Inclusive club's plea over use of blue badge bays

Barton Inclusive Football Club was established in 2019 and provides opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy the beautiful game

An inclusive football club in North Lincolnshire has appealed for people not to misuse disabled parking bays at its training facility.

Barton Inclusive Football Club's welfare officer Lynn Green said the extent of the misuse came to light when a volunteer reported being verbally abused after asking someone to move on Monday evening.

"She was quite distressed, and went back to the session, where a lot of the players said this had been going on for weeks," Ms Green said.

The club runs its sessions at Baysgarth Sports Village – a community-use facility attached to Baysgarth School, which is administered by North Lincolnshire Council. Both have been approached for comment.

Ms Green said: "It's [normal for them] that those disabled bays which are a lifeline for some people are just used by other people, so they don't even bother mentioning it.

"That really shocked us. As an able-bodied person you may think subconsciously that a disabled person wouldn't be accessing any kind of sporting activity, but that's not the case."

She said the club wanted to raise awareness of the importance of the disabled spaces, and appealed for people to challenge those they were with if they used the spaces incorrectly.

The club said there had been a spate of incidents at its Baysgarth Sports Village training venue

Some players have since reported having to park a 20-minute walk away from the venue, she added.

"That's not really conducive to them accessing a session that is designed by its very nature to being inclusive.

"It is impacting the people who come to our session in a very negative way – a lot more than we had realised."

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