Where disabled can now go wild
A FARMING accident which left a man paraplegic 25 years ago has inspired an Islay family to create a special space in the wild for visitors with disabilities.
Mary-Ann Featherstone has had help from her cousin – who was in his 20s at the time of the accident – to turn the groundfloor of a house they bought and split with friends five years ago into a disabled-friendly holiday flat.
The flat at the Dower House, an 1800s home on the Kildaton Estate, is big enough for two people and there is also a bedroom upstairs if needed for a carer.
Mary-Ann hopes that reviews of the Dower House flat will soon make it into Euan’s Guide, an online review guide helping to open up the outdoors, villages, towns and cities to disabled people.
Argyll and Bute MSP Michael Russell and The Oban Times have teamed up with Euan’s Guide to help more Argyll businesses and organisations welcome disabled visitors, organising a networking event in the Corran Halls, Oban, on Friday April 27 from 11am-1pm.
‘It must be really difficult for people with disabilities to get to wild places but we reckon this is as wild as it can get,’ added Mary-Ann, who is also a Reiki practitioner.
The Featherstone family and friends did most of the restoration work themselves, only hiring in skilled workers to complete jobs they could not.
‘There’s a wet room in the flat, a small kitchen, slopes instead of steps and there’s a terrace at the front of the house where people can watch the seals.
‘My cousin was the inspiration for all of this and I think we’ve got it right thanks to his ideas and advice. He’s been a couple of times and stayed for two weeks. He goes cycling on a cycleway that goes down to Port Ellen. We’re thinking it would be a good place for anyone who is newly disabled.
‘It’s a wild, remote spot. We are in the middle of a forest and at the edge of the sea. Seals swim right up to the shore. Our dog sits there for hours communing with the seals and we had otters there the other day,’ she said.
Euan’s Guide was founded in 2013 by brother and sister Euan and Kiki MacDonald after Euan became a powerchair user. After spending hours of their time making inquiries about access at places they wanted to go, Euan and Kiki realised their experience was not unique and that many disabled people had difficulty in getting the information they needed to decide on where they visited and took their holidays.
To register for the Oban Euan’s Guide event or to obtain further information, email Heather Wolfe on Heather.Wolfe@parliament.scot or call 0131 348 5738.