Over a period of six weeks students from Leeds Trinity University College have been out and about with us, filming our activities as we help disabled people to access the countryside. The four members of the film crew (Joe, Natalie, Katie and Sean) are in their first year of a film degree.
In the video, there’s interviews with Sam, Paul and David (from Open Country) as well as contributions from our members and volunteers. We think it gives a really good summary of what we get up to and how much we enjoy our mission to inspire confidence and independence for people with disabilities. You’ll see just how involved all of our members get, who despite learning and mobility difficulties, crave excitement and risk like everyone else.
Our student friends shot over 25 hours of footage on 10 of our activities and they’ve trimmed it down to a neat 6 minute film. Take a look for yourself:
The inside of our new minibus, ready to be fitted out with seats
We’ve just taken delivery of our brand new Open Country minibus, affectionately nicknamed ‘The Purple Princess.’ But the thing is … it’s actually silver and is perhaps better suited to the nickname ‘Silver Cloud’ suggested by Adrian, a member of the Ripon Community Link group.
Our new bus is fully accessible, which means we can continue to fulfil our mission of helping people with disabilities to access the countryside in the Yorkshire area. Here’s a quick run-down of its features:
Sliding doors on both sides of the minibus: making it easier for people to get in and out
Full accessible tail lift: for wheelchairs and other equipment our disabled members might need
Tow bar: now we can tow a trailer’s worth of equipment
We’re especially excited about the new minibus because it means we can expand our activities into West Yorkshire and help even more people with disabilities to access the countryside around them. We can also help fellow charities further afield, like Otley Disability Action Group and Wetherby In Support Of The Elderly.
Look how clean our new minibus is. How long do you think this will last?
Having another bus helps us meet the demands on our charity and means we no longer have to turn people with disabilities away because we’ve run out of seats. That said, we’re faced with a whole new problem: we’ve now got two minibuses to keep on the road: that’s twice as much fuel, tax, insurance and repair costs.
Do you want to help people with disabilities access the countryside?
If you think you can help us keep our minibuses on the road we’d be grateful of any support you can give us: whether that’s any donation you can afford or hands-on mechanical assistance or discounts. You should contact us if you think you can help.
Oh and before you go … two quick questions for you:
Would you like to sponsor a seat on board our new minibus ‘Silver Cloud’?
Now that we have two minibuses, can we call it a fleet?
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