Bristol Bears Rugby Club fully supports the principle of equal opportunities and opposes all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination on the grounds of disability.

The club operates a specific ticketing policy for disabled supporters and will ensure that the scheme does not discriminate between disabled people with differing impairments. 

The club recognises that not all of its facilities are fully accessible to disabled customers and confirms that it is committed to making the necessary reasonable adjustments, described by the Equality Act and its relevant codes of practice to ensure full compliance with the legislation. 

DEFINITION OF DISABILITY

As a fundamental principle the Equality Act states that disabled people should not be treated “less favourably, without justification” and “reasonable adjustments should be made to make goods, facilities and services accessible”. 

Bristol Bears Rugby Club aims to comply with both the provisions and spirit of the Equality Act. 

For the purposes of this policy only, the definition of a disabled supporter is:- “Any person who, because of their disability or impairment, is unable to use ordinary stand seating without contravening Health and Safety Regulations, Guidelines or Policy or where the club has provided a ” reasonable adjustment” to enable that supporter to attend the venue. Any such person will be considered for use of the “designated areas” of the stadium in line with the procedures set out in this policy”. 

A “reasonable adjustment” in the context should include (but is not limited to), the need to use a wheelchair bay, the need to bring a “personal assistant” for either personal care or safety reasons, or the use of an auxiliary service (e.g. match commentary for blind and partially sighted supporters). 

A “designated area” is any area (including specific seats around the stadium) that the club shall, in its sole discretion determine as being available for the disabled ticket price. 

A person has a “disability” if he/she has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day to day activities. 

Bristol Bears Rugby Club reserves the right to request “Supporting Documentation” before issuing any concession. 

Supporting Documentation:

1.    Receipt of the medium to high rate Disability Living Allowance (mobility or care component)
2.    Receipt of Enhanced Rate P.I.P (Personal Independence Payment) 
3.    Receipt of either the Employment & Support Allowance or Attendance Allowance. 
4.    A Personal letter from you GP. 

NB: Proof required may change depending on alterations to current legislation regarding the benefit payments system. Receipt of a Blue badge will not be considered sufficient proof of disability. 

Please note, it is the responsibly of the supporter to inform the club of any changes in their circumstances.

CONTACT WITH EXISTING DISABLED SUPPORTERS

Bristol Bears Rugby Club has an open dialogue with its disabled supporters and encourages them to contact the club on a regular basis to discuss facilities and improvements etc. 

The disabled supporters themselves have appointed a person to act/or speak on their behalf. This person is currently Robert Wood. 

The club’s disability liaison officer is Gareth Torpy, disabled fans can contact Gareth on 0117 963 0670 or by e-mail gareth.torpy@bristol-sport.co.uk. The club is also a full member of Level Playing Field (LPF) who can be contacted via www.levelplayingfield.org.uk.  

The club have also undertaken a review of its equality position, both internally and via LPF and have taken due notice of any suggestions/recommendations. 

FACILITIES FOR SUPPORTERS USING WHEELCHAIRS

The club has the following accessible positions for supporters who are wheelchair users and, if required, a personal assistant:- 

The number of wheelchair user spaces is 159 (139 home, 20 away).

It is the club policy that one helper with any disabled person using a wheelchair receives their admission to the ground free of charge. The wheelchair-user is required to pay the normal wheelchair admission price for that particular game. Season tickets will be available for both the wheelchair-user and their personal assistant. 

Please note if the disabled person cannot attend we will only allow a carer access provided they pay for a full price seat. 

In conjunction with the proof of disability (as previously mentioned) this concession will only be available to those people who meet the eligibility criteria described below:- 

* Wheelchair using applicants must be largely confined to a wheelchair, or not capable of walking a distance further than that required to reasonably and safely access any other part of the stadium. 
* Wheelchair using applicants should ideally, also be accompanied by a person who is capable of supporting the disabled person’s needs in the event of an emergency. For this reason the club strongly recommend that a person is sixteen years of age or over and not be infirm, but we do support younger family members who are used to acting as a Carer. 

FACILITIES FOR BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED SUPPORTERS

The club accommodates blind and partially sighted supporters and if required, their personal assistants within the stadium. The pricing of tickets will be the same as supporters using wheelchairs. (i.e. disability price) 

Eligibility for this concession requires proof of disability as described previously or each person can provide a copy of their registration document which certifies they are Registered Blind or Registered Partially Sighted or provide qualifying documentation from their optician equivalent to registration requirements. 

The club strongly recommends that each blind or partially sighted supporter attending a match should be accompanied by a person who is fully able to support their needs in an emergency. 

Guide Dogs are allowed into the stadium but the club insist that supporters with guide dogs contact Supporter Services before the match so that we can discuss with them access to the ground, facilities inside the ground and the welfare of the guide dog before, during and after the match.

FACILITIES FOR SUPPORTERS WITH LIMITED MOBILITY

The club recognise that there are considerable numbers of people in the community who use wheelchairs mainly for outdoor mobility purposes but are not necessarily permanent wheelchair users. There are also many people with limited mobility who may wish to watch a match. 

For the purposes of this policy and the administration of the concessionary ticketing policy both categories of people will be termed “ambulant disabled supporters” and those supporters with limited mobility of a severe nature will qualify for the concessionary treatment and have access to seating nearest the entrances/exits on request. 

Eligibility to these areas will be dependent on providing proof of disability as described previously or will be decided on individual merit. 

FACILITIES FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING SUPPORTERS

The club welcomes deaf and hard of hearing supporters and hearing assistance dogs.