In Wales, through a Million Hands, Guide Dogs Cymru and ScoutsCymru are working together and are launching a competition for all scout groups in Wales aimed at supporting local communities and road safety.
Guide Dogs Cymru are asking scout group members of all ages to survey their local streets and report back on how easy they are for pedestrians to use and whether there are any road safety issues.
The Scout Group with the most streets surveyed will win a visit from Guide Dogs Cymru where group members can learn about guide dogs, road safety, and how blind and partially sighted people use tactile paving. The winning group will also be able to experience playing games using simulation spectacles, which enable the wearer to experience a degree of sight loss for a short time, and try code cracking using the Braille alphabet.
When surveying a street, scout groups will be asked to count the number of times the pavement is too narrow to use safely and the reasons why, such as someone is unable to push a pushchair on the pavement due to an overhanging hedge.
Other obstacles, such as cars parked on the pavement, should be counted as they will force guide dog owners to walk in the road.
In terms of road safety, groups should count the number of occasions there is tactile paving on the street such as blister paving (designating a crossing point) as well as dropped kerbs at crossing points that are blocked by vehicles, making them unsafe to use.
The survey starts at the beginning of Guide Dogs Week on 1 October and runs for the whole of October, with winners announced on 1 December.
Click here for the survey document for printing or contact Guide Dogs Cymru for hard copies. All surveys are to be returned to the address as the bottom of this page.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/5VRWNP5
We look forward to receiving your street surveys
Malcolm Latham Nathan Foy
Commissioner Wales – Programme Engagement Officer
Comisiynydd Cymru – Rhaglan Guide Dogs Cymru
programme@scoutscymru.org.uk Nathan.Foy@GuideDogs.org.uk
Nathan Foy
Guide Dogs Cymru
Eastern Business Park,
St. Mellons
CF3 5EA
