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Barrier-Free Work

29 March 2024
13:13 - 13:13
Access to Work: A Guide for the Arts and Cultural Sector is a new digital resource aimed at demystifying the process of applying to Access to Work. Disability Arts Online’s CEO Trish Wheatley explains why it was needed and how it can help you.
24 September 2019

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An outdoor production of This Is Not For You by Graeae Theatre Company, featuring disabled actors surrounded by the audience

Barrier-Free Work

In theory, the arts, museums and libraries are ideal environments for disabled people to work, with part-time roles, project-based working, freelance positions, home working and working patterns that don’t fit the ‘norm’. The optimist in me hopes there is also empathy and understanding around the need to create flexible, barrier-free workplaces so that people can flourish. So, why does the percentage of disabled people working in the sector remain so low, with 20% of working-age adults identifying as disabled but only 5% employed in National Portfolio Organisations and 4% in Major Partner Museums (according to Arts Council England’s 2017-18 Diversity Report)? And what can we do about it?

At Disability Arts Online we respond to the needs of disabled audiences, artists, and others working in the sector. We celebrate success, support development through critique, consultancy and partnerships and highlight issues that need addressing. The fact is, there are still many barriers to working in arts and heritage roles, from limiting traditional job specifications and recruitment processes to poor physical access in listed buildings, inaccessible public transport and lack of disability awareness across organisations. We must highlight these issues and develop solutions if we want to support more disabled people to work in our creative industries.

Access to Work: an underused resource

Access to Work helps to create accessible work environments by providing grants on an individual basis to remove barriers that disabled people face in undertaking paid employment – including travel, equipment and support workers. Sounds amazing right? Well, it truly can be life-changing, if you get through the application process! I got first-hand experience supporting artist Sue Austin in applying to Access to Work and couldn’t believe how complicated and intimidating the process could be for a first-time applicant. 

Much like arts or heritage funding, Access to Work, which is run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has its own language and terminology that must be understood before applying to avoid the risk of ineligibility. Sue and I both became committed to doing what we could to improve the experience for others. Our research showed that for many what should be a simple process is often fraught with complications, because of lack of information, inconsistencies, miscommunication or misunderstandings. It became apparent that some specific guidance for arts and cultural workers was desperately needed, in order to make better use of this amazing resource and help increase the number of disabled people employed in our sector.

Candoco Dance Company in the studio
Candoco Dance Company in the studio with Arlene Phillips © Camilla Greenwell. Thanks to Studio Wayne McGregor Freespace Programme.

The Guide

The Arts Council agreed with us and awarded Disability Arts Online funding to create A Guide to Access to Work for the Arts and Cultural Sector.  This is now available in a variety of different formats, including text, pdf download, easy read and audio-only. We also produced video versions of the guide, with integrated BSL and optional captions, brought to life by two fabulous presenters: theatre-maker Jess Thom (aka Touretteshero) and access consultant Deepa Shastri.

We’ve designed the guide in three sections for different groups: employers, employees and self-employed people. It’s full of useful hints and tips from people who already get Access to Work and it’s been fact-checked by DWP to ensure accuracy. Alongside the guide, there is a growing number of additional resources such as FAQs on how Access to Work can complement Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants and case studies from individuals and organisations including Graeae Theatre Company. We’re really hoping this resource will make a significant difference to people looking to apply and arm employers with the knowledge needed to support them.

We know that a guide alone isn’t enough and that we haven’t been able to cover every nuance of working across all artforms and job roles. We’re happy to offer organisations consultation on accessible recruitment, and run free one-to-one development sessions for disabled artists and cultural workers where we can talk through the basics of applying to Access to Work.

Creating the guide also opened-up the opportunity to liaise directly with the Access to Work national policy team at DWP to help inform their development of support for self-employed people in the creative industries. With this line of communication now open, we will act as a bridge to the sector in the future and work to improve the support available for disabled people working across arts and culture.  

READ THE GUIDE

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