“Over 5000 babies in the UK are born with a heart condition, between 500 – 1000 develop heart conditions after they are born.” – Children’s Heart Federation
Wear Red Day is a day in which people come together to raise awareness of congenital heart disease.
“Congenital heart disease means a heart condition or defect that develops in the womb, before a baby is born.” – The British Heart Foundation.
Congenital Heart Disease & 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, Thorpe Park accepts Access Cards with the ‘Standing & Queuing’ symbol as proof for a Ride Access Pass.
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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Level Access
The ‘Level Access’ symbol is not just available to wheelchair users, but also to people who find accessing stairs impossible or require additional space in order to feel more comfortable in a venue’s environment.
Different providers have different systems in place to facilitate this access requirement.
For example, British Summer Time Festival has a number of viewing platforms available.
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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, Greenbelt Festival offers taxi-buggies from the Box Office down to the Festival Village entrance. In addition, there is a closer and more accessible camp located close to the Festival Village entrance.
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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, Terrible Thames accept Access Cards with the ‘+1’ symbol as proof for a free essential companion ticket.
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Additional Access Requirements
The ‘Additional Access Requirements’ symbol is used to indicate that you have additional access requirements that haven’t already been covered by the other symbols & you can communicate these access requirements with different venues & attractions.
A lot of venues & attractions will include additional information about their events/services on their website. This may include information about the use of strobe lighting & smoke machines during performances. Please refer to each venue’s website for this information.
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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.
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 Children’s Heart Federation
“The Children’s Heart Federation (CHF) is the leading UK children’s heart charity and works with individuals and organisations concerned with children and young people with health and educational needs due to acquired or congenital heart conditions.”
The Children’s Heart Federation
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Tel: 0300 561 0065
Web: https://chfed.org.uk/
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The British Heart Foundation
“We fund over £100 million of research each year into all heart and circulatory diseases and the things that cause them. Heart diseases. Stroke. Vascular dementia. Diabetes. They’re all connected, and they’re all under our microscope.”
The British Heart Foundation
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Tel: 0300 330 3322
Web: https://www.bhf.org.uk/
Email: heretohelp@bhf.org.uk
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📷: https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/wear-red-day-2022/
