Quality Speaks For Itself

Disability equality training for our Cypriot partners

Add comment November 3rd, 2008

The fully accessible complex we are building in Larnaca continues at a pace. It’s good to know that our partners in Cyprus, the Quality Group, really are committed to developing not only a superb product but also to making sure that they really do understand the needs of the disabled community. I think it’s great that they have decided to put a large proportion of their staff through a Disability Equality training programme which will be run by Agnes Fletcher (part of our Q Well-being team and a leading proponent of disabled rights around Europe) in early December. For my part is great to see that our partners really believe in what we are trying to achieve. I think it is important that they really understand that a requirement a disabled person has from a building needs to be combined with the correct terminology as well. Well done Quality Group!

Accessible Holiday Investment Opportunities Cyprus: Q Well-Being

Add comment October 15th, 2008

As many of you will have read already I’m developing a concept of holiday investment homes that are truly accessible for families that are touched somewhere by disability. The concept is that you can go on holiday with the whole family and there will be something for everyone to enjoy on and off site. To look at though one would never be aware that it is an accesible complex.

The project has now been christened Q Well-Being.

The family can use it themselves for some of the year and rent it out when they are not using it. On site will be a top class restaurant, a spa in which to pamper yourself and enjoy hydrotherapy, a totally accessible pool, on site help and lavish grounds to enjoy the year round sun.

Savvas Kakos, CEO of the Quality Group and whose mother has Parkinson’s disease, is to be the developer. He has purchased an excellent plot of land close to all the leisure, health and shopping amenities that Larnaca has to offer. George Antoniou is QG’s excellent head architect and after two days intensive training on the needs of the accessible user (including spending a day using a wheelchair) understands well what his task is in designing the project . So that’s step one completed!

Needless to say the project has attracted a lot of attention for it’s truly unique as a concept. We have now got some really committed individuals on the team. As well as the top accessible kitchen designer in the UK (Adam Thomas) we have also secured the services of David Bonnett as consultant Architect to the project. David is the UK’s leading accessible architect and is responsible for accessiblity in the 2012 Olympic Village in Stratford. Additionally we have Agnes Fletcher on the team to support marketing, PR and communications. Agnes is Europe’s leading light in terms of Disability Equality Training. The core team now needs to be complemented by the addition of a major name to put their seal of approval on the project and we are on to this one as well! A very famous individual is carrying out their due diligence on the project as we speak so I’ll keep you posted on this.

What was a germ of an idea has now blossomed into a full project that’s well underway! We have a project planning meeting in Cyprus this week and another in the UK in early November.

So watch this space…..

Accessible overseas property to invest and holiday in

3 comments June 30th, 2008

When I was 17 my best friend was paralysed in a motorbike accident. He is now a very successful entrepreneur and we have stayed in touch over the years even though he is an Arsenal season ticket holder! He is a really confident person and traveller, but many others in his position are not.

Being in property myself and knowing the problems wheelchair users have getting into buildings and using the transport system I was curious to find what was available across Europe for the investor that he or she could holiday in free from the normal worries. Check it out yourself it is incredible how few properties there are.

So we are going to change this with a truly luxurious development of holiday homes for the investor who has some disability in their family yet wants the whole family to go away to enjoy a pampered holiday in a warm and sunny location.

Its going to be a destination that only those who know will realise is an accessible resort. It will have the best spas, swimming pools, restaurants and great views with the comfort of knowing that it’s within 5 minutes of all the essential amenities necessary for a great holiday. That means the beach, golf course and the hospital!

This will be a place that you can stay at for the winter months whilst Northern Europe is dark and cold. As a holiday destination you’ll be able to use it as a base and travel around or you can stay on the resort for the entire length of your holiday; the choice will be yours.

We’ve got the best accessible architect in the UK to consult on the project and my friend (who designs accessible kitchens and bathrooms) is also going to consult on the project and he will make sure every personal requirement he has will be catered for.

I intend to launch this in March 2009 and it will be completed in 2011. I know it will be unique and I expect demand to be great. Get in touch with me if it interests you in any way. It will also be something that I hope The Lord’s Taverners will benefit from in some way.

Carl