Parallel Windsor, the Festival of Inclusivity for Disabled People and Families

Our post today comes from Andrew Douglass, CEO & Founder of Parallel Lifestyle.

Parallel is a disability lifestyle brand with purpose & an attitude of no limits living. One of the biggest social problems in the world is disability inclusion. As a social enterprise, our simple aim is to support D/deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people to be free to live life to the full in mainstream society

To help achieve this purpose, we have created an award-winning Festival of Inclusivity, Parallel Windsor and Purple Sock Day, a national act of mass participation which takes place on 3rd December; which is the International Day of Disabled People. Last year Purpl and it’s members joined us in celebrating Purple Sock Day and it was a great success.

But today, we are talking about our annual flagship event, Parallel Windsor, it is a national celebration of disability lifestyle.

I am often asked what is a disability lifestyle.

Well, in my view, lifestyle is a way in which a person chooses to live. Disability lifestyle is a way in which a person is forced to live.

This is not to say that a disability lifestyle cannot be exciting, fulfilling and influential; it’s just the way our world is designed and educated makes it a constant, exhausting – and at times – a degrading fight.

We run Parallel as a social enterprise, so we bake in some key social aims for our Parallel Windsor Festival; one of which is for our event to be a lens into what an inclusive and accessible society should look and feel like to influence positive change.

So, for one day disability lifestyle, simply becomes lifestyle for all our families and festival-goers with lived experience of disability. The joyful festival atmosphere is palpable, but all we are really doing is creating an environment that 75% of the UK’s population take for granted and by the way, can also fully access and enjoy.

For me, this was crystalised when I was chatting to a young mother last year. Her neurodivergent little girl was sitting in a puddle of water on our track mat (it was a wet summer!), wearing her ear defenders and running her hands through the water over the ruts and grooves of the trackway surface. Her senses were alive and she was having the best of times.

Her mum was also happy. Not just because her daughter was having so much fun, but she could choose to immerse herself in her daughter’s happiness without any sense of being judged or having to explain or apologise.

A simple pleasure giving rise to a simple aspiration for everybody with a lived experience of disability – a lifestyle of choice and acceptance.

Parallel Windsor – Festival of Inclusivity

Parallel Windsor is a Festival of Inclusivity with Challenge Events for all ages, health conditions & abilities. Held in the grounds of the majestic Windsor Great Park & staged on the iconic Long Walk. It takes place on Sunday 6th July and we would love to see you there!

The Challenge Events

Walk, push or run – there are no cut off times.
‘Start Together, Finish Whenever’.

Everybody who starts gets a medal, t-shirt & goody bag. Choose from: 100m, 1K, 5K, 10K or our very own SuperSensory. Parallel’s innovative SuperSensory supports neurodiversity & participants with profound & multiple learning disabilities to exercise their senses over a series of challenges such as engaging with sound, taste, touch, & smell. There is also the option to purchase a Virtual Entry ticket. All Virtual entries receive a medal & t-shirt.

Activities

Our fully accessible festival, offers a huge range of activities & entertainment:

• Animal Kingdom
• Arts & Crafts
• Climbing wall
• Comedy
• Cookery
• Dance
• Inclusive Sport
• Music
• Picnic area
• Sensory zone
• Street food
• Storytelling
• Quiet space
• Yoga & wellbeing

Onsite facilities

As a fully accessible event, Parallel Windsor has on-site parking, accessible toilets (including RevoLOOs), medical support, sensory space & quiet space. All support & assistance animals are welcome.

Tickets

Purpl members can get 10% off the ticket price, with the discount available until 31st May. If you aren’t a Purpl member, you can buy your tickets here.

For all information, head to the Parallel website here.

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