Update Sep 2016: The Nominations are out for the BBS Access Awards, here they are, including an award for the ‘best’ Ludicrous Loo:

Book here for tickets, 1 nominee goes free!

Best Bar

There will be two awards for Best Bar, budget and upmarket

White Horse at Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk

No. 1 Duke St, Richmond, London

Caminos, Kings Cross, London

Urban Standard, Bristol

Pint Shop, Cambridge

Ginger’s, Purnell, Birmingham

Harvey Nichols, Bristol

One Aldwych, London

Zetter Townhouse, Clerkenwell, London

Cloud 23, Manchester

Bellanger, London

 

Best Restaurant – sponsored by Conran and Partners. There will be two awards; budget and upmarket

Scran and Scallie, Edinburgh

Polpo, Covent Garden, London

Ben Tunniclffe, Cornwall

Albion at the Boundary, London

Bryn Williams, Porth Eirias

Ubiquitous Chip, Glasgow

The French, Manchester

Casa Mia, Bristol

HH& Co at Lime Wood Hotel, New Forest

Five Fields, Chelsea, London

German Gymnasium, Kings Cross, London

M Victoria St, London

 

Best Boutique Hotel/Resort

Gwel an Mor, Port Reath, Cornwall

Hope St, Liverpool

Ace Hotel, Shoreditch, London

Dakota, Glasgow

Zetter, Clerkenwell, London

Edition, Berner’s St., London

G&V, Edinburgh

South Place Hotel, London

Dorsett, Shepherd’s Bush, London

Coworth Park, Ascot, Berkshire

 

Best Loo.

The Ivy, Kensington, London

Zetter Marylebone, London

German Gymasium, Kings Cross, London

Restaurant Story, London

One Aldwych, London

Danni Garcia Marbella, Spain

Chiltern Firehouse, London

 

There will also be an award for the most ludicrous loo:

Dinner Heston Blumenthal

Tom’s kitchen

Café Murano

Hotel du Vin Cambridge

Armani Hotel

Best Listed Building – sponsored by Historic England

Alhambra, Bradford

Bank of England, Threadneedle St, London

Booking Office restaurant, St Pancras  London

Beaumont Hotel, Mayfair, London

Dorsett, Shepherd’s Bush, London

 

Best European Venue

G Hotel Galway, Ireland

Stuttgart Airport, Germany

Steirerecke, Vienna, Austria

Binafidet, Menorca, Spain

Lanchid 19 Hotel, Budapest, Hungary

 

Award for going Above and Beyond to help people with disabilities

D and D London

Bank of England

Hailo Taxi Drivers

Individual Restaurants

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Update Aug 24: We promised to let you know when tickets for BBS Awards were available – well it’s now! Here’s the link to book tickets and they range from £7.50-£15. Drinks and canapes are included and the proceeds are merely to cover costs. It will be a very stylish and glamourous event and dress code is ‘smart’. Look forward to meeting you there 5th Oct, 6pm, Pepys Room at Lutyens in Fleet St EC4Y 1AE. Nominations for the Awards (see below) are still needed so please send to info@bluebadgestyle.com  with photos if you wish. Let’s make sure Michelin et al take note and include accessibility in their awards from now on.

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Update Aug: Things are gaining momentum at BBS Awards 2016 HQ. We’ll be celebrating venues with exceptional accessibility and style on Oct 5th at Lutyens in Fleet Street, a fully accessible venue with an internal lift and disabled parking outside.

Not only have Conran and Partners (designer’s of some of the most accessible places in the world), sponsored the event, they’ve now put their name to the Best Restaurant Award. Similarly Historic England have given their support to the Listed Building Award. With regard to judges the  award winning architect Christos Passas from Zaha Hadid Architects has joined the panel, as has journalist Alex Taylor (Metro, IBT). A great coup for the night is top mixologist, Tony Conigliaro, who will be designing a cocktail especially for the evening.

