Two women from Gwynedd are spearheading a drive to help major events provide more opportunities for people with disabilities.

Trainers Rachel Jones, from Trawsfynydd, and Melanie Cash, from Criccieth, are part of a special project designed to gear-up events and businesses to be user-friendly for people with additional needs.

They run Introduction to Accessibility Awareness workshops and a pioneering four-day course created by community interest company PIWS to establish Accessibility Champions within the organisations.

Among the events that have signed up are Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, National Eisteddfod that’s being held in Wrexham in 2025, the Urdd National Eisteddfod and the Royal Welsh Show, along with Disability Sport Wales and Wales Young Farmers’ Clubs.

Set-up in 2018, PIWS is a community-driven organisation dedicated to enhancing accessibility for individuals with disabilities, including autism, learning difficulties, sensory impairments, mobility challenges, and brain illnesses.

Rachel and Melanie were recruited by PIWS founder Davina Carey-Evans, who has two sons with complex disabilities and whose husband was severely disabled in a fall, is spearheading the project.

As well as being the right thing to do, she said, it can also help the events tap into a lucrative market.

"We hear a lot about the power of the LGBTQ+ community’s pink pound but the purple pound is also very valuable and in accessible tourism across the UK,” said Davina.

"There are 16.1 million disabled people in the UK, this represents 24% of the population and it has been estimated there is an untapped potential value of £15.8 billion a year in Accessible Tourism alone.”

Davina has enlisted the help of three motivated women to run the project. All three have years of experience in the hospitality business and are dedicated to training.

The third member of the team is Tansy Rogerstone from Conwy.