Accessible Abseil Light Up for Purple Light Up Day

To help raise awareness of the need for accessibility in the outdoors, the National Trust and the Lake District Calvert Trust (LDCT) will be lighting up the wheelchair accessible abseil at the Bowder Stone quarry in Borrowdale for Purple Light Up Day.

Launched by the United Nations in 1992, Purple Light Up Day, December 3rd, comes on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and is the day many landmarks, buildings and other locations are being lit up to raise awareness on the importance of inclusion and to celebrate the lives of disabled people.

The accessible abseil was installed by the National Trust and the LDCT in 2007 to help give people with disabilities a chance to have a thrilling outdoor experience in the Lake District and has since seen over 1000 wheelchair users scaling the quarry wall. For this particular event, James, who is a participant at Calvert Reconnections, the LDCT’s brain injury rehabilitation centre, will be attempting the abseil with support from a Calvert Trust staff member.

Commenting on his abseil, James said: “During my time at Calvert Reconnections I’ve really enjoyed taking part in a range of outdoor activities as part of my clinically led rehabilitation programme. My rehab plan has included cycling, fell walking, canoeing and climbing, but this is my biggest challenge yet! The team at Calvert have been fantastic. I'm all set for the big day and I'm looking forward to abseiling down the quarry wall and raising awareness of the need for accessibility in the outdoors."

Sean Day, Chief Executive at the LDCT said: “Every single day, our dedicated and passionate instructors find creative ways to help people living with disability to discover what they can do in the Great Outdoors.

“The LDCT offers the UK’s most comprehensive programme of outdoor activities for people with disabilities and we are proud to be to working with the National Trust to celebrate Purple Light Up Day on 3 December.”

This year also marks the 100 year anniversary of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club gift of 12 peaks to the National Trust made on October 13, 1923 to commemorate lives lost during WW1. Geoffrey Winthrop Young, an author and avid climber of the time, gave the address at the official dedication. Geoffrey, having lost his leg in the war, was also known for his tenacity and love for the outdoors as he continued to climb after his injury, having designed his own prosthetic limb. His story, along with what was the largest gift of land ever received by the trust, continues to serve as an inspiration as to the importance of making sure everyone has the opportunity to enjoy nature.

Spending time in nature has many benefits on both our mental and physical health which is why making sure everyone has access to outdoor spaces and activities is a part of our Everyone Welcome priority at the National Trust. To help further these aims, we have enlisted the help of Experience Community to put together a network of accessible trails starting from Crow park along the shores of Derwent Water and into Great Wood in Borrowdale. This includes making sure our webpages have the information needed for our

visitors to plan their day. With the experience gained on these projects, we hope to implement changes to other trails throughout our places to make them more accessible in the future.

Craig Grimes, Managing Director at Experience Community said: “It’s really important that disabled people have access to the outdoors and contact with nature, it’s great for both our physical and mental health wellbeing. We have to find a balance between access and heritage in all of our landscapes so that we preserve and conserve what’s important to us, while enabling everyone to enjoy it.”

For more information on the work being done to bring to light the histories of disability from across he National Trust’s sites and collections, please visit: Everywhere and nowhere