Stop Press: HEWI accessible bathrooms have just added their support as a sponsor.

Coincidentally the Michelin Stars for 2017 will be announced on 3rd Oct and as they give scant regard to accessibility when judging venues, we want our Awards to be their nemesis……..help us do that by sending your nominations/votes re the following categories.

  • Best Venue in a Listed Building – The Historic England Award
  • Most Accessible Bar (high end & budget)
  • Most Accessible Restaurant (high end & budget) – The Conran and Partners Award
  • Most Accessible Hotel (high end and boutique)
  • Best Disabled Loo
  • Most Ludicrous Loo
  • Best European Venue
  • Above & Beyond – for the venue or company who has made a special effort

There’s also a surprise Lifetime Achievement Award for someone who’s tirelessly promoted ‘accessibility’ at venues.

Don’t be shy just send names &/or photos to info@bluebadgestyle.com. Tickets to the event will go on sale soon and we’ll let you know as soon as……

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Nominations are open for the BBS Awards 2016 and we want to know what you think! Can you suggest a favourite venue, a stylish place with good access and facilities, somewhere that welcomes people with disabilities? Then we want to hear from you. It can be from anywhere.

bbs_recommend_3_tick copy

The third Blue Badge Style Awards will be announced on 5th October 2016 and will include new awards for the hospitality sector. In addition to our 3 ticks for facilities, access and style and we’ll be giving out awards for the:

  • Best Venue in a Listed Building
  • Most Accessible Bar (upmarket & budget)
  • Most Accessible Restaurant (upmarket & budget)
  • Most Accessible Hotel (upmarket and boutique)
  • Best Disabled Loo
  • Most Ludicrous Loo
  • Best European Venue
  • Above & Beyond – for the venue or company who has made a special effort

The Blue Badge Style Awards will recognise the effort that stylish hotels, restaurants and bars have made to attract guests with disabilities. At Blue Badge Style we are passionate about helping people with disabilities to lead and exciting social life. As those of us with a disability know; style remains, despite disability. The awards are about promoting stylish venues which also have good access and facilities.

Some of the things we look for in a great venue are:

Access – we’re interested in ramps, unaided access, flooring, space to move around in a wheelchair or with a stick, noise levels which aid people with hearing difficulties.

Facilities – where is the disabled loo, how easy is it to use, is everything at the right height, where are the grab rails, emergency cord etc. If it’s a hotel we want to hear about places with walk-in showers and wardrobe rails at wheelchair-user height.

Stylish – only you can decide what’s stylish, but we want to hear about venues with style in terms of décor and the welcome the staff extend to people with disabilities.

You can send as much or as little information as you wish and photos are always good. The judges will vet the suggested venues either by visits or remotely with detailed questionnaires. However, it’s your recommendation that counts above all else!

We also want to hear about your experience of ludicrous loos. Have you come across a supposedly disabled toilet that’s impossible to use because it’s full of junk, too small, used as a storeroom? Then let us know and send an image if you can.

Too often people with disabilities don’t go out because they don’t know what to expect when they get there. We want your help to change that and award those stylish places with great access and facilities, which welcome people with disabilities.

Paralympian Dressage Gold Medallist, Sophie Christiansen at the Last BBS 'Do'...Join us Again at the BBS Awards 5th Oct 2016 & Meet Paralympians Fresh From Rio?? Details Soon...
Paralympian Dressage Gold Medallist, Sophie Christiansen at the Last BBS ‘Do’…Join us Again at the BBS Awards 5th Oct 2016 & Meet Paralympians Fresh From Rio?? Details Soon…

Please send your recommendations to: fiona@bluebadgestyle.com or contact us on Twitter: @bluebadgestyle or Facebook: bluebadgestyle

Nominations close on  Thursday 15th September 2016. Looking forward to your thoughts and please come to the event and celebrate with Paralympians, cocktails, canapes and music…..more details to follow.

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