Plymouth Sound National Marine Park (PSNMP) are set to host a community access weekend at the National Marine Aquarium (NMA) on March 15 – 16 March 2025, with support from delivery partner, Ocean Conservation Trust and funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Over 200 community groups have been invited to this exciting and inspirational event. Throughout the weekend we will capture feedback on accessibility and inclusion to Plymouth Sound National Marine Park & the NMA to further improve access to blue spaces for all.
The NMA is generously donating the weekend to the project and will be closed to the general public for the duration of the weekend of the 15 – 16 March, to support the delivery of the community access weekend.
We are providing additional support to enable conversation with local community groups around creating a more accessible National Marine Park. With support from our delivery partner, the Ocean Conservation Trust, we are hosting a bespoke weekend at the National Marine Aquarium, with staggered entry times, offering British Sign Language, trained sighted guides and dementia awareness staff, with adjusted audio/visual to suit varying needs. Here’s the full list of support and activities throughout the Community Access Weekend:
- British Sign Language Interpreters
- Dementia awareness trained staff
- Trained sighted guider staff
- Quiet room and mindfulness zone
- Braille National Marine Aquarium map and treasure map
- Free food for ages under 16
- Free face-painting
- Lower lighting and digital displays turned off
We are extremely grateful to the National Marine Aquarium for donating their site for the support of this Community Access Weekend. We appreciate the partnership we have with our delivery partner, the Ocean Conservation Trust in helping us to provide such a fun and engaging weekend, whilst being able to learn from our community groups how both charities can better support access to blue spaces and specifically the PSNMP.
The Community Access Weekend has been made possible thanks to money raised by National Lottery players with £11.6million of funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.