With thanks to Emma James FIPM MSc for chairing another great CityCo POPS Forum on modern approaches to accessibility. POPS being ‘privately managed public spaces’.
It was an eye-opening session from Cherylee Houston MBE and Natalie Amber of City Access Solutions on “facing the fear” and building confidence around accessibility in public spaces.
It sparked the place management teams into action, thinking about how places and events are managed and improvements that can be made.
Key takeaways:
· 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. Staff behaviour and confidence can make or break access; investing in awareness across teams will help you identify better the needs of your staff, which in turn will help you address the needs of your customers. Making accessibility central to your culture has to be the starting point.
· 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄. Quick, low-cost wins -quiet nooks, clearer communications, simple seating, and staff briefings -we often fear having to make expensive facilities, but even small measures can make a huge difference to the customer experience.
· 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆. Go beyond compliance and involve lived experience from the outset; retrofitting later costs more and delivers less.
· 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿. With 24% of the UK population disabled (and many needs invisible), accessible places earn trust and repeat visits – local venues are already seeing it.
𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥: “Our mission is to support businesses and communities in making Manchester a leader in accessibility. Access should be on everyone’s agenda. When universally embedded, accessibility isn’t just the right thing to do it’s an exciting, creative driver for growth.”
Huge thanks to Cherylee and Natalie for attending.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗢𝗣𝗦 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘂𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆𝗖𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀.
MEMBERS: To enquire about the group; email operations@cityco.com
