Brighton Mapping Day!

On 1st September, Jennie, Cain and I headed to sunny Brighton for another one of our favourite parts of the job - a mapping day! As we were already in London working at our HQ in London - it didn’t take us long to get the train there. We managed to book via Passenger Assist and assistance staff were ready with a ramp for Jennie and I when we arrived. Lovely.

Sociability has mapped a few Northern cities recently so it was great to finally map down South again and meet some of our Southern mappers/regular users of the app. We’re grateful they came along too as we did they were great guides for us (thanks particularly to Meghan and Lauren!).

How accessible is Brighton?

As a few of us were wheelchair users on the day - we found a few barriers navigating the city. Mostly the streets are very cobbly and some incredibly steep! If you’re a manual wheelchair user it can be tricky getting around, so the bus is probably useful if you’re a local/regular visitor. The famous lanes is very pretty and certainly is a spot to go and mooch around. It’s probably better to visit in the summer, however, as a lot of the shops are independent and therefore have steps leading into them. We did manage to find a few places to map though and there’s definitely a day out to be had if you plan it right!

Where is good to visit in Brighton?

Speaking of planning it right, if you’re not sure exactly where to go when you visit Brighton, don’t worry - we have you covered! Here’s our top 3 recommendations:

• BOHEMIA
  Bohemia is an impressive restaurant and bar located next to The Lanes. It’s spacious, has lots of turning space and a radar-locked accessible toilet with a baby changing table, too. It has an outside seating area if you’d prefer to sit outside which also seemed spacious. We found the staff to be friendly when we visited and would definitely be a place we would head back to (not for the cocktail menu we noticed… nope certainly not 👀).

  
  

• PAVILION GARDENS CAFE
  The Pavilion Gardens Cafe is a family-owned, open-air cafe situated in the heart of Brighton’s most popular attraction; the historic Royal Pavilion Gardens. Obviously, this would be weather dependent, but this was a great meeting spot for us mappers. There’s lots of flat space to navigate around and a fantastic green view too! There are areas to meet friends and sit at a table whilst also being able to order drinks and snacks from the cafe.

  
  

• REDROASTER CAFE
  This is an ideal place to either grab a coffee or settle down with your laptop to catch up on a few emails. There are a few (but limited) tables outside or a line of tables and chairs inside. We should flag that there’s a slight lip into the entrance (there’s an image of it on Sociability if you’d like to make sure it’s do-able first). But if you’d like a relaxed modern space to relax, work or catch up with a friend in - this may be for you!
  
  

Building a community down South!

We loved visiting Brighton as we got to meet new friends of Sociability but also link with friends we’ve met before (like George, Jessikah and Lauren!). We all agreed that these days not only help us get more venues on the map but also help us link disabled people together. The importance of community is always highlighted to us on these days and we can’t wait to see how they grow in the future. If you’re based in the south, keep an eye on our socials as we may be announcing another mapping day very soon 👀.

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