A National Trust property, near Worcester, wants to thank visitors for helping to raise funds for a new electric scooter, enabling it to continue to make its historic house and parkland more accessible to visitors.

By purchasing raffle tickets visitors have enabled Croome to purchase a third electric scooter.

“We are over the moon to now offer a third electric scooter for our visitors to use free of charge,”

said Hayley Burrows, Membership and Visitor Welcome Manager.

“It’s great to be able to help more people have the opportunity to enjoy a day out with friends and family in this beautiful setting."

Upper Thames and Ridgeway National Trust Association generously donated towards it’s cost.

To help visitors explore the stunning ‘Capability’ Brown parkland, on the many hard paths throughout the gardens, there is free use of electric scooters and manual wheelchairs which can be booked in advance with a handy accessibility map available too.

Additionally, a shuttle bus, which is also wheelchair accessible, runs between the Visitor Centre and the house for those that that may find the walk difficult.

Croome Court, the historic house that stands proudly at the heart of the parkland, would have once proved inaccessible to many but a ‘stair climber’ enables entry for manual wheelchair users up the sweeping flight of steps.

“A third bookable electric scooter is a fantastic asset to the property and offers even more availability and flexibility for our less able visitors to discover more areas of Croome that they would not necessarily be able to access,”

said Melanie Trotman, Croome’s Access and Inclusion Lead.

“A huge thank you to everyone who made this happen from volunteers and staff selling raffle tickets to donations from National Trust Associations and of course to individuals buying a raffle ticket.”

“We get so much pleasure out of being able to use the scooter, as it means we can enjoy the park together which simply wouldn't happen without it.”

said regular visitors Ian and Catherine Sinclair and their dog Stan.

Disabled visitors, who pay an admission fee or show their membership card at Croome, can apply for a ‘Access for all Admit One Card’ which gives free access to the property for their carer to accompany them. The cards can be obtained by calling the National Trust on 01793 817 634.