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A note from Debs: “Hi and welcome to our new website, Access The Dales. I have been asked on several occasions how and why did Access The Dales come about so here it is, our back story.”
Life changed significantly when Debbie was diagnosed with spinal degeneration and since she became a wheelchair user Andy and Debs North have become ambassadors for accessibility to the outdoors.
Andy and Debbie soon became active members of the Access For All group in the Yorkshire Dales and were passionate about making the Yorkshire Dales accessible to all. They were both became volunteers for the Yorkshire Dales National Park and were given the responsibility for the auditing of the Miles Without Stiles Routes.
Following a short illness, Andy sadly passed away on 29th June 2021.
Andy last wish was for Debs to continue pushing forward the boundaries of accessibility and he asked for people dig deep into their pockets (he knows that this can be hard for the Yorkshire folks like himself!) to donate towards the purchase of an all-terrain wheelchair specifically for children for the Yorkshire Dales. .
We are really pleased to report that we have already reached our target of £16K and we have already ordered the first TerrainHopper mini, which is specifically designed for children.
This will be located in an idyllic spot in the Yorkshire Dales where families will be able to borrow it and will be able to share beautiful moments and enjoy the landscape that brought Andy so much happiness.
But we think we can achieve more! For this reason we have up the charity ‘Access The Dales’ so that we can continue to raise money and buy more airs that will be located in different parts of the Yorkshire Dales.
If you have any ideas about how we can raise more funds, please get in touch. We want to hear from you!
The official launch of Access The Dales will be in Spring 2022. Meanwhile Debs is forging forward creating an accessible countryside for all. She has become a freelance writer, consultant and motivational speaker.
You can find more about Debbie's work in the button below.