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SIA Champion Will Behenna launches beach access survey report
Created by SIA champion for outdoor accessibility Will Behenna in January 2025, the Beach Access Project aims to work with partners across the UK to improve beach accessibility.
Launched in 2025, the Beach Access Survey gathered responses from people with a range of disabilities and/or medical conditions to paint a picture of the current state of beach access in the UK, with those results now launched in Parliament.
Will said:
I’m still pinching myself. But it’s official, the beach access survey report has been launched in Parliament.
A collaboration between the Beach Access Project and the University of Brighton and introduced by Andy McNae MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Outdoor Recreation and Access to Nature.
My personal thanks go to:
- The 1071 respondents to the survey: your voices have been heard. Without you this survey would never have been possible. Your views and opinions have provided a unique set of data that will hopefully change the landscape of beaches and blue spaces in the UK.
- The 45 attendees from across the country representing a wide range of beach and blue space organisations, who came to the launch.
I created the Beach Access Project in January 2025. The Beach Access Survey started in June 2025 and now it’s been launched as a report in Parliament.
Now we have the evidence, the next phase is implementation. We will showcase accessible and inclusive beaches and blue space in Dorset through the vision to make Dorset the inclusive blue space capital of the UK.
We have three projects in the pipeline for 2026
- Inclusive paddling at Hengistbury Head Outdoors
- Beach access at Knoll Beach with the National Trust
- Beach access at Weymouth Beach
Come and join us on this journey: to reimagine access to water and nature that enables everyone to play a more active and meaningful role on our beaches and in our blue spaces.
Please visit www.beachaccessproject.co.uk to download the report.
