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Attitude is Everything partner with Venues Day 2015

posabilitymagazine — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 13:47:17 +0000

Attitude is Everything, the charity that campaigns for improved access to live music for millions of Deaf and disabled fans, has been announced as the latest partner for Venues Day 2015.

Taking place at the Ministry of Sound on Tuesday 20th October, the one-day event is focused on the needs of small and medium scale music venues from across the UK who, alongside representatives from government and the cultural & music industries, will explore how to support the future of the UK’s vital grassroots music circuit.

Having joined the debate at last year’s inaugural event, Attitude is Everything have made great progress in signing a number of small venues to their Charter of Best Practice – with the New Cross Inn and Putney’s Half Moon joining the likes of The Boileroom in Guildford and Manchester’s Band on the Wall in making a public commitment to continually improve their access facilities.

At Venues Day, Attitude is Everything’s Senior Project Manager, Gideon Feldman, will be joining the panel: The Big Issues: Business Up – Be Inspired to explain the benefits of improved access to smaller venues, while Attitude is Everything staff will also be on hand to provide delegates with further information.

In total, more than 100 festivals and venues have now signed up to the Charter, with their 2014 sales of disabled tickets increasing more than 70% year-on-year.

However, as highlighted by this year’s Understanding Small Music Venues report by the Music Venue Trust, there is still significant scope for improvement – with more than a third of the small venues surveyed stating that they had no disabled access.

Suzanne Bull MBE, chief executive Attitude is Everything, said: “Working with smaller venues has become a real priority for Attitude is Everything. These places are the lifeblood of our music communities and it is essential that they can be as inclusive as possible.

“There are a number of cost-effective and easy-to-implement changes that all live music promoters can make – and, as proven by ticket sales at our Charter venues and festivals, attracting greater numbers of disabled fans and disabled artists is not only good for their business, but for British music overall.”

Beverley Whitrick, strategic director Music Venue Trust, said: “Venues Day 2015 is all about the practical steps that venues can take to strengthen their business and develop their audiences; we’re moving on from talking about issues to taking action. Inviting Attitude is Everything to be a partner in the Business Up: Be Inspired strand of the day was an obvious choice and we hope that venue delegates will grab the opportunity to talk to AiE reps throughout the day about how they can encourage wider audiences to their venues.”

Katie Oliver, Events and Programme Manager at the New Cross Inn, said: “With a limited budget and resources, its not always easy to make changes in a small venue but we were surprised at how easy and hassle free it was to take the important steps towards making our venue more accessible. Attitude is Everything gave us a lot of support and helped us work around the limitations we faced. It took us two meetings, a month or so of sign-offs and about £60 to complete our Bronze Award and the response from staff and customers has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Carrie Davies, Venue Manager at The Half Moon, added: “We’re very keen to ensure everyone can enjoy live music here at The Half Moon and Attitude is Everything have proved that with a few changes we really can make the experience more enjoyable for all. Gideon has been so helpful and the changes we have made have been so easy. We look forward to working closely with the team in the future.”

FURTHER INFORMATION: Adam Webb – adjwebb@btinternet.com / 07947 062360

Disabled Access Day 2016 – save the date!

posabilitymagazine — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 11:42:30 +0000

Disabled Access Day, the annual national initiative created to raise awareness of the importance of disabled access, is back for its second year on 12^th March 2016.

The event aims to encourage disabled people, their friends and families to visit somewhere new and over 50 venues across the UK, including Westminster Abbey, Tate Modern and The Scottish Parliament, have already signed up with almost six months still to go until the day.

Today, Disabled Access Day 2016 will be launched at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh with Maureen Watt MSP, Minister for Public Health, in attendance. This will mark the beginning of the lead up to the second annual event, building on the fantastic result of 2015 which saw over 200 companies and venues taking part, including VisitScotland, BT, Caffè Nero, Caffé Concerto and Barclays and attracted over 1,000 disabled people and their families, friends and carers.

An overwhelming 94% of disabled people would revisit a venue that has good accessibility, according to a survey carried out by Euan’s Guide the main sponsors of Disabled Access Day. With the UK’s 12 million disabled people estimated to have a combined spending power of over £200 billion, venues with poor disabled access or information are potentially missing out on gaining a significant amount of revenue.

