The Arts Council of Wales (ACW), Arts Council England (ACE), Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI), the British Film Institute (BFI) and Creative Scotland (CS) have come together to develop plans for a UK wide access scheme for Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent audiences attending arts and cultural events. This includes everything from Theatre shows, to Gallery exhibitions and Film showings.
We don’t know exactly what the scheme will look like yet as we are still in the exploratory phase, but the scheme will build on various research work being undertaken, and the learning gained from existing successful initiatives such as the Hynt card scheme in Wales.
We’re looking for an Access Champion to help drive this exciting initiative forward. If you have a passion for access and inclusion, experience of the arts and culture sector, and lived experience of the barriers faced by disabled audiences and visitors to ticketed events, you may be the person we’re looking for.
The most important qualification for this role is that you’re able to draw on your own lived experience to be an advocate and critical friend, and have the ability to engage with others at all levels
You’ll be an exceptional individual - passionate about equality and human rights, and enthusiastic about our goal to make the Arts fairer, more diverse and more representative of our communities.
To promote the development of the scheme as widely as possible, it is particularly important for you to have strong advocacy skills, be familiar with high level stakeholder engagement, and have extensive and meaningful contact with appropriate networks.
You’ll have an understanding of the arts and cultural sector in the UK, and be able to demonstrate knowledge of the different contexts in which each of the partner nations operate. You will be articulate and persuasive, and comfortable in devising new and imaginative ways of finding practical solutions.
This is initially a one-year contract, with the possibility of extending it further.
The Access Champion can be based anywhere in the UK and the role will be managed by the Arts Council of Wales on behalf of the partnership. We anticipate this work being undertaken as a contract for services on a freelance basis, but we will be flexible in finding the right approach that works for you.
Expressions of Interest close at 5pm, Friday 21 October 2022.