“There are around 7.6 million people living with heart and circulatory diseases in the UK” – The British Heart Foundation
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World Heart Day is a day in which people come together to raise more awareness around Cardiovascular disease.
“Cardiovascular disease (CVD), also called heart and circulatory disease, is an umbrella name for conditions that affect your heart or circulation. These include high blood pressure, stroke and vascular dementia.” – The British Heart Foundation
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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.
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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 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 Great British Food Festival, Hardwick Hall, offers a buggy service that runs from the Visitor Centre to the hall and gardens throughout the day.
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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, Legoland Windsor Resort accepts 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.
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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 Heart Foundation
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“Our vision is a world free from the fear of heart and circulatory diseases. We raise money to research cures and treatments, so we can beat heartbreak forever.”
The British Heart Foundation
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Web: https://www.bhf.org.uk/
Email: heretohelp@bhf.org.uk
Tel: 0300 330 3322
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Heart Research UK
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“We inspire and invest in life-saving medical research into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease, as well as supporting ground-breaking training and education. To date, we’ve invested over £25m into research all across the UK.”
Heart Research UK
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Web: https://heartresearch.org.uk/
Email: info@heartresearch.org.uk
Tel: 0113 234 7474
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