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AccessAble and Cambridge Colleges launch new Accessibility Guide

16 Cambridge colleges have worked with AccessAble, the UK’s leading provider of disabled access information, to survey and create a landmark programme of Detailed Access Guides to teaching/meeting spaces and routes across the city. The programme aligns with the current accessibility programme across the University of Cambridge.

The 16 colleges working with AccessAble to form this collaborative approach are:

  • Christ’s College
  • Clare College
  • Downing College
  • Fitzwilliam College
  • Girton College
  • Hughes Hall
  • Jesus College
  • Newnham College
  • Pembroke College
  • Peterhouse
  • Queens’ College
  • Robinson College
  • Selwyn College
  • Sidney Sussex College
  • St Edmund’s College
  • Wolfson College

The Guides are 100 per cent facts, figures, and photographs to help students, visitors and staff plan their journeys to and around the colleges, covering everything from parking facilities and hearing loops, to walking distances and accessible toilets.

We know everyone’s accessibility needs are different, which is why having detailed, accurate information is so important. It’s why all the details you’ll find in the Guides have been checked in person, on site, by trained surveyors.

AccessAble have also provided internal guidance documents which look at how the colleges could improve accessibility in the future.

Dr Gregory Burke, Founder and Chair of AccessAble, said:

“The launch of the Detailed Access Guides to these 16 Cambridge colleges is very personal to me. As a disabled applicant 30 years ago, I wanted to know, before I applied, what college was going to be accessible to my own individual requirements. As I student I wanted to know which colleges I could visit for supervisions and for fun! So these guides would have made an enormous difference to me.

“Going to Cambridge changed my life immeasurably for the better. I want every disabled person who would otherwise be put off from applying - for the want of access information - to now have the confidence to make that application; and then come and thoroughly enjoy their time. The university and colleges want the best students. These colleges have shown they include disabled people within that aspiration; rightly so! And they should be congratulated for taking part.

“We will build on this great start to ensure that all students feel confident and welcome everywhere they go within the university and colleges.”

Dr Anthony Freeling, President of Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, said:

“Our colleges are delighted to join the expanding AccessAble network in Cambridge. The wealth of information will allow our students, visitors and applicants to plan their route, whatever their accessibility needs. The advice for improving our accessibility are already proving invaluable as we implement their recommendations.”

Professor Stephen J Toope, Vice Chancellor of The University of Cambridge, said:

“The addition of sixteen colleges to the Cambridge AccessAble network emphasises the collegiate University’s commitment to widening access and participation.”

You can view the Cambridge Colleges Accessibility Guide here: https://www.accessable.co.uk/university-of-cambridge

It is also available via the AccessAble App which is free to download from the App Store and Google Play, giving you accessibility information at your fingertips to use on the go.

The information for Cambridge Colleges joins over 70,000 places already covered across the UK, making www.AccessAble.co.uk a great tool for planning your university experience, a day out or trip away.

For more information about the project, please contact Dean Eales, Head of Partnerships at AccessAble on 01438 842710 or email [email protected]

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