'I can get out in nature just like everybody else'

Wheelchair user Sharon Thomas has been working with the South West Coast Path Association to improve accessibility

A disabled woman from Cornwall is trying to show other wheelchair users the "mind-blowing" access along the South West Coast Path.

Sharon Thomas, from Polperro, has been using her YouTube channel Wheelie Fun Accessible Adventures to document her journeys around "accessible coastal paths, woods, towns and much more" since 2023.

Mrs Thomas, who became a wheelchair user nine years ago after developing a serious neurological condition, originally believed she would not be able to get out into nature but discovered many paths were accessible.

She said: "You forget all your worries and all your problems - and you can just been in nature like everybody else."

The South West Coast Path is 630 miles long and costs £1,500 per mile a year to maintain, bosses said

Mrs Thomas has been working with organisations such as the National Trust and the South West Coast Path Association to improve accessibility.

She said she wanted to show wheelchair users they could "do what everybody else is doing".

"If you feel like your world is changing because of some serious illness, you just want to give hope," she said.

"You might feel lonely and a bit left out and I want people to know you can do this."

She said the installation of special handles and flattened terrain were among the ways accessibility was being improved.

Wellbeing benefits

Nine million people use the South West Coast Path every year on average, costing £1,500 per mile a year to maintain, the association said.

Bosses said they wanted to encourage new people to use the 630-mile (1,013km) path so they could "experience the many health and wellbeing benefits" nature can provide.

The stretch next to Marazion and St Michael's Mount is the latest section where accessibility has been improved, they said.