Venues can take part in the 2016 event by hosting an event or simply opening their doors to show that they welcome disabled visitors and their friends and families. Whether it is a cinema, hotel or visitor attraction, there are plenty of ways for businesses to get involved. For further information on how to get involved, please visit: http://www.disabledaccessday.com/get-involved/

Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Business Energy and Tourism, said: “The Scottish Government remains fully committed to ensuring that everyone should have a chance to enjoy all that Scotland has to offer. That is why I am delighted to be here today to launch the Disabled Access Day – an initiative that continues to position Scotland as a country with world-class tourism facilities, offering more choice as well as excellent customer service.

“Last week I announced that the Scottish Government is providing VisitScotland with a further £38,000 to boost the engagement of disabled and older people in the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design. These funds will support a series of new and enhanced partner projects, each of which will contribute to the wider Accessible Tourism Drive, contributing to the Innovation and Architecture themes of the 2016 year and creating a legacy whose benefits will be felt well into the future as the accessible tourism project rolls-out.”

Simon Milne MBE, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, said: “As the number of visitors to our Gardens continues to grow, we are committed to offering the very best welcome to everyone, no matter what their specific needs. Disabled Access Day is a great opportunity for us to invite even more people to visit us and it’s an honour for us to be hosting the flagship event in Scotland.”

Chris McCoy, Head of VisitScotland’s Accessible Tourism Programme, said: “We are delighted to lend our support to next year’s Disabled Access Day as part of our ongoing Accessible Tourism Programme. I would encourage businesses to sign up to take part as we look to make this country a fully accessible destination. Earlier this year, we worked in partnership with the Royal Yacht Britannia and a number of assistance dog charities to demonstrate the invaluable support these amazing animals provide, and we are looking forward to supporting an equally successful event at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh next March.”

A spokesperson for Caffè Nero, said: “Following the success of Disabled Access Day earlier this year, Caffè Nero is delighted to once again be a part of the national initiative created to raise awareness of the importance of disabled access. We welcomed the feedback received last year which highlighted our stores that have great accessibility, along with the stores where change was required to improve. We took on board all of the response we received last year and we now look forward to seeing lots of new visitors in conjunction with Disabled Access Day in March 2016!”

Euan MacDonald, co-founder of the disabled access reviews website, EuansGuide.com, the main sponsor of Disabled Access Day said, “The success of last year’s event has given us a firm foundation to build on. Not only are we raising awareness of disabled access, but also showcasing the venues with good accessibility and highlighting the commercial value held by the UK’s 12 million disabled people and their family, friends and carers.”

For more information on Disabled Action Day, please visit: www.disabledaccessday.com

Motability’s One Big Day event in Warwickshire pulls in the crowds

posabilitymagazine — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 15:27:37 +0000

More than 2,500 disabled motorists and their friends and families flocked to Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire for Motability’s One Big Day event, discovering all they need to know about the Motability Scheme. The free family day out on Saturday 12 September showcased a variety of vehicles available to lease through the Motability Scheme and offered visitors the chance to test drive a number of cars.

Visitors to the One Big Day event enjoyed exploring the Motability Scheme’s diverse vehicle display which included more than 50 cars from 18 different manufacturers, over 30 models of scooters and powered wheelchairs, a wide range of vehicle adaptations and more than 15 Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles. A team of friendly Motability Scheme advisors, Scheme partners – Kwik Fit, RAC and RSA Motability – as well as The Forum of Mobility Centres and Disabled Motoring UK were also at the event to answer questions and offer advice to visitors.

Almost 300 visitors experienced a test drive with a professional driving instructor, in a range of adapted and non-adapted cars, providing visitors with the chance to get a feel of which vehicles might best suit their individual needs. Visitors had the option to test drive the cars themselves, or be taken as a passenger. The adapted test drive cars were fitted with a wide range of different driving adaptations including hand controls, steering wheel balls, electronic brakes and left foot accelerators.

Younger visitors made the most of the free children’s entertainment and enjoyed getting their faces painted, balloon modelling, and meeting Billy the Bear, the Motability Scheme mascot.

Luke Snowden, One Big Day organiser at Motability Operations, said:

“It was great to see so many people come along to the One Big Day event at Stoneleigh Park to learn more about the Motability Scheme. We are really pleased that the visitors were able to explore all of their mobility options in one place whilst also enjoying a family day out. Stoneleigh Park was our last event of the summer and we are already planning for next year’s programme of events which we will be announcing soon.”

Find out more about the One Big Day programme of events online atwww.motability.co.uk/onebigday and on the ‘Motability Events’ Facebook page, to keep up to date with the latest One Big Day announcements and view pictures and videos from previous events.

For more information on leasing a car, scooter or powered wheelchair through the Motability Scheme, visit motability.co.uk or call 0800 953 7000