Carrie-Ann Lightley
AccessAble
Carrie-Ann Lightley is an accessible travel blogger, sharing reviews, guides and expert tips about travel as a wheelchair user in the UK and overseas. Her blog aims to encourage others to travel to, explore and discover new places.
Carrie-Ann, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, has worked in the accessible tourism industry for more than 14 years. She started out running the information, membership and partnership services at national charity Tourism for All UK, providing advice to disabled travellers and accessible tourism businesses.
In 2018, Carrie-Ann joined the team at DisabledGo, a national disability organisation that promotes independence using technology. She played a key part in rebranding the organisation to AccessAble and supported the launch of the new brand and website. Carrie-Ann has led an initiative to launch a group of AccessAble Champions made up of bloggers and vloggers who are ambassadors for AccessAble.
Carrie-Ann has written for the Guardian, The Huffington Post and TripAdvisor, as well as other websites, magazines and industry publications. She has taken part in films for ITV News to highlight the importance of accessible train travel, and the BBC’s Rip off Britain, to showcase accessible adventure holidays.
She’s a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Young Disabled People, England’s Inclusive Tourism Action Group and Manchester Airport’s Accessibility Forum. In addition, Carrie-Ann is a Trailblazer Tourism Ambassador for Muscular Dystrophy UK and judge for the prestigious Catey Awards.
“‘Inspirational’ is an overused word in disability circles, but I do want to inspire. Not for living my life, not for working hard despite the barriers I face, but to inspire others to travel, no matter what their impairment. To know that although accessible travel can be challenging, stressful, and sometimes disastrous, it can also be freeing, empowering, and absolutely wonderful.”