Blue Badge Access Awards

Who We Are

The Blue Badge Access Awards are the result of two major design competition initiatives, coming together with the support of Leonard Cheshire.

The Bespoke Access Awards have now joined with the Blue Badge Style Awards to give a consumer breadth to a predominantly B2B conceptual design competition, producing a single platform to promote better design for people with disability.

Our objectives are threefold:

• Inspiring better design

• Celebrating exceptional venues

• Improving accessibility for all

www.bluebadgeaccessawards.com @BlueBadgeAccess #BBAA

The Story So Far

We have enjoyed great success to date with wide-ranging support from Government, disability interest groups, the media, hospitality organisations and sponsors. The new format will be bigger and better. Supported by Leonard Cheshire, who have added their considerable expertise in the area of employment opportunities for those with disabilities, the new look Blue Badge Access Awards will aim to recognise venues and businesses with a stylish approach to accessibility, as well as to praise innovative and forward-thinking solutions to the issues experienced by disabled guests when travelling.

Our objective is to ensure that all are welcome at hospitality venues and public buildings across the globe. Able-bodied or not, everyone should feel like a first class citizen no matter where they are visiting, and no matter what disability, sight or hearing impairment, allergy, or access requirement they may have.

Our Objectives

We want to inspire architects, designers, staff and proprietors to aspire to higher standards, and have the desire to win one of the awards for ‘exceptional venues that have both accessibility and style’. The awards themselves range from most Inclusive Design (open to designers and architects), to Best Hotel, Best Employer, and even a People’s Choice Award.

Alongside technical solutions and forward thinking design choices, the appropriate care and consideration from staff can make a hugely positive impact on the experience of anyone visiting a venue. The collective philosophy is that showing interest and commitment can be just as important as smart design

How You Can Help?

The volume and value of accessible tourism in England alone (2015) was £12bn.

This is a worldwide challenge with enormous potential benefits for people with disability as well as a massive opportunity for all venues and services. We are a long term project, planning to hold a competition every year. Accordingly, we are looking to attract support, nominations and entries from those that share our vision to enable the project to continue growing into the future.

Please visit our website for further information: www.bluebadgeaccessawards.com (or nominate your favourite place here)

How Will it Work?

The shape of the awards will see a consumer-focused section running each year, with nominations for 2019 now open. The winners announcement will take place

on 2 October 2019.

• Most Inclusive Building / Interior Design

• Best Hotel x 2 (Upmarket and Boutique Bespoke Award)

• Best Bar x 2 (Upmarket and Budget)

• Best Restaurant x 2 (Upmarket – Conran Award – and Budget)

• Best Accessible Toilet

• Ludicrous Loo

• Above & Beyond (Includes Hospitality & Corporates)

• People’s Choice Award

• Best Venue in a Listed Building (Historic England Award)

• Inclusive Employment Award (Leonard Cheshire Award)

• Employee of the Year

The consumer-focused event will repeat in 2020 and will be overlaid with the conceptual design element during the year. Every other year, we will reprise the conceptual design challenge on top of the annual consumer-driven Blue Badge Access Awards. These Awards will be open to any building, product or systems designers in a similar way to previous incarnations of the Bespoke Access Awards from 2016 to 2018.

Change always takes time and we are not suggesting that solutions will have an immediate impact, but we believe in the immeasurable benefits of providing a spark for the future of global hospitality and the people that design buildings, products and services around it. Our aim is to see winning ideas come to market and be adopted throughout the hospitality industry worldwide. Bespoke Hotels have already contracted with the 2016 Bespoke Access Awards winners and we hope that others will follow  suit.

The Judges

The Consumer Awards section will be voted by the public, while judging for the Conceptual Design Awards has featured a range of people combining technical, industry and life experience, including:

Baroness Celia Thomas

Robin Sheppard Executive Chairman, Bespoke Hotels

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson

Paralympic gold medallist Alan Stanton OBE

Architect and Stirling Prize Winner Alastair Hignall CBE Trustee, Leonard Cheshire Disability

Graeme Whippy MBE Channel 4

Paul Gregory Global Specification Director, Dyson

Sarah Weir OBE Chief Executive of Design Council