ACCESSIBILITY

Warrington Youth Zone have developed a model of working that takes into consideration any barriers that may prevent young people from joining in with activities and working to remove those barriers wherever possible. We believe this approach should be inclusive of all abilities yet specific enough to cater for each individual. Our work consists of:

• ✅ Providing an accessible location that takes into account transport links.
• ✅ Providing equipment and facilities (such as lifts, hygiene suite etc).
• ✅ Carrying out a structured induction for anyone who indicates they may have additional needs or support requirements.
• ✅ Finding out what those support needs are and how we can best manage them within our setting and making support information available to all staff.
• ✅ Providing opportunities to all young people, regardless of ability in areas such as sports, arts and leisure opportunities.
• ✅ Providing staff on specific nights to support young people through discussion, relationship building, structured activities and encouraging personal development skills.
• ✅ Training staff in relevant areas towards how they can adapt activities to take ability into account.

Provision, opportunities and facilities

The following is a list of some of the provisions we have in place that allow the youth zone to be accessible.

• ✅ Structured activity sessions.
• ✅ Access to aids such as ear defenders, sensory activities and quiet spaces when needed.
• ✅ Staff trained in approaches for behaviour and awareness.
• ✅ Accessible toilets.
• ✅ Hygiene Suite with tracker hoist and bed.
• ✅ Provision of inclusive sport and leisure opportunities.
• ✅ Lift, to ensure all floors are accessible.

At Warrington Youth Zone we aim to Inspire, Invest and Include all young people in all that we do as we believe in putting young people first.

Levels of Support

If young people require additional support to access our opportunities a discussion will take place as to how this can be arranged. The Youth Zone is not able to offer 1:1 support, but we make provision for this by allowing that young person to be supported by a parent/carer/pa etc within the Youth Zone. You must provide a DBS and we will work with the young person and their family to make sure this runs as smoothly as possible. This can be arranged via appointment with a member of our team, to arrange an appointment, please email molly.swatton@wyz.org.uk

Feedback/Suggestions

At Warrington Youth Zone we are always looking at ways we can improve our offering to ensure all young people are catered for and do our best to ensure we put young people and their needs first. We not only look for feedback but also welcome it to ensure we improve and grow as a charity. If you or your young person has any feedback or suggestions in regards to our accessibility, please email Molly at molly.swatton@wyz.org.uk