A new way to give to Tourism for All

A new easy way to raise money for Tourism for All that does not involve you parting with extra cash or extra time.

www.Everyclick.com has launched a new way to donate - it's been Christened "Give as you Live".

Just go to http://www.everyclick.com/tourism-for-all-uk/279169/0 and start searching and follow the simple prompts to make this your default search facility.

Cheese Rolling 2010 cancelled

The organisers of the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake regret to announce that the 2010 event has been cancelled.

The attendance at the event has far outgrown the location where it has traditionally been held for several hundred years: last year more than 15,000 people tried to attend (according to official estimates) which is more than three times the capacity of the site.

The organisers are working with the local Authorities and Police to control numbers which will enhance:

- crowd safety

- respect for the local community

- emergency vehicle access

- traffic flow on local and trunk roads

The event will be back, in a revised form, in 2011.

Tourism for All at Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Show 2010

Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Trade Forum 2010 will run from Wednesday 17th - Thursday 18th March at London's Olympia. With all the domestic travel industry now fully united behind it, BoBI boasts its largest ever exhibitor list with more than fifty companies participating for the very first time and nearly four hundred regions, destinations, attractions and hotels represented.

Tourism for All will be on stand E130 with a business clinic.

Discover the best that Britain and Ireland have to offer on 19th & 20th March at the Consumer Days. Our friends at Shakespeare Country will be there on Stand J24.

For more information or to download a ticket please click on the following link - www.seetickets.com/bestofbritainandireland and enter the following code: SwTM2309 – this will save you up to £10.

Where in the world do you want to go next...?

Come and see us at Earls Court on Friday 5 February !

Farncombe will be attending The Times Destinations show in London so if travel is your passion, spend just one day at the Show and meet hundreds of travel experts face to face (ask them the questions that the internet cannot always answer) and gain travel inspiration to tailor-make your next trip.

Save money… enjoy exclusive Show offers ready to be snapped up.

Plus… reignite the holiday feeling inside you with world entertainment at the Show including music and dance performances and interviews with our guest celebrities including BBC World Affairs Correspondent John Simpson, writer and TV presenter Julia Bradbury and Conor Woodman, star of Around the World in 80 Days.

From career breaks, to city breaks, or from beach holidays to boating holidays, whatever your next adventure – make sure your first stop is Destinations.

For more details and opening times see http://www.destinationsshow.com/london/welcome

Farncombe Student Donations for "Walk Free" - thank you !

On Saturday 5 December we had 4 walkers who were doing John O’Groats to Lands End (only 1200 miles) staying at Farncombe. Think for a moment about the weather over recent weeks ……………….! Charlie, Nick, Claudia and Martin are raising money for two charities that work with women and children who are trafficked as slaves and with former child soldiers. Their website is www.walk-free.org.uk

My first job, in 1967, was teaching in Kenya and from 1973 to 1975 I worked for Unicef in the southern Sudan, so those two causes have an immediate pull for me. In addition I am planning to ride 2,500 miles round England via 30 cathedrals for the Family Holiday Association and for Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre when I retire in 2013. I will buy the poor unsuspecting horse in the summer of 2012. So I have some empathy with those doing such things.

We asked the Farncombe students to support Charlie, Nick, Claudia and Martin and to encourage them, I agreed to give an additional 50p for every £1 raised.

I am delighted to say that on 7 December we paid £99 to the charities via the www.walk-free.org.uk website.

Well done Farncombe!

William

New OPEN BRITAIN guide released today

‘OPENBRITAIN’, the new high quality printed guide published by national charities Tourism for All UK and RADAR is published today. The full colour 456-page guide has over 1,000 entries, and includes a wide range of accessible accommodation, as well as attractions, equipment hire and other services. It has 50 pages of featured editorial, and an extensive section on Getting There and Back.

The new guide is supported by the national tourist agencies VisitEngland, VisitScotland and VisitWales, and it includes all accommodation providers assessed under the National Accessible Scheme, as well those inspected under schemes operated by VisitScotland, and VisitLondon. Information has also been drawn from a range of organisations including the Automobile Association, the British Hospitality Association, and the Regional Development Agencies. It includes some properties who are self-assessed, who will be subject to a mystery shopping check on the accuracy of the data.

The National Federation of Shopmobility has joined with RADAR and Tourism for All to promote the guide and website. Window stickers with the Open Britain logo provided to those who have supplied access statements and joined Open Britain will help to promote it as a system of information.

