Draft minutes

Everyone was welcomed to the meeting and introductions made.

There were no matters arising that were outstanding.

The minutes from the Disability Access Advisory Panel of 20 March 2024 were accepted and agreed.

There were no matters arising that were outstanding.

The minutes from the Disability Access Advisory Panel of 20 March 2024 were accepted and agreed.

Lauren Hill, partnerships manager, Access Able gave a presentation outlining the service Access Able provides, circulated with the minutes.

BFC have been contracting Access Able since 2011 to produce annually updated online access guides for a wide range of venues across the2 borough. The guides can be accessed for free of charge by residents and are available to view on their website and via an app.

Lauren welcomed feedback from the panel and will be taking back questions about

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providing information about visual fire alarms,

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guide dogs

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and finding out whether people with disabilities are still able to be trained and involved in surveying venues.

Lauren confirmed that user statistics (how many views per page etc) are easily available and she will provide this information quarterly to BFC.

Any feedback for Lauren and Access Able can be communicated through Harjit and Louise who will regularly meet with Lauren.

ACTIONS: -

1. Harjit and Louise to liaise with Comms to refresh promotion for the Access Able service and check there are no remaining instances of the old company name Disabled Go in use in existing communications.

2.Ali to send Lauren the link to the Local Offer.

3. All group members to think about whether they can add links to the Access Able access guides on their websites or promote through their social media channels and networks.

4.Harjit and Louise to consult the panel on the venues to be added to the guide and those needing updating for the next annual update by Access Able in early 2025.

5.Harjit and Louise to speak to Access Able about training up local people to be involved in surveying with an update to the group at the next meeting.

An initial meeting of the Working Group took place in May. Different options for venues, dates, timings, nature of event and target audience were discussed. Ideas including combining the event with the Great Wellness Exchange, videoing interviews with residents and including the creation of a collaborative art piece were discussed.

The panel considered the focus of the event and decided it should be used as an opportunity to hear the voices of residents about their lived experiences of living in Bracknell Forest – what is positive/negative/what needs to change. Primarily we will be listening to help inform us of what resident’s issues are and to inform the work of the DAAP going forward. Abby stressed that in approaching this we need to focus on building resilience and taking a strength based approach, where possible enabling people to be independent.

In addition, signposting could be made available at the events by Social Prescribing and Healthwatch but will not be the sole focus.

It was RESOLVED that there will be four separate events taking place over an approx. four-week period in Sep to early Oct. One in the north, one in the south, a town centre event and an online one too.

During this period there will also be a consultation survey published online – paper copies will also be made available.

ACTION: - working group to plan the engagement events, confirm dates, venues, timings, and resourcing including how to ensure that the feedback is captured and collated effectively.

Sarah Luscombe updated the panel. The Lexicon have confirmed that they are keen to implement the use of safe spaces and would like to have this in place prior to the Christmas peak.

Not many retailers have engaged yet – possibly due to the pressures of recruiting and training specialised staff. However, it is thought many will come on board as they will be fulfilling their corporate social responsibilities and providing safe spaces will also increase footfall at the Lexicon

Harjit informed the panel the Community Engagement Team are working towards developing and publishing the council’s new Equality Objectives in 2025 and will be consulting with partners.

Steph asked for clarification of the term ‘purple pound’ as it was referred to several times during the meeting. The purple pound is a retailer term for money spent by people with disabilities.

Date of next meetings:

A meeting to be held prior to the resident engagement events, to be booked for late August/early September and 20 November 2024.