"The magical day we had was priceless and all thanks to the fantastic charity, volunteers & work you all do. All our love and heartfelt thanks." - Denise, Whitley Bay

Location

Situated on the lower promenade on East Parade, to the south of Spanish City, you will find our green container near the bottom of the ramp.

During high season our volunteers often open up to allow for ad hoc visits, show people our equipment or just to have a chat!

If you know you will want to borrow a chair then it is always best to book in advance or ring on the day to check our opening hours as this will vary based on volunteer availability.

Nearest town

Whitley Bay

Post code

NE26 1AP

Parking

The Links Road car park at Spanish City is a minute from our container on the lower promenade. This is pay parking (no cash option) but free to blue badge holders. There are eight designated disabled parking spaces. The RingGo location code for the car park is 5870.

 

Access to the beach

There is ramp access to the beach to the right of our container. On all ramps it is essential that someone is holding onto the chair while on the ramp to avoid risk of tipping. The soft sand at the bottom of the ramp is the most difficult to cross, once past this point the sand becomes much easier to wheel on. Please be aware that at high tide the beach may not be accessible. During winter months the sand can sometimes wash away from the bottom of the ramp causing a gap, in these, infrequent, circumstances it is not safe to access the beach.

Equipment

At Whitley Bay, we usually have

  • Numerous Hippocampes in small, medium and large
  • We are hoping to add the powered X8 in the near future but this is not yet available.

 

Please be aware the equipment available may change as we sometimes move equipment between sites.

Facilities

Toilet facilities are available at Watts slope (down from Spanish City). There is a disabled toilet. The nearest Changing Place can be found at Whitley park and Waves Leisure Centre Opens in a new window.

Dogs

During mid & high season dogs are only allowed on a small stretch of the north end of the beach. For detailed information you can check North Tyneside Council Website Opens in a new window.

About the area

The beautiful beach at Whitley Bay is two miles long. To the North it leads to St Mary’s Lighthouse and the South towards Brown’s Bay and Cullercoats.

The area to the North end is more rocky and may not be suitable for some equipment.

When the tide is high there can be very little sand to make use of, so it’s always advisable to check the tides before you come. You can do this on The Beach Guide website Opens in a new window.

Upcoming events

Wheelchair line up 2022

After the success of our first event in 2019, we are thrilled to say we will be holding our second North East Wheelchair Line up…

Wheelchair line up 2022

Coming soon on August 29th (Bank Holiday Monday). Further details coming soon!

Latest news

Beach wheelchairs arrive at Spittal

We are thrilled to confirm that we are now ‘live’ at Spittal. This sees us move to our furthest point north and will definitely be…

Finalists!!

We are absolutely honoured to be selected as a finalist in the ‘Uniquely North East’ category of the North East Charity Awards. This category recognises…

Temporary closure at Whitley Bay

We are very sorry to say we have had to temporarily suspend our loan service at Whitley Bay. Unfortunately there are number of issues, but…

News from Newton!

Have you been to Newton by the Sea recently? If you have you may have noticed some accessibility improvements! While we want everyone to enjoy…

Annual General Meeting

Our annual general meeting is taking place on Tuesday 25th April at 7.30pm and will be held in the Sandpiper pub, Farringdon Road, North Shields.…

Cresswell to welcome a hippocampe

Cresswell will become the latest beach in Northumberland to have a beach wheelchair! This beautiful hippocampe was put together yesterday and will be delivered to…

Could you be a volunteer?

Everything that happens here at BANE happens because of a volunteer. We are currently looking for additional volunteers for Whitley Bay and a pool of…

Wheelchair line up 2022

After the success of our first event in 2019, we are thrilled to say we will be holding our second North East Wheelchair Line up…

Newton by the Sea…coming 17th July!

Finally we are thrilled to announce that loan of equipment at Newton-by-the-Sea will be live on 17th July! We will have a beach walker and…

First hippocampe available in Beadnell

We are excited to announce that the first chair to be based at Beadnell beach will be available to use from Good Friday. Massive thanks…

FAQs

Could you be a volunteer?

Everything that happens here at BANE happens because of a volunteer. We are currently looking for additional volunteers for Whitley Bay and a pool of…

Can I get a new location added?

We are often asked if we can set up at a new beach. There are lots of factors to take into account when we look…

Who can use one of the Beach Wheelchairs?

Anyone who, for whatever reason, has difficulty walking on the beach. This could be a permanent or temporary disability. The beach wheelchairs need someone to…