Open Arts, an award-winning Northern Ireland charity powered by disabled creatives and facilitators, has announced the launch of Chatting for Change, a transformational new access and engagement training programme.
Aimed at cultural organisations, businesses and local authorities, Chatting for Change sessions are presented by the Open Arts Lived Experience Team, trained facilitators who have a range of disabilities.
Each session offers unique insight, disability expertise, and lively interaction between trainers and participants in a package which is tailored to individual business and organisation needs.
Research by the University of Bristol has revealed that the combined spending power of disabled households in the UK – the so-called ‘Purple Pound’ – is now £446 billion per year.
Explaining the background to and need for the Chatting for Change programme, Eileen Branagh, Chief Executive of Open Arts said: “For almost thirty-five years, we have supported disabled people and advised cultural organisations, businesses and local authorities on access, engagement and participation. We don’t just understand inclusion – we live it every day.
The disabled community is the only marginalised group that any of us can join at any time, so it is important that our society is as accessible as possible. While Northern Ireland is legally required to be accessible, practical experiences vary and many disabled individuals here encounter obstacles in their daily lives when trying to access information, jobs, products or services.
This means that not only are some disabled people losing out on experiences which are open to other members of society, but businesses and organisations are – whether consciously or unconsciously – excluding potential staff, customers and clients and losing out on knowledge, expertise and revenue.”
Margaret Mann, a member of the Open Arts Lived Experience Team who has been blind since birth, says that improving accessibility doesn’t have to be complicated: “Overcoming accessibility barriers to your business or organisation doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. It can be as simple as helping the owner of a B&B to describe the layout of a room to a blind or partially sighted guest, creating an access statement for the business, or offering a simple basket of sensory toys and items at events.
Feedback from our pilot sessions has shown that discussing inclusion with disabled voices in the room significantly increases participant engagement, deepens understanding and shifts attitudes towards equity and inclusion more effectively than traditional, compliance-led training.”
Chatting for Change brings inclusivity to life for business participants through role play, case studies, practical tips and tricks and by looking at language. The Lived Experience Team can also add value to sessions from existing training providers by co-hosting workshops on disability, neurodiversity and inclusive practice.
Reflecting on the Chatting for Change pilot session which her organisation took part in, Gillian Hughes, Head of Governance at NI Co-Ownership Housing Association, said: “We contacted Open Arts about Chatting for Change as we wanted to raise awareness in our team of the challenges faced by disabled people. The event more than met expectations and was a perfect way to challenge some of the misconceptions and stereotypes that might have existed.
As well as being a fun way to dispel some myths, there were some really powerful messages that we took away from this event and we will use these to further develop and improve our services to all members of the public. I can highly recommend this event as a way to raise awareness of disability and the need for inclusive services.”
If you would like to find out more or book a Chatting for Change access and engagement training session for your business or organisation, please call Open Arts on 028 90240765 or visit www.openartsni.org/chatting-for-change-business or www.openartsni.org/chatting-for-change-training
Open Arts is principally funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and receives Core Multi-Annual Funding from Belfast City Council’s Tourism Culture & Arts Unit.
