Charity helps disabled people access beauty spots

Greater accessibility at Norfolk's beauty spots was welcome, campaigners said

A Norwich disability group has thanked a Norfolk charity for making a city beauty spot more accessible.

Inclusive Norwich has worked alongside Norfolk Wildlife Trust and Aviva to ensure everyone can enjoy nature, with the latest project at Sweet Briar Marshes off Hellesdon Road being hailed a success.

Wider, hard-packed pathways, lightweight gates and raised pathway edges have been installed to improve accessibility, with plans for more improvements in future.

Dave Shraga, from the group, described the level of accessibility at the reserve, which has been open since May, as "gold standard".

"They gave us everything we wanted and said, 'What else do you want?', which was mind-blowing," he said.

"To go to that extent of working so hard to do that is part of that culture shift. Part of the 'gold standard' is making people feel valid and included and as though they have ownership."

Sweet Briar Marshes, in the Wensum Valley, is made up of 90 acres (36 hectares) and a mixture of habitats, including mature woodland, wet and dry grasslands.

It is home to rare species of birds, amphibians, insects and flowers.

Matt Wickens, urban nature reserves manager for Norfolk Wildlife Trust, said it asked the community what it wanted from the reserve after it purchased the land in 2022.

"Since those consultations, the themes coming from them - one of them was accessibility and inclusivity.

"So we focused our efforts on that."

Insurer Aviva, which has a base in Norwich, provided Norfolk Wildlife Trust with £300,000 in match-funding to buy the land.

Hard surfaces can be found across the reserve

Mr Shraga said more could be done elsewhere in the county to make sites accessible.

"Going out into nature and having a physical disability doesn't always go together. The ground can be a bit lumpy and bumpy, there can be stiles, there can be issues with toilets - there's a whole bunch of things that can make it really hard.

"The beaches in Norfolk are absolutely stunning. Personally I would love to be able to get more on to the beach and maybe even into the sea. But at the moment it's almost impossible."