Introduction/Arrival:-
Washingborough
Methodist Church’s address is 2 Main Road, Washingborough, LN4 1AT. It is
situated adjacent to the mini roundabout at the point where Lincoln Road
becomes Main Road (when approaching from the Lincoln end of the village).
There is a
free car park at the rear of the building – this does not belong to the church
and has no specifically reserved disabled spaces. The main entrance to the building is from the
pavement on Main Road at the front of the building – this entrance provides
easy access for wheelchairs and for those using other walking aids. There is a rear entrance from the car park,
but this is approached by steps with handrails. The car park has a largely tarmac
surface and a pavement leading to the front of the church – The path slopes
upwards from the car park. It is
possible to park a car temporarily on the wide pavement outside the front
entrance to enable those who would find it difficult to walk up the slope from
the car park to be dropped off, but the car would then need to be moved to the
car park to prevent obstruction of the pavement.
There is a
bus service which runs past the church with a bus stop at about 75 metres, but
this is not frequent on a Sunday. Arrival
by car or taxi is recommended for those with very limited mobility.
Inside
the Building
Once inside
the building the chapel, hall and all other rooms are on a single level with
easy access to all elements of the building, assistance would be offered where
fire doors would need to be held open to allow the passage of a wheelchair.
We have two
toilets towards the rear of the building, one of which is equipped for disabled
use with raised seating and washing facilities at a suitable height. There is
room to turn a wheelchair inside the cubicle and the door to the toilet opens
outwards. An emergency alarm pull is situated close to the toilet – which
triggers an alarm/light immediately outside the door to alert others that help
is needed.
The seating
in the chapel is flexibly positioned, the chairs are comfortably upholstered
and have lumbar support. A good number
of the chairs have fixed arms which enable those with difficulty rising to
support themselves to standing. As the
chairs are not fixed it is no problem to move them to accommodate wheelchairs.
There are
ample standard domestic electrical power sockets for mobility aid charging if
this is needed.
There are
washable smooth tufted pile carpets in the chapel and entrance areas. There is also carpeting in the Wesley Room
where the carpets are of a woven nature but with a short pile. Other areas have laminated flooring.
The chapel
is equipped with a sound system consisting of loudspeakers which are embedded
in the ceiling. We have a sound control
system which enables us to regulate the sound from both microphones, (free
standing and mobile), and from the audio-visual system operated in the
chapel. A loop system is also in use in
the chapel and operated from the control system. There is a keyboard in the chapel and on most
occasions a small band (guitars, flute and occasionally viola) and the volume
of sound is regulated by the band.
The chapel
also has a ceiling mounted projector and wall mounted screen. Words used by the congregation during the
service (songs, responses, prayers) are projected in large type and we use
background and type colours which have been recommended as helpful to those who
find reading black on white difficult. Pictures, film and video are also
projected from time to time but to date have not featured flashing lights. If the situation arose where flashing lights
would be involved, we would announce that this was a going to happen.
The chapel
is also equipped with easily adjustable black out blinds on windows where the
sun could affect the visibility on the screen or be uncomfortable for the band
or for anyone speaking from the lectern.
These are brought into use when the sun is bright.
There is an
emergency lighting system which comes into use in the event of a power cut.
In the very
unlikely event of a fire, all fire exits are clearly marked with up to date
signage using both words and pictures, similarly all areas of the church have
signage to indicate directions to the nearest exit and notices indicating how
to respond in the event of a fire. In
the event of a fire the alarm will sound loudly. A fire assembly point is clearly indicated in the car park. Stewards will ensure that anyone needing extra
support in leaving the building will receive appropriate help.
