Bringing Lived Experience to Our Accessibility Project
Updated: Oct 5
Earlier this year, we were delighted to welcome Sharon Thomas and her service dog Rubix to the Isles of Scilly as a lived experience accessibility expert. Sharon knew that our remote, rural islands could present accessibility challenges for her but was willing to make the journey to share her experiences and practical ideas for improvement.
Sharon is passionate about exploring the outdoor spaces with Rubix, exploring paths, woods, towns and much more. She shares her honest and fun perspectives on accessibility through her YouTube channel, Wheelie Fun Accessible Adventures.
Sharon’s insights have supported us to better understand where improvements could be made for the benefit of everyone and contributed to our pilot accessibility audit on St Mary’s.
In this interview, we discuss Sharon’s experiences from her first visit in February 2026 - travelling with mobility aids, exploring St Mary’s, accessibility workshops with Five Island Academy students, and why accessibility campaigning is so important.
Sharon, please tell us about you, your mobility aids, and what you need to think about when you travel that others may not.
Day to day, I use a large electric wheelchair, an off-road buggy and crutches for very short distances when able. And what I have to think about? Oh my god, that’s a huge list! The first thing is to make sure that I can actually get around where I'm going. Also, I need to think of every single eventuality. Literally getting out the door is the first thing. How long will the journey take? Is it safe? What will the weather be like? Have I got everything I need? Can I get medical stuff if I run out? Also, you can plan all you want for the day, but it might be that you wake up and don't feel well enough.
So, information needs to be absolutely accurate for wherever you're going because all the things beforehand are big enough as it is. If you check where you're going and you can’t tell or trust that it’s viable, then why would you put yourself at risk? That’s why I do what I do with my videos.
What were your expectations of the Isles of Scilly before you visited?
I know lots of people who have been there and I have heard so many amazing things. I know some people who came with their off-road mobility aids on the ferry in summer and had an amazing time, and I thought ‘you know what? I really want to go there!’ So having the opportunity to do so through this project was amazing.
I knew in my case accessibility wasn't going to be great, especially because it was winter, but even after going to so many websites I found only limited access information. From what I read, I would have thought it was completely plain sailing, because some sites even had wheelchair symbols. If I had only seen these sites and had no information from elsewhere to prepare me, I think I’d have been bitterly disappointed.
How did you travel to the islands? Were any additional arrangements or adjustments necessary to make it possible, and did you make preparations for last-minute changes?
I flew by helicopter, and obviously that depended on the weather in winter, but before I even arrived, I was worrying about if it was going to take off. Then we had bad weather on the day and so many people were cancelled. Thanks to the project team’s experience, I knew we should plan for that, and we booked accommodation just in case I was stuck in Penzance but amazingly, they got me over. I had to get to the heliport hours earlier than planned so they could get me to St Mary’s, but if I hadn’t already been staying near Penzance visiting a friend, the rush and stress would have made me too unwell to travel.
I picked the helicopter because the extra distance to Land’s End for a plane was another challenge, and there is no winter ferry or flights from Exeter and Newquay. If people can’t manage a couple of steps, flying isn’t an option.
I couldn’t find any pictures of inside the helicopter so didn’t know what to expect, but I had to transfer into a transit wheelchair to get to the helicopter. I think manual wheelchairs would be better, though; I was unable to get to the toilet by myself, and nobody wants to ask to go to toilet! On board, there wasn’t much space for Rubix because he didn’t go in the dog crate as a trained service dog, and it was overwhelming after all the disruption, but the staff were so supportive despite the chaos.
As you weren’t able to get your usual mobility equipment to Scilly, how did you manage?
I would not have managed if we couldn’t hire things! St Mary’s Bike Hire have got big, robust mobility scooters available, which are great. If someone is bigger, older, or has less core strength, and there’s an uneven surface or camber, lighter and smaller scooters can topple - they can be dangerous, it’s so bad! But robust ones are bigger so they can’t get indoors, so we had to get a manual wheelchair too. They’re great as you can self-propel - if able, not everyone is - I can sometimes, but the slopes and pavements were too exhausting for me on Scilly. They are not great! Also drop curbs are seldom and it's really bumpy.
I don't think I could have managed without being pushed. It's so stressful because, you’re cold and tired, you feel conscious, because it's just so uneven and narrow. I had to be on the road with cars so often too, which is quite scary in a wheelchair. I would have really, really struggled on my own. I was grateful for the help, but needing to rely on people so much made me feel more disabled than I am used to. It brought up a lot of feelings for me.
Once you’d arrived, how did you find: getting around; your accommodation; and accessing essential services?
My first thoughts were that the alleyway down to the accommodation should be improved because the wheel of the manual chair catches on the wonky slabs and cracks, so it’s hard to self-propel down that bit. The accommodation itself was absolutely fantastic though. It was amazing! Brilliant bathroom - couldn't have asked for more - perfect with lots of room to manoeuvre. There was a lot of furniture in the living room, so I couldn't get to the blind and patio doors in the chair. Things could be rearranged by the owners to make more space, though, so that’s an easy fix.
Because I couldn’t bring my chair, I needed more aids. It meant I had to rely on people a lot. The high street felt quite far away because I was struggling to self-propel on the pavements. And I couldn’t get the scooter indoors. It’s just important that people understand that not everyone wants to have to ask for help - it’s better that people get the option to be independent when they’re otherwise able. A sturdy, hireable electric wheelchair and some ramps would have changed my experience completely!
What information were you able to find before travelling, and was this information a true representation of what you found when you got to the islands?
