As part of the BuDS Fair4All Visitor project, a ‘BuDDy tour’ of twelve disabled people from BuDS visited Waddesdon Manor on 24 September 2022 to assess the venue’s disabled accessibility and inclusion. All the tourists were volunteers or BuDS staff. We were not paid or commissioned by Waddesdon Manor, and our views and opinions are entirely independent.
A group of 12 BuDS volunteers and staff visited Waddesdon Manor to assess disabled accessibility and inclusion, following a preliminary visit by access specialists. As well as their own lived experience, many of the ‘tourists’ were pan-disability access and inclusion experts.
The Tour assembled in the main carpark of Waddesdon Manor and most members took the accessible bus service up to the Manor.
Our first visit was to the Parterre and its elaborate 3D planting.
Some members then made their way to the Stables using the board walk, testing the suitability of the route for disabled people.
While others took the shuttle bus to the Stables.
Most of the group then visited inside the Manor while others visited the Aviary and other parts of the grounds.
Members spent about an hour looking around inside the Manor.
The group got back together again for a coffee and final feedback session.
At the end of a long day, the Tour headed rather wearily home.
How accessible and inclusive is Waddesdon Manor?
We are still collating our feedback and writing a detailed report for Waddesdon Manor. We will post headlines on this page soon.
The BuDDy Tour was organised to support the Visit Buckinghamshire Boost, Boost Accessibility project. The BuDDy Tour was delivered by BuDS volunteers, in partnership with Visit Buckinghamshire, Buckinghamshire Business First, and Buckinghamshire Council. The Visit Buckinghamshire Boost programme was funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund.
