Bowlees Visitor Centre – a visual story

28 July 2023

We’ve launched our visual story for Bowlees Visitor Centre and we’re looking for feedback on what visitors think of it.

Over the last couple of years the North Pennines AONB Partnership has been working with the North East Autism Society to try to improve our understanding of and interactions with autistic and other neurodivergent people. One small step on that journey has been producing a ‘visual story’ for Bowlees Visitor Centre. Visual stories describe what to expect in words and pictures so that people are able to decide whether it is suitable for them, be prepared for their visit, and feel more confident. We want the North Pennines to be a landscape for everyone, and as is often the case, trying to improve things for one group of people often makes them better for lots of other people too.

The visual story is now available as a page on the website, and also as a downloadable and printable document. We’ve tried to make it clear and helpful, but we know we won’t have got everything right for everyone. Things also change over time, so we will keep updating the visual story as they do. We would really appreciate any feedback on the visual story from visitors or potential visitors, especially if you are neurodivergent or if you visit places with friends and family who are. If you have comments or suggestions please let us know by emailing naomi@northpenninesaonb.org.uk.

As part of working towards the North East Autism Society’s Autism Acceptance Award, we have also undertaken some staff training, with more to come soon. In the near future we will also be carrying out an audit of Bowlees Visitor Centre, and making an audit template available to local businesses to use through our Tourism Toolkit.

This work is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of our Expanding Horizons project.