Some of the information I found bugged me, if I’m honest, because there were these little symbols, like a little wheelchair logo on a website, but it didn’t match my experience of using a wheelchair there. I need more detail, because I’ve been let down by incorrect information before. People need enough info to be able to tell if something’s accessible for them personally, because we’re all so different, and I just couldn’t find that level of accurate information anywhere.
It's such a huge trip to get there for many, and it’s not cheap! Lots of people want to go, it's on their bucket list and it feels like a such healing place, because the air there is incredible. I would have trusted the information, thinking I can go to all of the islands, get in all the cafes and shops and it'll be great. But that was not my experience.
When considering accessibility, how does Scilly compare to other remote or rural places you’ve visited or audited on the mainland? What potential do the islands have for improvement?
The main thing for me on Scilly would be if I knew I could bring my electric wheelchair any time of year, or be able to fit the chair in all the disabled toilets. That’d be a great start. To be able to get to the other islands in some form, even if I couldn't get there every day - if there was something that ran every other day or a couple of times a week as an accessible thing, like a small landing craft or a wheelie boat - I mean, that’d be great.
If you said to me “we've got twenty attractions on the whole of the island, on St Mary’s, without going to the other ones, and four of them are accessible,” that’s absolutely not a problem. I'll choose those four, we'll go do those. Rather than all the worrying and figuring it out myself, like ‘can I get there? Does that work? If I'm informed beforehand that four are accessible, I've got information on them, I know what they look like and what I will encounter. I am prepared!
Giving really good information and options says to us “We on the Isles of Scilly really care about your well-being and your welfare, and we welcome you with open arms. We know situations change in life and we want to make the best experience because it might be your only chance.”
Would you come back to the Isles of Scilly, and if so, what would help you feel more confident about booking another trip? If you would not, can you tell me why?
There is so much I want to do and see on Scilly. I’ve wanted to come for years, but I'm going to say no, I wouldn't, not as it was in February. I would come if you needed my help again, and I was just about to say, ‘I'd put myself through it,’ and that sounds a horrible thing, but that’s how it felt.
It's just because I hear everybody else having such an amazing time. They've been on the islands, and they've had the full experience. And for me, I might as well just stay here. I can't get that full experience. I felt like I could get 10%, if that. To go through the stress and hassle of planning and travelling, thinking you can do something and finding you can’t, it was quite upsetting. Especially when there is so much potential and everyone is so kind and eager to help!
In summary, if you could change 3 things about accessibility on the islands, what would they be?
• An accessible boat service to the other islands for people who cannot manage steps - even if only on particular days - would be fantastic. There are great examples you can look to elsewhere.
• Toilet facilities need to be available, correctly designed and kept ready for use, with ample space for manoeuvring wheelchairs.
• Safer, smoother routes and genuinely accessible cafés, shops and scenic resting spots would let me enjoy St Mary’s myself, without having to ask for help which I don’t usually need.
One of the key parts of Sharon’s visit was working with students at Five Islands Academy (FIA); she helped lead an interactive session exploring the realities of living with a disability, including how mobility aids and service dogs, like Rubix, can support independence. The students had the opportunity to navigate St Mary’s Quay using mobility aids and a pushchair, experiencing first-hand some of the barriers that can easily go unnoticed, from cobbles and narrow corridors to raised thresholds.
What was a particularly memorable moment from the sessions with the FIA students that you’d like to share?
Do you know what? The kids were really amazing! You could see their faces at first, wondering ‘oh, what are we doing?’ And then they were treated as equal. They were super, amazing kids. They asked great questions and really had a go. Not one of them refused a turn on the mobility aids. And there's no point just telling people about things when they can have a go. They have to experience it. And that’s so important because they're your next generation. They're going to be the ones to educate the rest of the upcoming little people.
We all had a go at asking them, ‘how do you find that?’ And they were saying, ‘wow, that's so hard,’ with the camber and the terrain. It was great watching the penny drop and learn that what is easy for one person is so much harder for another!
Five Islands Academy students and Headteacher Mrs Lewin trying out mobility aids
What are you most proud of as an accessibility campaigner?
I want to leave a little bit of something better behind. While I have the energy, the power, the strength and the determination to try and make a small change, or make people realise how difficult it is to make people more aware, I will use every ounce of that strength. I will put that out there and try and help as much as I can.
If people can't identify with my situation because they haven't experienced it, that’s understandable. But everybody has a day when they don't feel well. And also, let's think back to COVID lockdowns. The whole world was told they couldn't do things, that they had to restrict their movements, and only go out at that time, or for this long, or only once a day. It was for months but we have that 24-7. I think COVID gave everyone a little taste of it, of isolation and exclusion, but people forget very quickly. I’m proud of trying to make the world a little easier, for doing what I can, while I can. Hopefully it will rub off on other people.
What tips and advice do you have for people who, like you, may want the world to be more inclusive but perhaps don’t know where to start?
Find the common ground! Everybody has emotions. Everyone knows how it feels to be rejected, not heard, not listened to. And all the other emotions, you know, like finding things hard, not being able to do something we want to. We all know those feelings to some extent because we're all human. But take those emotions and magnify them, and that’s what many disabled people go through all the time.
We might have a disability, but we are good people. We get on with life, but I get micro-rejections constantly. I am lower down in a wheelchair, so people have to look down at me, but people don’t have to talk down at me too.
Thinking back to COVID as an example again, the world can be totally turned upside down out of nowhere. It can happen at any time. We have to find a way forward together that works for everyone.
As part of our accessibility project, we also produced a survey to hear more from residents, visitors and businesses about their lived experiences and ideas around accessibility across the Isles of Scilly.
Find out more about the accessibility project on our project webpage.
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