Facilitator: Jacob Adams, Festival Project Manager

Facilitator: Jacob Adams, Festival Project Manager

The following groups of people may be
covered under the Equality Act:









Wheelchair users
People with mobility impairments
Vision impaired people
Hard of hearing people
Deaf people
People with learning disabilities
People with mental health conditions
Progressive conditions such as Cancer or HIV
People with hidden impairments
 Over 11 million people live with an
impairment in the UK today.
 True or False?
True
 17% of disabled people were born
with their impairments.
 True or False?
True
 Between 15 to 20% of disabled
people in the UK are wheelchair
users.
 True or False?
False
 There are an estimated 20,000
people aged 0-25 who are blind or
partially sighted in the UK.
 True or False?
False
 About two million people in the UK
use hearing aids.
 True or False?
True
 Disabled people make up 5% of the
total live music attendees in
England.
 True or False?
False
 Disabled adults attending classical
concerts grew by 280,000 to 1.1m
between 2008 and 2012.
 True or False?
False

We are meeting to discuss plans for a new festival, to
be spread over 3 local venues:



Park
Church
Theatre

What opportunities and potential issues does each
venue present in terms of access for audiences, staff
and performers?

What can you do to capitalise upon or address these
factors?
Expect sell-out concerts
Unamplified classical music
and artist conversations
 Existing pew seating
 Expect long queues as
seating will be first-come
first-serve
 Existing hearing loop with a
single mic used for sermons
 Main entrance – 5 steps
 Side entrance – 1 step
 No accessible toilet
 No car park


Small amplified stage
Crowds expected
Park has some toilet
facilities
 Stall traders + food vans
 Purpose-built bar
 Finale event with people
standing around stage
 No parking within park
 Some spoken word
performances on stage
 Some routes are stepped











Series of acoustic concerts and
spoken word shows
Normally offers range of
access facilities
Expect to sell out
Small capacity
Has own website
Has links with local disabled
people’s organisation
Plan to offer rare tours of the
theatre before shows
New accessible entrance
potentially blocked by
customers parking when busy.

Accessible information

Accessible booking system

Personal Assistant ticket at no
additional cost





 Viewing platforms and
Getting to the event
areas
Box office or wristband
 Bars and traders
exchange
 Backstage and stage
Accessible toilets
access
Level access and
physical access
Signage

Access to the performance

Emergency Evacuation Plans

Staff can describe access

Disability Awareness Training

Staffing and volunteers
A customer contacts your box office to let you know his circumstances
have changed.
 When he bought his tickets he used crutches to get about and had no
requirements, but in the last few weeks he has had a relapse and now he
uses a wheelchair.
 He is coming with six friends, and wants to be able to sit with them as
previously planned.
 The concert is sold out and the spaces for wheelchair users are fully
booked.


How do you respond to him on the phone?

What options are available to you?

What steps could you have taken to pre-empt this issue?
You are setting up a new festival and are reviewing your policies and
practices around access for disabled people.
 You wish to offer a free ticket for use by personal assistants whereby
the disabled person buys their ticket and is then able to request a
complimentary ticket.


What issues do you need to consider?

What needs to be made clear to your staff and to your disabled
customers?

How might you communicate effectively to both groups?

A performer who is hard of hearing arrives at your venue and
requests some help.
You are having some difficulty in communicating with her.

What do you do?

What could you have done in advance?


A customer is making involuntary noises during a performance, you
think other customers are finding this disturbing and the conductor
has looked at this person several times.

What do you do?

What could you have done in advance?


Lauren is visually impaired and applies to be a steward outside an
evening concert in a Church.
She is partially sighted and has some useful sight in daylight but her
sight decreases at night time or in low light conditions.

What provision might you put in place in the physical
environment where Lauren will be working?

What else might be useful to Lauren to be able to carry out the
role?

Paul has learning disabilities and applies to join your steward team
this year. He has no previous event experience.

What steps do you need to take to ensure that Paul understands
his role?

What might be necessary to enable Paul to carry out his role
effectively?
1.
2.
3.
Conduct an access survey of your venues
Add an access information page to your website
Contact local disability groups and organisations
Get in touch!
[email protected]
020 7383 7979