Access is all part of the experience Workshop will target improvements

03.12.2018 A workshop about getting out and about at Scotland’s heritage attractions is to be held in Paisley today.

It will take place at the town’s historic St Matthew’s Church of the Nazarene, in Gordon Street.

The event will look at how sometimes access difficulty can be very obvious, such as an inability to create spaces for wheelchairs within some historic buildings, particularly those preserved in a ruinous state often with uneven ground.

Or it could simply be down to the information on an organisation’s website or a destination’s signage.

The event is being held by the Scottish Civic Trust’s Diverse Heritage Project.

And attending will be Les Fernie, who is very well known in Paisley for Walking Tours on Wheels, which he conducts from a mobility scooter.

He said: “We have groups coming from Glasgow, as well as Paisley, and it’s to see if there’s any way that access to heritage would be an advantage to them.

“We are going to have questions and answers.

“We’re going to have people from the Scottish Civic Trust themselves.

“We’ll be able to discuss Doors Open Day, how that operates for accessible access, and also for the future of Paisley, which will come from Andrew McKean, who is the tourism officer.

“He will speak about when the museum and the observatory open up again.”

Scottish Civic Trust’s Dr Jen Novotny is bringing the workshop to Paisley.

She said: “Scotland has a rich cultural heritage but there are a whole host of issues – some perceived and some real – which can affect the ability or desire of people to fully take part.

“When all members of our communities are engaged in cultural heritage, we all benefit.

“We want to bring people together to talk about how we can make our local places, spaces, and stories more welcoming and inclusive to us all.

“There are some great groups out there trying to address this.

“Today’s event is all about highlighting some of these efforts, as well as discussing barriers and working together to come up with solutions.”

You can book a place at the event at https:// improvingaccesstoher itagepaisley.eventbrite.co.uk