“About 10,000 people in the UK are newly diagnosed with a lung disease every week.” – The British Lung Foundation

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Breathe Easy Week is a week in which people come together to raise awareness around lung health and the impacts that it can have on both a person’s mental & physical health.

“Approximately one in five people in the UK has ever developed asthma, COPD or another long-term respiratory illness. Half of them are currently on treatment (mainly inhalers) for lung disease.” – The British Lung Foundation

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Lung Health & The Access Card

Here at The Access Card, we support many cardholders to help them discreetly communicate the barriers they might face when out and about or visiting shows, events or tourist destinations and have provided some more information about some of the typical access requirements we have processed.

Everyone is different and experiences their needs in different ways, but here are some examples based on our experience.

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Standing & Queuing

Whether you have difficulty with physically being in a queue for a significant period of time, difficulty with the concept of queuing, or have difficulty with being in a queue/ crowded spaces, the ‘Standing & Queuing’ symbol can be added to your Access Card to help communicate this access requirement. 

Different providers have their own ways of accommodating this access requirement.

For example, Chessington World of Adventures Resort accepts Access Cards with the ‘Standing & Queuing’ symbol as proof for a Ride Access Pass.

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What is a Ride Access Pass?

“A Ride Access Pass is a virtual queuing system designed to make reasonable adjustments to assist guests who do not understand the concept of queuing, have a physical disability that prevents them standing for extended periods of time or permanently non-ambulant guests.”

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Distances

For people who would perhaps have difficulty with walking/ self-propelling a wheelchair for longer distances, we have the ‘distances’ symbol to communicate this access requirement with different providers. 

Different providers have their own ways of accommodating this access requirement.

For example, The Royal Yacht Britannia has seating along its tour route so that people can take breaks. Wheelchairs are also available to borrow. 

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Essential Companions

For those that require a substantial amount of support from another person when out & about, we have the ‘+1’ symbol which indicates to providers that you would need a substantial amount of support to be able to access their facilities.

Different providers have different systems in place to facilitate this access requirement.

For example, Thorpe Park accepts Access Cards with the ‘+1’ symbol as proof for a free essential companion ticket.

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Face Mask Exemption

More recently, throughout COVID, we have had a number of people whose needs mean that they are either unable to put on, wear or remove a face covering, or that they can feel distressed when wearing a face covering or that they are with someone who requires lip-reading to communicate, and as a response to feedback from our members, we now have an additional face mask symbol for those that need it.

There are a number of face mask exemption cards and certificates available in the UK, but we are the only face mask exemption card that offers verification of your exemption.

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Thinking of applying for a Card?

If you think the above would be useful for you and would like to apply for your Access Card you can do so quickly and easily by completing our short online application form and uploading some supporting information confirming your needs.

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Further Sources of Information, Advice, and Support

Check out our full directory for how these symbols apply at over 1,000 venues in the UK and beyond.

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The British Lung Foundation

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“We’re the only UK charity looking after the nation’s lungs. With your support, we’ll make sure that one day everyone breathes clean air with healthy lungs.”

The British Lung Foundation

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Tel: 03000 030 555

Web: www.blf.org.uk

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