For a long time, surveys have shown that disabled people want an easier way to get the information they need, not just about accommodation, but about travel, things to see and do, places to eat and drink, without having to trawl through hundreds of different websites searching for information that all too often is not there. The new www.openbritain.net website that backs up the guide aims to do just that. Visitors and guests are invited to give feedback via the website.

OpenBritain enjoys the support of Government ministers who launched the initiative in July. Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP, Minister for the Olympics and Paralympics, Barbara Follett MP, the then Minister for Tourism, and Jonathan Shaw MP, Minister for Disabled People all expressed their support. In her foreword to the guide, Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP states:

“This guide is a necessary and timely contribution … Not only is it an invaluable and long-awaited resource for travellers with access requirements, it also serves as a powerful incentive for those businesses that are not listed here to raise their game.
It will encourage them to look again at their facilities, to re-appraise their abilitiy to meet accessibility needs, and to act to ensure that staff and managers are well equipped to provide high-quality services to disabled people’.

Win a £100 holiday voucher...

At The Co-operative we place diversity high on our agenda and our aim is to ensure that The Co-operative Travel is “Good for everyone” catering for all types of customers including those with disabilities. This survey aims to help us as a travel agent understand current travel trends and perceptions of arranging travel with a disability. Your views are important to us please share them and have the chance to win £100 of holiday vouchers in our prize draw.
http://www.co-operativetravel.co.uk/specialist-travel/specialist-travel-survey/

Win a Gourmet Foodie Break with EatScotland

VisitScotland and Inverawe are offering you the chance to win a two night foodie break to the West Coast of Scotland.

Enjoy a two night stay at The Pierhouse Hotel in Port Appin, Argyll on the shores of Loch Linnhe. With spectacular views out to the Islands you will be in awe of the magnificent scenery that the West Coast of Scotland has to offer

To enter the competition visit http://eatscotland.visitscotland.com/competitions/food-break-argyll.html

It isn't too late to Vote for Your Favourite Worcestershire Tourism Business!

Destination Worcestershire brings the first ever awards aimed at the tourism industry to the county celebrating the diversity of Worcestershire's tourism offer.

There are four Worcestershire Awards and you are invited to vote for your favourites, the categories include:

• Best Worcestershire Breakfast
• Eat & Drink Worcestershire
• Worcestershire Awareness
• Worcestershire Nights

Closing date for entries is Monday 20th April 2009

he winners will be put forward for regional and national award schemes and also receive a commemorative plaque and a vocational prize of their choice such as training in marketing or financial management.

More information on Worcestershire Welcome Awards

Save up to 35% on weekend breaks

Planning a short break? Here's a great accommodation offer where you can choose from a large number of ideally located hotels. So what's it to be? A visit to see friends and family, a trip to a historic city, a special anniversary, a treat for the grandchildren, or just a well deserved break?

TFA has a special offer for its members and for Disabled and Senior Persons Railcard Holders: book with us and enjoy a discount of 25% off the Best Flexible rate*, including up to 35% off Friday and Sunday nights* at over 400 participating Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Express by Holiday Inn hotels across the UK, Europe and Middle East.

Email info@tourismforall.org.uk or call 0845 124 9973 now for more information.

NEW UK GUIDE TO ACCESSIBLE PLACES TO STAY AND VISIT

The Easy Access Britain guide is due for publication in late January 2009. Featuring more than 800 accessible accommodation in Britain -- including 100 new listings of London hotels, and over 200 in Scotland -- this guide will be an invaluable aid to holidays in Britain next year for people with disabilities, older people with less mobility than they once had, families with buggies, or Paralympians!

A new flexible binding and hard cover format ensures greater durability for a product that will serve as an invaluable reference for years to come.

Published by national tourist board VisitBritain and Tourism for All, 'Easy Access Britain: The Guide to Accessible Places to Stay and Visit' features quality-assessed hotels, B&Bs, guest accommodation, cottages, and camping and caravan parks participating in a national scheme. Colour location maps, regional information and ideas for days out make it an indispensable traveller's guide.

The new guide, which retails at £9.99, is currently available for pre-orders at a special price of £5.99* plus P&P – that’s a saving of 40%! (*discounted price for pre orders received before 31st Jan 09. For orders after this date, price is £6.99 + P&P)

For more information about Tourism for All UK and the new Easy Access Guide, contact Carrie-Ann Fleming on 0845 1249973 or info@tourismforall.org.uk.

Painting Holiday Directory

Farncombe courses are now listed online with The Painting Holiday Directory. To order a copy please visit the website.