Worthing’s beaches to become more accessible with specialist beach wheelchairs for visitors

Carole Harrison with Selina Ragless and her son Harry. Credit: Adur and Worthing Councils

Worthing’s pebble beaches are to become more accessible for disabled visitors with the arrival of new beach wheelchairs.

Following a fundraising campaign, two beach wheelchairs and a single all-terrain rollator are now available from Worthing Borough Council’s Coastal Office.

The equipment is designed to make manoeuvring people with disabilities across uneven surfaces easier.

It has been brought to Worthing to help groups and families enjoy time together on the town's shingle seafront.

Two local residents visited the Coastal Office to test the new equipment before it was made publicly available.

Harry Ragless testing out the all-terrain rollator on Worthing Beach Credit: Adur and Worthing Councils

After using the equipment, Harry Ragless and Carole Harrison gave the council useful feedback suggesting how the project could be developed further.

The Worthing Beach Wheelchair Fund was created by Harry’s mother, Selina Ragless, to give disabled children and adults in the area more access to their local beach.

Support for the fund has continued to grow since it launched in 2021, and, after receiving funds from a host of donors, it raised enough money to purchase a child’s beach wheelchair and the rollator. The adult’s chair is owned by the council.

Selina said: “The journey to bring the kit to Worthing began when we visited West Wittering Beach, where we were able to hire a beach wheelchair and, for the first time, enjoyed a day by the seaside as a family. It was amazing.

“After working with local businesses and the community to run raffles and raise funds, we now have three facilities for locals and visitors to use. I am so grateful to all those who kindly donated towards this project.

“There's still a lot of work to be done to make our beach truly accessible, but this is a great start to getting us on the way to being more disabled friendly.”

The child's beach wheelchair and all-terrain rollator pictured on Worthing Beach Credit: Adur and Worthing Councils

The special equipment has been safety-checked by the council and a booking system has been set up so that the items can be borrowed for free.

The council recommends users don't venture too far down the beach, as the rocky and steep beach profile makes manoeuvring equipment back up the shingle difficult.