Places to discover
The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust joined the Sunflower during the month of February. The Trust is an industrial heritage organisation which runs ten museums and manages multiple historic sites within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site in Shropshire, England, widely considered as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. The ten museums include: Blists Hill Victorian House, the Museum of the Gorge and the Iron Bridge & Tollhouse which is the first ever cast-iron bridge, built in 1779 across the River Severn.
Colleagues from all ten museums have now received our training and are ready to offer customers with invisible disabilities, that chose to wear the Sunflower, the extra support, understanding or time that they may need during their visit. Information regarding accessibility for each museum is included here.
Bodmin Keep, a museum in Cornwall, now supports the Sunflower. Accessibility is a priority at Bodmin Keep, despite residing on the first and second floor of an un-modernised building that is accessed via two flights of granite stairs and unfortunately, doesn’t yet have a lift. If you are unable to access the museum via the stairs, but wish to see or learn about a particular item or aspect of history, just get in touch with Bodmin Keep and they will do all they can to assist. To help you plan your day out there is an online IMMERSIVE 3-D TOUR of the museum.
For visitors with a visual impairment, with advance booking, Bodmin Keep are able to offer supported visits tailored to your needs including ’hands on’ sessions with museum objects.
For visitors with autism, they can offer special quiet times and spaces, and their annual pass means that you can have lots of short visits for the price of just one if that suits you better! They even offer sensory bags which have been created for people with autism and learning difficulties. These are available to borrow from the Welcome Desk.
A place to shine
The Hazlitt Youth Theatre group in Crawley is now Sunflower friendly. HYT started life in September 1997 as a weekly workshop for 11-18 year olds. Since then, it has expanded dramatically and now consists of nearly 200 members, aged 6-18 years.
Each week members attend a workshop dedicated to the learning of different aspects of the theatrical world including; acting, performing arts, improvisation, devising, text work, theatre styles, film, stage combat, mime and a whole lot more besides.
HYT aims to provide an exciting and broad look at the imaginative world of theatre and gives young people a chance to form new friendships, gain in self-confidence and most importantly have fun. So if the theatre is something you are interested in, HYT is the place for you.
A place to cheer
Ipswich Town Football Club is committed to ensuring that its disabled supporters and visitors have as much access as reasonably possible to all goods, services and facilities provided or offered to the public by the Club. And, in order to support their supporters with invisible disabilities, the club now recognises the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower. So next time you've got a ticket to the match make sure to take your Sunflower with you to receive the extra support, time or understanding that you may need.