Building Assessments

Access Assessments of buildings in Henfield

Click on each link to view the corresponding assessment. More are to follow.

The Snowball Community App Comes to Henfield

Have you heard of Snowball?  This ‘Trip Advisor for Disabled People’ is a handy new phone App that lets you locate and review cafés, restaurants, shops, halls, leisure facilities and attractions at home and when travelling.  And now some of the businesses in Henfield are on the App.

Users of this free App can check on the Snowball App if spaces meet their physical, sensory or neurodivergent needs - for example, door width, if there are steps, toilet accessibility etc. They can then rate and review venues and share if they would return.  

Snowball is the brainchild of founder Simon Sansome who became wheelchair-bound after a rugby injury and suddenly discovered how difficult it was to visit some of his favourite places. He took the company to ‘Dragons Den’ in October 2025 and won the backing of all five Dragons.

Thanks to Access Henfield’s Ruth Robotham becoming a Snowball Approved Assessor, and working together with Horsham District Council (HDC) and Snowball, the App now covers several popular venues in our village.   HDC has paid for some cafes and other businesses in rural areas to be included, as well as Council properties.   

The following are Henfield premises can be found on the Snowball App: Abilitea, Relish, Henfield Haven, The Post House Café, Christina’s Afternoon Tea Shop, The White Hart, Swains Farm Shop and Garden Centre, Garden Sage Nursery, The Fox Pub, Henfield Leisure Centre, Henfield Youth Club and Cornerweighs, with more being added all the time.   Do look for the Snowball sticker in their windows.  

It is hoped that Snowball will help disabled residents and visitors to make the most of our great local providers and that it will bring more business to Henfield.  Do download the App.

Ruth has also carried out over 60 detailed Access Assessments of local businesses in the last 18 months, raising awareness and helping them to improve. The assessments with photos can be found on the Access Henfield website  www.accesshenfield.com.  Do take a look to find out more about our local businesses.

Despite all these very positive steps businesses still miss out on millions in revenue because physically disabled and neurodivergent customers don’t know if they can access premises or services.  Snowball is a great opportunity to overcome this barrier and connect directly with users. Any business can join the App for £49, or £250 for a full assessment with photographs and more detail.  Ruth can help with the process and it may be free; contact her at ruthrobotham0@gmail.com.

If you have a disability or are a carer, or if you have guests visiting from time to time with accessibility needs, please do download the free App.  It is fairly new but growing all the time and well worth using.   And please consider visiting our local businesses and giving them a good review on Snowball.  Do bear in mind though that some older buildings have preservation orders and are difficult to adapt.   Access Henfield is eager to hear suggestions to make things easier for getting around the village.