2011 UK Bus Awards
The Hilton, London - 29 November 2011
As a result of joint work between Nottingham City Council and RNIB, the local authority has been awarded the Claudia Flanders Award for Accessibility at the 16th Annual UK bus awards.
Claire Kay, RNIB Regional Campaigns Officer for the East Midlands, has been working with Laraine Reckless from Nottingham City Council and a large group of visually impaired service users over the past two years to help improve local services.
Through consultation with this group they have been able to make effective and affordable changes to the bus service in Nottingham City. These changes include tactile markers on every bus stop to help blind bus users identify the bus stop they are at, and clear print timetables at every bus stop with other formats available on request.
They have also been working with other service providers in Nottingham such as the theatre, shopping centre and numerous restaurants, providing them with visual awareness training and advising them on different accessible formats. This resulted in the Linking the Journey leaflet which aims to clearly identify service providers that are aware of sight loss issues.
Winning the award is a fantastic achievement and has proved as further motivation to continue the good work, hopefully spreading it throughout the county. This is a great example of what local campaigning can achieve.