Accessibility

• Seats are reserved for people needing these services and for a hearing friend.
• There is a hearing loop in most venues.
• Please ask a steward for the best place to sit if you need the looped area.

There will be a BSL Interpreter team at each break.
When you have made your booking please tell us if you will need the services of the team and then introduce yourself to them on the first evening.
Interpreters will serve in all main sessions. They may also be available for other areas of the programme but they won't know how much capacity they will have until they have spoken to everyone once you've arrived.

There will be a Speech to Text service at Minehead and Skegness.

If you will need assistance to leave a venue in the event of an emergency evacuation please speak to a steward at the start of each session.

• Butlin's have a limited number of adapted rooms and apartments. These are always popular for Spring Harvest and we recommend early booking. Call Skegness 0330 100 9331 or Minehead 0330 100 9332 when booking lines open. 

• If you are a Butlin’s guest and have a blue badge and require a disabled parking space, please call the Butlin’s team on 0330 100 9732 and they will put a permit in your arrival pack.

• Most of our venues are accessible by wheelchair. Our stewarding team will be able to help you access ground floor venues. For their own safety they are not permitted to lift wheelchairs.
• If you are disappointed by not being able to attend a talk because of access issues please come and talk to
  us at the Spring Harvest Info Point.
• We will reserve a space for wheelchair users or those with mobility difficulties if that is needed, but with
  the seating arrangements we will have we do not anticipate this will be necessary.
• You can speak to a steward or other member of the Spring Harvest team when you arrive, and they will help you.

Powered and manual wheelchairs can be booked at the Butlin’s resort – call the switchboard and ask for the Hire Shop.
Minehead: 01643 703331
Skegness: 01754 762311

You may also be able to pre-book battery operated wheelchairs and scooters from:

• Independent Living in Minehead, Tel: 01643 709000
  www.independentlivingminehead.co.uk
• Seacroft Mobility in Skegness, Tel: 01754 762 916
  www.seacroftmobility.com/hire

Motorised scooters may be plugged into normal sockets. If wheelchairs or scooters are left outside guests must take full responsibility for them.

If you will need assistance to leave a venue in the event of an emergency evacuation please speak to a steward at the start of each session.

• Count Everyone In is a creative introduction to the day's theme which is particularly suitable for adults with a learning disability which we are offering at both Minehead and Skegness.
• They plan to fit a lot in including worship, Bible teaching, prayer, signing, dance, flags, drama, craft - so that everyone, especially adults with learning disabilities, can live the life we are made for.
• We ask that those who need support come with a companion as the team will not be able to offer individual care.
• Capacity may be reduced so please let us know if you plan to join us for that programme.
• Alternatively, there will be a choice of Bible teaching styles, and other options for you to enjoy in the morning. In the evening, there will be 4 celebrations, all with their own unique identity to choose from.

These are examples of the services we could offer.

Once you have made your booking please contact us to discuss how we can best help you:

• PDFs of important information can be emailed to you.
• Braille or large print versions of the songs to be sung during the evening celebrations (this is not always possible due to the worship team’s tight schedule)
• Reserve seats for a blind person and a friend or other family members.
• We can remove a seat so a guide dog can lie down, safe from people passing by.

We have generalised emergency plans for those who are blind & partially sighted who will need assistance to leave a venue in the event of an evacuation. If you will need such assistance please read our leaflet explaining the plan and speak to a steward at the start of each session.

The Celebrations are a time for a large number of people to join together for worship and preaching. There is some time to respond to God and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, plus dance and drama.

They can be ‘high energy’, have loud music and flashing lights in some places. There are quieter places and quieter meetings.

Sensory profiles

We hope this will help our guests, particularly those on the autism spectrum, to understand our venues.

• A venue is a room or building where our meetings are held. We use many different venues on the Butlin's resorts. Some have carpets and are quiet, others are more noisy.
• We will be using new buildings in Minehead and Skegness for some of our meetings. They are large and they could be noisy and make echoes.
• You will have a choice of venues for many sessions so we hope you can find one where you feel comfortable. If you have any specific questions about a venue please do ask.

We provide planning, finance, dedicated team members and on-resort provision. There is a coordinator and team in each of the children and youth programmes whose role is to enable each child or young person who has been identified with additional needs to access as much of the programme as possible.
Our resources are finite and the availability of team members with the huge variety of skills required is also a limiting factor so we may not be able to meet the needs of every child.
We may ask you to stay with your child until the team is confident that he or she has settled or until the leaders are satisfied they can provide good care.
A family member or trusted friend can accompany your child in the programme if he or she requires one-to-one care as we are unable to provide that level of support.
If you attend a programme with a child or young person please follow our Guidelines for carers on this page.

Each child or young person, whatever their needs, should register and attend the programme with their peers of the same chronological age.

Please complete our registration form as soon as possible so we have time to plan and can make each child and young person welcome. (The form is usually ready to complete from February).

Guidelines For Carers

If you go into a Kids or Youth programme with a child or young person, please follow these guidelines:

1. Please introduce yourself to the additional needs coordinator in the programme. You can do this when the child is registered or before the first session they go to.
2. Your role as carer is to help your child or young person. You can offer them whatever help and support they may need to join in the programme.
3. You must not spend time with any other child or young person in the programme.
4. If the child or young person in your care needs help with toileting, you should help them, but a team member should go with you. This is to give reassurance to other children who are using the toilet at the same time.
5. Please sign the visitors’ book when you arrive and sign out when you leave.
6. You may be asked to wear a badge showing your name and the name of the child or young person you are there to support.
7. Please tell the additional needs coordinator before you leave. You should do this whether your child is leaving with you or not.
8. If you have any questions about your role as a carer in the programme, please speak to the additional needs coordinator.
9. Carers must be 18 years old or over.

Young People

Young people are free to come and go from the youth programmes as they wish. If you have a child in the youth programme and they are not safe leaving the programme venue alone, please meet them during their morning break time and at the end of the programme. Team members will be busy at those times so will not be able to watch out for them. Young adults with learning disabilities would be welcome in the Count Everyone In programme at Minehead. If you are booked for Skegness and are over 18 and will need some help to join in the adult programme, please contact us. We want to try to help but can only do that if we know what help is needed.

Medical Needs

Our team are not medically trained and they cannot be responsible for ensuring medication is taken at specific times.
Team members may administer a limited list of medication if they have received appropriate instruction and if a parent or guardian has given written consent.
If your child may need help with medication during their programme please contact us so we can let you know whether or not our team can help.
Children who can and do administer their own medication, such as an inhaler, may do so as required within the programme.