By Karen Carruth

The Rings, Scotland’s largest group self catering holiday accommodation that caters for guests with disabilities, opened its doors in the spring of this year. Located at Chance Inn, just outside Cupar, The Rings was specially designed by Fife farmers, Moira and David Henderson, to give groups of up to 16 people affected by disabilities the facilities they need for a comfortable and enjoyable trip away together. 
The cottage or cottages depending on how you look at them, have been designed to be one large cottage or subdivide into self contained smaller apartments.
The bespoke building gives families and groups such as schools, youth clubs and support groups, the opportunity to plan residential breaks without having to make alternative arrangements to accommodate those with disabilities. 
When the husband and wife team saw, through personal experience, a lack of inclusive accommodation for people with disabilities in the Scottish tourism sector, they decided to diversify their business and construct The Rings on a portion of their 90-acre farm. 
The accommodation boasts a range of accessible design features, including wheelchair turning circles, wide corridors and doors, tracking hoists that take guests from the bedroom to the bathroom, two of the four kitchens are fully accessible for a wheelchair user to cook independently. a height adjustable profile bed, safe-step flooring, and pull down clothes rails. 
Moira Henderson, a whirlwind of a women who will not take no for an answer, has fought long and hard to have this house built, and the ups and downs have been so incredible that in the process of fighting her way through planning committees, grant applications, architects plans, budget meetings and still trying to maintain her sanity, she has written a book detailing the process, it’s called ‘The Journey to The Rings, You couldn’t make it up’ and you really couldn’t.
Moira grew up with disability in her family and could see that families caring for a disabled loved one needed the same scope for quality breaks, Moira says: “We are inclusive, not exclusive. You don’t need to break your leg to come to the Rings.” She welcomes all people, the accommodation is stunning and makes for a fantastic break for able bodied families too. 
In the early stages of the project, Moira was losing heart as she couldn’t afford to have all the facilities she would have ideally liked in the cottage, and it looked like the build just wouldn’t happen. She says: “It was a desperate situation I couldn’t get a quote that was feasible. I had been given the email address of a local builder and I emailed him one night and within 30 minutes he was on the phone. If I hadn’t found Dougie Bissett of New Gilston, the cottage wouldn’t be here.
“Just a couple of weeks into the build, Dougie’s wife, Dorothy took seriously ill, but Dougie, with Dorothy’s permission was still at the cottage working on it. Sadly, Dorothy passed away and with her bravery in mind, I decided that we would start to offer ‘Dorothy’s break’ which will be a heavily subsided or gifted holiday for a family most in need.” This is what is on Moira’s mind at the moment, the logistics of working out how she organises this wonderful offer. 
“If I’m honest”, says Moira, “I would love to be able to give everyone a free break, because as a former nurse, I know exactly how much these families need to have relaxing fun times together, but I can’t.”
The building comprises of eight bedrooms with en-suite wet rooms, the three wet rooms  with the tracking also have baths. Two of the bedrooms double as self-contained studio apartments and two living areas with kitchens can be separated by a retractable dividing wall – allowing multiple groups to stay simultaneously or as one large group. 
The Rings is also being used as a case study for accessible tourism by Visit Scotland and the Scottish Government in Europe, and was one of the impetus for the foundation of Accessible Tourism Fife. 
Moira continues: “It’s been a long road, but we’re immensely proud of what we’ve achieved at The Rings. At its best, architecture is about creating spaces that complement the needs of the resident. Recently awarded a ‘Commendation’ in this year’s  Saltire Architectural awards, they have been nominated for other awards, the results yet unknown.
Going by the growing occupancy rates, Moira has found a market that was crying out for this type of accommodation. She tells me about a visitor who had not been able to have a bath for four years, only showers and was delighted to be able to use the bath which has a seat to lift them in - it is the small things that can make a huge difference to people.
As she takes bookings, she realises that each family has different needs, and so she is still buying equipment for the cottage as it is required, all of this takes money, and Moira has decided that all the profits from her book will go into the charitable side of the business which will hopefully fund any more equipment that is needed for the cottages. 
Moira says: “Inclusion is at the heart of what we do, and it’s been very rewarding to see diverse groups enjoy time away together without having to worry about accommodation suitability.”  
Moira’s book is available from Amazon (£9.99), but if you buy direct from Moira more of the profits goes to charity. Contact details below.
www.therings.co.uk
Tel. 01334 828243
E-mail: ringfarm@hotmail.com
www.therings.co.uk
Tel. 01334 828243
E-mail: ringfarm@hotmail.com