Our guest today, Anthony Blackburn has a passion for golf – but not just for playing the game… he has set up Golf in Society.

Starting his business six years ago, presently he has 23 venues where golf clubs are put at the heart of local communities. What that means is, they are open for people facing challenges later in life, for many different reasons and they are given a great day out at a local golf club. There are two and a half thousand golf clubs in the UK – imagine if those spaces could be used as national venues…

As an entrepreneur Anthony aims to have a network of age friendly golf venues across the UK, but at the moment they are mainly in the north and Scotland. The company have regional leads – people who organise the sessions in their area. These regional leads often come to Golf in Society after their first career – bringing their experience and talent with them.

Golf in Society not only support people with dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke, loneliness and mental health issues, but also gives unpaid carers a well-deserved respite break.

Anthony talks to us about how people underestimate golf, thinking of it as elitist, very expensive and a pastime for the middle-class.  He is breaking down those perceptions and talks about its health and wellbeing benefits. Golf enhances strength, balance, grip, lets people enjoy the outdoors, provides fresh air, gives opportunities to socialize, respite care – and so much more.

We compare the current rate for respite care and other therapies to attending one of his Golf in Society sessions – you may be surprised at the positive outcome.

We also talk about transportation – which can be a huge barrier if you have a chronic illness – and how it is one of the challenges society needs to be overcome.

You can find Anthony on:
Website: https://golfinsociety.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-blackburn-37732a170/

You can contact us at the following:
Dr Carol Sargent: https://sargentgroup.consulting/
Dr Tom Adler: https://getbide.com/

Our guest on today’s podcast is Jane Cooper, the founder and managing director of Access and Inclusion UK. They help businesses and destinations to understand the type of challenges that people with disabilities or accessibility requirements might have, and importantly, give them solutions to overcome them, through training, or whatever solution is required – thus providing accessibility for all.

Jane’s passion for her company is based on her own personal experience – of having her eldest child, Megan, born with an extremely rare chromosomal condition, and then also being diagnosed as autistic. After coming to terms with her daughter’s condition and learning how to cope with a life that was suddenly completely different to the one she had expected, she moved away from her previous career and into the one she has now.

Jane shares with us that people with autism are not all exactly the same. Like the rest of us, everyone is individual, and how one person behaves is not necessarily how someone else will behave.  She also points out another misconception – that learning disabilities and autism are not linked! You can be autistic and not have learning difficulties.

She does talk about how she finds the autistic world fascinating, because of all the different ways people can be affected. And as she explains this is why it’s so hard to give advice to parents of a child newly diagnosed with autism.

Jane talks very clearly about sensory stimulation and how some autistic people are overstimulated or under-stimulated by different things. And she also explains how she learnt to deal with her daughter’s meltdowns – which was the complete opposite of what she had expected to do!

This is a fascinating insight into living with someone with autism.

You can contact Jane via 

Her website : https://accessandinclusion.com/
Email: [email protected]
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-cooper-accessandinclusionuk/
X: @accessandincuk

You can contact us at the following:

Dr Carol Sargent: https://sargentgroup.consulting/
Dr Tom Adler: https://getbide.com/ 

Our guests today are Felicity and David Brown, who own Hoe Grange Holidays in the Peak District and they talk to us about how over the last 17 years they have built an award winning all-inclusive holiday business from scratch on the farm that has been in David’s family since the 1930s.

David talks about how his father, in the 70s, had considered having log cabins on his farm to have holiday guests, but the council weren’t interested. Having taken on the farm and needing to diversify, David and Felicity revisited the idea of log cabins, and after research identified a massive hole in the market for accessible properties. Because they were building from scratch they were able to build the facilities that were needed in a very cost effective way. 

They started with 2 cabins, and gradually built up the business. The successful development of their business is down to their ability to listen to people and find out from their guests what their needs were. Over time, they have also built up the various types of special equipment needed and when they have several people ask about something, that’s when they consider adding it to their business.

Originally the farm was a commercial dairy farm, but in 2009 they took the decision to extend their number of cabins and they sold their dairy herd. Their business now is incredibly diverse. Holiday visitors include people who have disabilities, people with autism, dementia and other disabilities, as well as many multigenerational holiday guests, romantic couples or even a bring your own horse on holiday opportunity.

Hearing them both talk, the passion they have for their business is obvious and it becomes obvious that their attitude of listening and developing with their customers  has been a huge part of their success.

This podcast is also a must for anyone who is considering setting up a successful inclusive holiday business.

You can find David and Felicity on:

Website: https://www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk/accessible-holidays-peak-district/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HoeGrangeHolidays
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hoegrangeholidays/

You can contact us at the following:

Dr Carol Sargent: https://sargentgroup.consulting/
Dr Tom Adler: https://getbide.com/

In terms of inclusivity, Billal shares his passion and thoughts about how much better the world would be if everyone, from all backgrounds, cultures and societies could articulately voice their thoughts to mass audiences in a clear way.  Public speaking shouldn’t be just something for the elite.  We also talk about the issues that sometimes arise for those who are aging, are living with dementia and long term conditions, or are from ethnic minority communities when it comes to being heard.

