Beamish Museum has thanked local businesses for sponsoring a minibus to transport groups accessing health and wellbeing activities.
The museum provides award-winning activities for people living with dementia and other long-term health conditions in Clover Cottage, a dedicated space for our health and wellbeing work.
The Health and Wellbeing Team moved to Clover Cottage in The 1950s Town last year, allowing it to expand its programme of activities. Many group participants have limited walking ability, and some are wheelchair users, so the team identified the need for dedicated wheelchair accessible minibus to transport participants to the cottage to access the sessions.
Local businesses Durham Group, Newcastle Building Society, Stanley Travel, Stephenson Mohl and Ward Hadaway kindly stepped in to help sponsor the much-needed minibus.
Michelle Kindleysides, Head of Health and Wellbeing at the museum, said: “We cannot thank our sponsors enough for their generosity in supporting us with our accessible minibus. It’s going to make a huge difference to our participants and our groups, meaning that we can meet people as soon as they arrive and can support people to get to Clover Cottage easily, reducing any worries that people might have when they arrive.
“We have this amazing new space here at Clover Cottage, but being in the middle of the museum does make it trickier for the majority of our participants to get to us quickly and easily, especially during times when the museum is busy. The mini bus is perfect for what we need!”
The museum’s Partnerships Team arranged sponsorship from local businesses who were keen to support the cause and their business logos are featured on the side of the bus.
The bus has been made possible thanks to the support of local businesses. L-R Michelle Kindleysides, Beamish’s Head of Health and Wellbeing, Beth Marsden, Beamish’s Health & Support Worker, Jamie Martin of Ward Hadaway, Gurpreet Jagpal of Durham Group, Mark Stephenson of Stephenson-Mohl, Andrew Scott of Stanley Travel and Liz Peart, Partnerships Officer at Beamish.
Gurpreet Jagpal, Chief Executive, Durham Group, said: “Beamish Museum is a valuable asset and destination for us all in the North East. Making it accessible to as many people as possible is very important and therefore we were delighted to support the funding of this minibus.
“The Beamish Health and Wellbeing Team delivers such an important service to residents across the North East and the combination of Clover Cottage and this minibus will help them deliver more services to more people!”
David Pearson, Area Manager at Newcastle Building Society, said: “It’s a pleasure to support the museum with the funding for their new minibus that will transport vulnerable older people to and from the new 1950s Town, enabling them to enjoy their new health and wellbeing space.”
Andrew Scott, Director at Stanley Travel, said: “When we originally found out about the opportunity to sponsor a minibus for use by the Health and Wellbeing Team to complement their ongoing activities, we immediately knew it was a project we wanted to be involved with. For so many reasons as a local business we align with the museum and, enjoying a long-standing relationship, we are always keen to help support their exciting developments. Stanley Travel’s contribution to this specially adapted minibus will go a small way to enhancing the lifestyle of older adults and people living with dementia in the community and we wish all the minibus users lots of pleasure for the future.”
Mark Stephenson, Managing Director, Stephenson-Mohl, said: “Beamish Museum is a regional and, indeed, a national asset. It’s a privilege to be able to support its work, especially in enhancing accessibility to benefit some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.”
Jamie Martin, Consultant at Ward Hadaway LLP, said: “Helping to sponsor the Beamish Health and Wellbeing minibus aligns with Ward Hadaway’s long-standing commitment to being actively engaged in our region’s communities and their wellbeing.
“We are delighted to be helping support the museum by facilitating access to the new base for local people in our area who are living with dementia and/or isolation and regularly come to the museum to take part in the sessions at Clover Cottage.”
Beamish is a self-reliant charity and the income from much-valued supporters and visitors enables the running of health and wellbeing activities, along with maintaining the museum, developing new and exciting exhibits and preserving the region’s heritage for future generations.
Beamish’s Health and Wellbeing Team runs a programme of immersive and innovative sessions, including Men’s Groups, Canny Cuppa social groups, walking groups, music and movement sessions and group sessions which explore the collections.
Find out more about activities offered by the Health and Wellbeing Team here.