We recognise that 20% of adults in the UK have a disability and of these, 80% of disabled people have ‘invisible’ or hidden impairments. Staff across the centre are offered training to help us all to better understand how we can be helpful, and how we can become more confident and welcoming when interacting with all disabled customers.
We have a Guest Services team who walk our districts and are on hand to help guests with any queries and to offer advice and support to make their experience at Clarks Village even more relaxing and enjoyable.
Our Guest Services team is trained in Dementia Awareness and has received Disability & Diversity training.
Our Guest Services team can be contacted on 07392 154 915
We know that not every disability is obvious and our Guest Services can provide guests with a free Hidden Disability Lanyard to use during their visit to Clarks Village.
Our stores will recognise the lanyard and offer appropriate support and assistance.
We have quiet space available at our Management Suite (above M&S Outlet) which can be reserved via our Guest Services team. This space is ideal for those guests who require a quiet environment and space to relax during their visit. To book out the room, please contact our Guest Services team on 07392 154 915.
Clarks Village Quiet Hour is every Wednesday, from 10am – 11am. The Centre is committed to offering a quieter experience. Many of our brands will dim their lights where possible, turn off their music and tannoy announcements will be kept to a minimum to help guests enjoy a more peaceful shopping trip. If you have any suggestions for quiet hour or would like any further information on participating brands, please contact us at: hello@clarksvillage.co.uk
Clarks Village offers a warm welcome to all our guests and it’s important to us that everyone can enjoy the shopping, dining and leisure available. For some children and adults, who have hidden disabilities, this can be more challenging. That’s why we’ve introduced three sensory backpacks which are available to hire free of charge from our Guest Services Office.
These sensory backpacks are particularly aimed at our autistic guests and are packed full of items to assist children and adults, including:
We will be asking users of the sensory backpacks to return them after use to our Guest Services office.
If you'd like to find out more details in advance of your visit, or for further terms of use, please contact our Guest Services team on 07392 154915 or by emailing Hello@Clarksvillage.co.uk.
We provide a FREE shopmobility service with electric scooters and wheelchairs. Please ensure you request this service at least 24 hours in advance of your visit, using our online form HERE.
In addition to the support and facilities that are listed above and available every day at Clarks Village, we are proud to support many initiatives that make shopping easier for all of our guests.
During Autism Week — which we organise twice a year, in conjunction with autism charities — we offer additional support.
This includes extended quiet hours during the week to make the environment and atmosphere at Clarks Village more welcoming for guests with autism, e.g. turn off music, dim the lighting where appropriate and reduce background noise (tannoy announcements, fire alarm testing, noisy construction work, etc).
All our car parks have specially marked bays for disabled drivers. With the exception of marked coach and minibus bays, blue badge holders can park for free in any space, as long as they display their blue badge in the windscreen of their car.
Clarks Village has wide pathways and all the stores are on ground level, so that every guest can enjoy the environment and gain access to the stores and gardens.