Overview

I work for the charity PAMIS and as part of my role I organised an accessible leisure event for a group of individuals with profound and multiple learning disabilities at The Experience. They offer the unique Karting with a Conscience service which is designed for individuals with physical and learning disabilities to safely experience all the fun of go-karting. There are two types of kart available: a tandem kart and the side-by-side kart which is fully accessible for individuals who use wheelchairs.All the karts are operated by knowledgeable and experienced instructors who go the ‘extra mile’ to understand the individuals’ needs and support them during the session. Our visit took place on a weekday and families noted how quiet the venue is, ideal for our participants! The experience also offers a free sensory room, an accessible changing facility and restaurant. All staff we met were extremely helpful and accommodating. We will be back!

Transport & Parking

The venue it self has ample parking which is located round the corner from the main entrance. The public transport links to the venue are quite poor. The nearest train station is a 10 minute walk away, with only two trains per hour. This train station is also not accessible for those individuals who require the use of a a wheelchair(five out of six members of our group are wheelchair users). There are steps to access platforms and no ramps are provided. The venue is not easily accessed by local bus services.

Access

The venue entrance is level and there is ample space to negotiate a wheelchair around the sides of the track. The viewing gallery can only be accessed by stairs so many of our group could not access this, but there is small accessible viewing gallery located at the side of the track. Our group were required to wear open faced helmets but did not have to use the full head helmet, balaclava or racing suit, which was helpful as many of our group experience sensory difficulties and this helped to eliminate these issues. There are 2 types of kart. Tandem karts (4 are available) are designed for individuals who can transfer in and out of the kart safely. Within the tandem karts there are 2 seats, with participant sits at the front of the car and the instructor sits at the back of the kart and controls the kart. There is also a side by side kart (1 is available). This is for individuals with very limited mobility, and the kart is accessible to allow an individual who uses a wheelchair to access (mobile hoist is provided). The participant sits side by side with the instructor who controls the kart. More of these karts would be great, but the karts The Experience does have are fab!

Toilets

There is an accessible changing room available which includes an adult sized changing bench and mobile hoist, which is ideal for our group who require full assistance with personal care. If a few changes were made e.g. installing a peninsular toilet this facility would hopefully meet the requirements to be registered as an official Changing Places Toilet making the venue even more accessible. There were also standard disabled toilets available.

Staff

All staff I came into contact with were extremely helpful. I booked the event via Geoff, who was ,most accommodating and had a good understanding of what our group would require during the session and he en devoured to provide all necessary equipment on the day. The karting instructors were brilliant. All our families commented on how friendly, knowledgeable and understanding the instructors were. They provided lots of reassurance to parents and made the session really fun for our participants. They seemed to really engage with our group and went above and beyond to support our guys.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

This was a really unique experience for our group. The approach The Experience has taken to develop such an inclusive service is so impressive. Disabled people are often told they can't take part in these types of activities due to lack of appropriate resources, however The Experience has shown that people with disabilities can experience high-adrenaline activities in a safe controlled environment. It was lovely seeing all the smiles as our guys used the karts and seeing how much fun they had. Many of our families said they would come back and it had opened their eyes to an activity they did not think the person would ever be able to do. Superb work from all the staff- PAMIS will be back in the near future!

Photos