Gosport Heritage Open Days case study
Creative Landscapes & Gosport Heritage Open Days
Improving access to heritage
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As part of its work to develop creative, low cost approaches to making heritage accessible, the Creative Landscapes Project has supported the development of Heritage Open Days in Gosport. The naval town has been involved with HODs since the beginning, piloting the project in 1991, so by 2009 the programme was well established and able to embrace ideas to improve the accessibility of events.
Project aims and achievements
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Our work with Gosport HODs has focussed on:
- Providing training and resources for organisers in simple things that they can do to improve the access of their event, such as providing arge print interpretation materials.
- Developing the role of Access & Inclusion Members for the Steering Committee to bring a disabled person’s perspective to the planning of the whole HODs programme.
- Funding the design and print of an accessible and widely distributed Heritage Open Days brochure.
- Providing funding for individual demonstration events such as heritage tours by accessible minibus and BSL tours.
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Outcomes and impact
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As a result of the project:
- Gosport HODs now has an active Inclusion Group that in 2011 supported eight HODs events with extra accessible features.
- Over 400 disabled visitors came to HODs events over the weekend of 8th-11th September 2011. to their events on the HODs weekend.
- Organisations such as the Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower and the Submarine Museum have built their links with local disabled people and improved their offer through handling events and BSL interpreted tours.
- Holy Trinity Church has successfully raised money for a permanent hearing loop.
Personal experience
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Participants on the Jolly Accessible ‘Army and Navy’ Heritage bus tour of Gosport, September 2011
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‘The project has really helped people to look at what the term access means and that it is perhaps a bit more than about whether a wheel chair can get through that doorway. But is actually about whether an event is accessible and understandable to people with a wide range of disabilities, including those that aren’t so obvious.’
Terry Rhodes, Coordinator, Access and Inclusion Group.
‘The bus is such a good idea. We couldn't have come to these heritage events without it.’
Participant on the Accessible Bus Tour
‘Creative Landscapes has had a tremendous impact. Due to the advice and expertise of the Inclusion Group, event organisers became more aware that providing inclusive access was not such an onerous and expensive exercise as they had imagined.’
Richard Sturgess, Gosport & Fareham Access Officer
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Contact
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For more information on Creative Landscapes contact the Project Manager: Esther Gill esther@ourhistories.co.uk
For information on Heritage Open Days: www.heritageopendays.org.uk.
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