Disabled Access

The Regatta has conducted a Disabled Access Audit and has taken all reasonable measures to ensure that disabled competitors and visitors can access and enjoy the event. However, we emphasise the following points:

• Henley Women’s Regatta is fundamentally an outdoor event and is subject to the vagaries of the English weather, which can rapidly affect conditions on the water as well as the ground surfaces of the Regatta Enclosures and its environs.
• Accordingly, all rowing events (for able bodied and adaptive/para athletes alike) may be cancelled or curtailed at short notice dependent based on risk assessment made on the day by Regatta officials.
• Similarly, access cannot always be guaranteed for disabled visitors if ground conditions deteriorate rapidly.
• In view of the outdoor nature of the event and specifically its location, where areas surrounding the Enclosures are uneven and most facilities, including the car parks, are part of grass farmland, there are natural hills and dips which make the ground uneven, often involving a variety of ground surfaces. The Enclosures themselves are obviously beside the River Thames and are therefore prone to flooding or can become muddy. The organisers cannot put temporary track way everywhere on site particularly if weather conditions deteriorate at short notice.
• Adaptive/para-rowing competitors are based at the nearby facility at Upper Thames Rowing Club for practical and safety reasons.
• The Regatta organisers do not own the land on which the event is held, which is in a sensitive location. They have access to the site for only a limited number of days; therefore HWR cannot make permanent or substantive changes to the land or the infrastructure serving it for the limited duration of this event.