Access Manifesto – how it works

Change does not happen unless we bravely embrace it.

AND

Change does not happen overnight.

We aim to be brave, and realistic in equal measure.

We ask that all organisers involved with This is Croydon, The Mayor of London’s London Borough of Culture 2023, to engage with accessibility from wherever their starting point and scale is.

We believe that using this framework, every contributor to This is Croydon can take impactful steps in improving and driving access for their events, buildings and projects.

We are asking you to read this manifesto and to be realistic about where your starting point is. Then, we are asking you to make ambitious commitments to improve from this point.

We have created 3 ‘tiers’ of accessibility. It is up to you to decide which tier is realistic and ambitious for your organisation.

The Access Advisory Group will support organisations to achieve their ambitions through voluntary and funded initiatives including:

• A digital hub of shared resources from disabled-led organisations filled with best practice, guidelines, templates, checklists and other resources that is freely available to all event organisers for This is Croydon to upskill and inform their team/ events.
• A Croydon Access Library – A centralised ‘library’ of loanable/ shareable, physical/ digital resources for events organisers to gain access to accessibility equipment when it is not in use, including: break-out room kits, ear defenders, tech equipment, captioning software, sensory aids, and other items, so that we can limit the expense of individual organisations purchasing this equipment.
• Training and workshops – We will host an ‘Access Weekender’ training event, offering free access training to artists and organisations in Croydon at the start of This is Croydon.

We will also identify a database of local experienced trainers who can deliver paid/ subsidised access training tailored to your team, including:

• Disability Awareness Training
  • Neurodiversity Awareness Training
  • Dementia Friendly Venue Training
  • Trauma-informed practice
  • Deaf Awareness Training
  • Beginner BSL courses
  • Audio Description, VI Guiding and Touch Tour workshops
  • Makaton training/ creating and using Visual Aids (Easy Read documents)
• A centralised database of local Croydon (and London-based) access workers including:
  • BSL interpreters
  • Audio describers
  • BSL trained Front of House staff/ volunteers
  • Access workers to support disabled/ neurodiverse artists/ participants
  • Scribes/ Captioners
  • Access and Disability Consultants