Bethany Handley
Writer, Poet & Disability Activist
Bethany Handley is an award winning writer, poet and disability activist from South Wales.
Bethany campaigns for Disabled people’s rights and for better access to nature for all, especially for Disabled people.
She raises awareness of the physical and attitudinal barriers the most marginalised in our society face when accessing the outdoors. Bethany believes that since we have created many of the barriers that can prevent people from accessing nature, we can also remove them.
Bethany is an Ambassador for Country Living’s Access for All campaign, for Wales Coast Path and for Ramblers Cymru. Bethany was named one of the ten most influential disabled people working in politics, law and media in the UK, and one of the 100 most influential disabled individuals in the UK in the Shaw Trust’s Disability Power 100.
Her writing and/ or activism has been featured by BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Wales, BBC One News, BBC Wales, Metro, and the Poetry Foundation amongst others, and published by magazines including POETRY, Poetry Wales, Buzz Magazine, The Welsh Agenda and Country Living. She has worked with organisations including Forestry England and Plantlife to promote access.
She can usually be found in/ near the sea or wheeling through a forest with her dog Monty.
#AccessForAll
Bethany campaigns for access for all in the outdoors and is an Ambassador for Country Living’s Access for All campaign.
I’m not advocating for all beauty spots to be tarmacked
Bethany’s poem, ‘I’m not advocating for all beauty spots to be tarmacked,’ was commissioned by Country Living for International Wheelchair Day 2024.
Bethany reads at the Southbank Centre as part of London Literature Festival
Bethany reads her award wining essay ‘The National Trust’s Bomb Disposal Squad’ at London Literature Festival as part of Creative Future’s Writers’ Award Showcase 2023.
Access to nature
Bethany spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live about the joy of accessing nature as a Disabled person and the need to diversify our nature narratives.
