Trust
National Trust are a charity that champions beauty, people and places. For everyone, for ever. They look after amazing natural and built spaces around England, Scotland and Wales. Accessibility and “Everyone Welcome” is a huge part of their core values and strategy. Their Cotswold Countryside Portfolio looks after various sites around Gloucestershire, most of which are free to enter outdoor sites, facing different challenges around transport, topography, surfaces and seasonality.
National Trust has been working with Barnwood Trust for the past 3 years to improve access across their sites through the Access to Nature learning programme and network.
Several changes and improvements have been made in 2024, including the introduction of a new all-terrain mobility scooter available for hire at Tinkley Gate from April, enabling less mobile visitors to access the great views the tranquil wooded valley has to offer. Additionally, major infrastructure and path improvements have been carried out at Woodchester Park. Connections made through the network led to collaborative projects, including the ‘Access to Nature Feasibility Study’. This study resulted in the trail of ‘The Robin’, a public bookable bus service, that vastly improves access to nature and rural areas. This was through working together with Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership, WWT Slimbridge, Forestry England/Friends of Westonbirt and Cotswolds National Landscape to identify opportunities for access to nature transport in Gloucestershire. As a group they also took part inf valuable training on neurodiversity, which National Trust were able to share with the wider organisation.
Max Biddlestone (Visitor Operations and Experience Manager) said of the work:
“Access to Nature has helped us feel empowered to deliver work in 2024, supporting work and inspiring us to involve others in our work. Our team, through those directly involved and those benefiting from changes we have been making, are better informed and our relationships with other organisations are stronger than they would have been had we not been a part of Access to Nature. We’ve taken away some great learning, delivered some great work and will keep moving forward to do more. On a personal level, I feel I have learned a lot but also been inspired by all the other organisations, including Barnwood, and what they are pushing to achieve for accessibility.”