He talks about how having allergies as a boy growing up, and now, he often has to carry his pens around with him in his jacket, as he doesn’t always carry a bag. For other allergy sufferers, there are often issues with their epi pens being out of date, and some also suffer mental health issues because of their constant worry about having an allergic attack. Living with allergies means you are often excluded from social occasions too. It was these various things that pushed him into creating the Kitt Medical

Zak’s dream is that Kitts will be found in any building; schools, tubes, transport hubs, restaurants, hotels, stadiums, offices etc – schools are just the starting point.

Our conversation with Zak, who is passionate about his work, covers travel, and also the importance of having good friends who understand your allergy. 

Website:Www.kittmedical.co.uk

You can contact us at the following:

Our guest on today’s podcast is Emily Yates who works for Mima, an inclusive creative design agency. She is a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy and in her job, she heads up the accessibility and inclusive design team for the company.

We talk to Emily about the changes that design can make to people’s lives, and how passionate she is about what she’s doing.

Her work focuses on physical, social and digital accessibility, and inclusive design for disabled people and those with other protected characteristics. This means that yes, inclusivity is important, but true inclusivity looks beyond a focus on disabled people, but also focuses on people with accessibility requirements. Those who may not consider themselves disabled, but parents with young children in prams, older adults who have issues which are just a part of getting older.

Emily tells about her involvement in supporting accessibility in the different countries involved with the Paralympics, which is fascinating to hear. After volunteering for the London 2012 Olympic Paralympic Games, she was then invited to Brazil where the 2016 Games were held. She was offered the opportunity to do some consultancy with Metro Rio who were looking to build a new line to the Olympic Park. We talk about the main differences between attitudes in Brazil and the UK when it comes to disability.

She also talks to us about the incredible work she has been involved in with Visit England. They are creating an inclusive tourism toolkit, specifically for small to medium sized tourism businesses, especially in the areas of accommodation, attractions, food and beverage and events. Emily explains the importance of this great tool, and how it will make it easier and more straightforward for small businesses to become inclusive. And unlike so much of the disparate information that is out there, this will be in one tool kit!

You can contact us at the following:
Dr Carol Sargent: https://sargentgroup.consulting/
Dr Tom Adler: https://getbide.com/

The first guest on our podcast is Rory Cellan-Jones. Rory is a British journalist and former BBC News technology correspondent. He worked for the BBC for 40 years, and left in August 2021.  He is also an author of many books, and since leaving the BBC has a newsletter which is very popular, and also runs a podcast called Movers and Shakers, which is about life with Parkinson’s.

During our conversation we talk to Rory about travel, both when growing up and then as an adult, and now in his late 60s. Not only has he enjoyed travel, but he also lived and worked in different parts of the world. He shares his favourite places with us.

Not surprisingly, when considering he was a technology correspondent, we talk about technology, but with a specific focus on inclusivity. Rory shares his thoughts on the latest technologies to aid people with disabilities, and ageing. He talks about how having information on a phone or on a screen that you can talk to is incredibly useful – especially when it means you don’t have to write things down. He also talks about instant translation, and how that can be helpful for people who are losing the power of their voice.

We also talk about the Parky Charter, which Rory’s podcast and several leading Parkinson organisations have called on the government to take action to improve the lives of people living with Parkinson’s. It’s about anybody with a disability to be able to gain access to entries and exits everywhere they go.

We also talk about the frustrations of even gaining access to diagnosis at the present time in the NHS.

On a positive note, Rory shares information about several great new ways that technology is being used and developed to help people with Parkinson's live better lives.

We even talk about the use of AI.

Rory sees technology helping in two main ways. One, to help diagnose Parkinson’s more quickly and easily, and two, developing different sorts of wearables that can measure symptoms and chart the rate of progress.

Perhaps his most important point is that many of us will end up with some kind of disability at some stage – just through age – so why not make the world a more inclusive place? 

You can find out more about Rory at https://rorycellanjones.substack.com/p/a-test-for-parkinsons

Dr Carol Sargent can be found at https://sargentgroup.consulting/
Dr Tom Adler can be found at https://getbide.com/ 

Carol's passion is enabling and empowering the dementia community to find freedom and joy to live their best lives. Carol’s first career was as a PhD scientist,  working in cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in the pharmaceutical industry in the USA and  UK. This culminated in a scientific lead role for a novel drug, tested in clinical studies costing> $700 million. When her Mum and Mother-in-law were diagnosed with dementia she founded a dementia holiday organisation, MindforYou. They proved anybody living at home with dementia can holiday, and presented robust evidence of the health and well-being benefits for both the person diagnosed and their family supporter. In 2023 she founded Sargent Group Consulting to provide choice, identifying personalised solutions to overcome barriers preventing the dementia community from holidaying,  and supporting travel businesses to become dementia inclusive.

With over 30 years of experience as a General Practitioner and with Postgraduate Diplomas in Law, and Sport and Exercise Medicine, Dr Tom Adler is passionate about improving the health and well-being of our ageing population, and those with chronic disease and disabilities. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Peak Medtek Ltd, he led a small team developing a falls prevention device Bide which aims to reduce the risk of nighttime falls in the frail and elderly by using voice cues. Dr Tom was also honoured to be selected as one of the five entrepreneurs on the 2019 RCGP Innovators Mentorship Programme.

Dr Carol Sargent can be found at https://sargentgroup.consulting/
Dr Tom Adler can be found at https://getbide.com/