Nottingham Forest become the latest organisation to sign up to the Access Card – a system for disabled people to discuss their needs with discretion and access the right tickets for them.
Joining them pitch side at City Ground to celebrate were a selection of the talent we all got to know at the 2012 Paralympics and will be seeing much more of next year as they represent Great Britain at Rio.
Ollie Hynd MBE, Paralympic Gold Medallist at the London Games said:
“The scheme is an excellent idea, and its great that Nottingham Forest have adopted the Access Card for it’s ground. Going to see large events can be quite daunting for some people, so the fact that the Access Card makes this a simple process is fantastic.”
Richard Whitehead, commenting in his capacity of 19eleven added;
“As Paralympic Athletes we all have a responsibility to support people with a disability to get involved in sport, regardless if its playing or watching. The inspiration that being part of large sporting events in this kinds of venue can have so many positive impacts on peoples lives, this was truly evident at London 2012, so that fact that schemes such as this make it easier to engage in sport (and other events) is absolutely amazing.”
Martin Austin, MD of Nimbus the Company behind the card explained what it was all about:
“For disabled people booking the right tickets to meet their needs is essential and for the provider it can be tricky to make sure the right people get the right tickets without going into unnecessary levels of personal detail with a customer.
“What we’ve done is simplify the process for disabled people and providers and developed a single consistent way of talking to all kinds of providers. On the scheme so far we have everything from the major Festivals such as V and Glastonbury, arenas like the Capital FM in Nottingham and The O2, right through to fish and chip shops offering special meal deals”
Forest safety officer Alan Bexon said:
“With the Access Card a customer doesn’t need to do any more than tell us their name and number.
“That gives us all the information we need in order to support them in getting the most appropriate tickets – event organisers have been looking for support like this for a long time.”
For more information about the Access Card call 01332 404023 or visit www.accesscard.org.uk
–Notes–
19eleven is a Paralympic sports management company with an ethos that puts the athlete at the very centre of what we do.
They work with a select number of elite level para-sport individuals, providing various opportunities and support services alongside mentoring allowing the athlete to achieve the utmost potential in their sporting career.
Richard Whitehead MBE
Richard is now one of the figureheads of GB Athletics having won GOLD at London2012 and being the holder of numerous world records for 200m and marathon distances and you may have also seen him on ITV’s Splash! plumeting from the 10m board
Ollie Hynd MBE
Ollie is a Paralympic swimmer who at only 20 has had the privilege of representing Great Britain for several years. In such a short time Ollie has won numerous medals, the most notable was a GOLD at London 2012! He also holds several British, European and World records. In 2013, Ollie was awarded an MBE as well as a golden post box in his hometown of Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.
Charlotte Henshaw
Charlotte is a swimmer who has competed at both the Beijing and London Paralympic Games. London 2012 saw Charlotte bring home a SILVER medal, whilst breaking her classifications previous paralympic record. Charlotte, from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire has her main focus on Rio 2016, where she intends to put in some big performances and bring home another medal!
Sophie Hahn
Sophie is a Paralympic runner from Widmerpool in Nottinghamshire who competes over the 100, 200, 400 and 4 x 100 meter distances. Sophie has represented Great Britain since 2013 and in a short time has a raft of silver and gold medals that sit alongside world and british records in her T38 athletics classification. Sophie’s motto is “I train hard and run fast”! VIEW FULL PROFILE
