My name is Simon Ward and I live in rural North Cornwall with my two boys. My youngest is seven years old and has cerebral palsy — he cannot walk. My eldest is thirteen and has autism. Every single week I see first-hand how little there is for children like mine to do outdoors in this part of the world.

There are farms, petting zoos and beautiful countryside all around us — but so little of it is genuinely accessible to a child in a wheelchair, or to a child who needs a calm, safe, sensory environment to feel comfortable. Families like ours make do. We find ways. But we deserve better than making do.

I've had enough of that. So I've decided to do something about it.

I want to create rural Cornwall's most accessible community nature park — completely free and open to the public, every single day — a place where disabled children, autistic children, the elderly, and their families can come together and actually enjoy the outdoors. A place designed with both my boys in mind — and every child and family like them across Cornwall.

I'm talking about safe, secure, fully accessible play areas with specially adapted equipment designed for disabled children — the kind you simply cannot find in rural Cornwall right now. Proper pathways for wheelchairs and mobility aids. A calm sensory petting barn where children can hold guinea pigs and rabbits at their own pace, in their own time. A woodland trail. Picnic tables in the open air. Somewhere grandparents can sit with a cream tea and a coffee, watching their grandchildren play in a field. Somewhere the Scouts, Cubs and local schools can come for outdoor education days.

A working smallholding growing fruit and vegetables, producing eggs and honey — eventually becoming self-sustainable through its own farm produce and affordable glamping pods for weekend family breaks.

A place that feels like it was built for everyone — because it will be. And it will never cost a penny to visit. Free. Always. For everyone.

This isn't just about one park. My vision is to build an organisation that creates and manages multiple accessible nature parks across Cornwall, starting with the first one and growing from there. Rural Cornwall has thousands of acres of beautiful countryside — and so little of it truly welcomes everyone. We want to change that, one park at a time.

There is a perfect piece of land available right now. Five and a half acres of established woodland with 109 specimen trees, open grassland, and a bungalow for our resident family to live in and manage the site. It is everything we have been looking for. It is sitting there waiting.

But to access the grants and funding we need to secure land like this — and to build the parks, the pathways, the play areas and the facilities — we first need to formally exist as an organisation. We need to register as a Community Interest Company (CIC), which is a legal structure that signals to funders, councils, and landowners that we are a serious, constituted community organisation with a clear purpose.

Without that registration, we cannot apply for the grants. Without the grants, we cannot build the parks.

Why We Need Your Help:

Beyond the CIC registration fee, there is a huge amount of work ahead — building a professional website, producing design plans for accessible facilities, legal advice on land agreements, printing, travel to meetings with funders and landowners. We are doing as much as we can ourselves, but the early costs of getting an organisation off the ground are real and they fall on us before any grant funding arrives.

We are not asking for a fortune. Every pound raised goes directly into building the foundations of something that will matter to thousands of families across Cornwall for generations.

What Your Money Will Do:

£115 — CIC registration, making us a legal organisation

£500 — Website so funders and families can find us

£400 — Legal advice on land and planning agreements

£300 — Professional business plan and grant application support

£400 — Facility design plans for accessible pathways and play areas

£785 — Admin, printing, travel and meetings

Total: £2,500 to turn a dream into a real organisation.

We already have warm support from CAAP — Cornwall's charity for disabled children's activities — who have confirmed they will promote the park and bring families to visit. Our local primary school headmaster has expressed strong interest and is writing a letter of support. The enthusiasm from the local community has been wonderful and we are only just getting started.

I am doing this because of my boys. My seven year old who cannot walk but whose eyes light up the moment he is outside in nature. My thirteen year old who finds the world overwhelming but comes alive around animals. I am doing it for the elderly couple who just want somewhere beautiful and accessible to sit together on a sunny afternoon. For the Scout leader looking for somewhere meaningful to take their troop. For the school teacher who wants their class to understand where food comes from. For every parent who has driven past a beautiful piece of countryside and thought — I wish we could go in there.

Because rural Cornwall is one of the most beautiful places on earth and every single person deserves to experience it.

If we lose this first piece of land because we couldn't move fast enough, we will find another. We will keep going. But if you can help us get there faster — help us hold on to what could be the perfect first home for rural Cornwall's most accessible nature park — then please donate today, share this with anyone you know, and help us make this real.

Every single pound matters.

Thank you.

Simon Ward.