Here at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust we’re always looking for ways to improve the visitor experience at our sites. Our dedicated Access Panel allows staff, volunteers and external consultants to meet regularly to discuss and review our initiatives to ensure that our sites are welcoming to visitors of all abilities.
In an ever growing ageing population, we aim to provide a warm and welcoming experience where staff and volunteers have the correct knowledge to assist visitors with any needs they have. Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) currently has 4,446 members and we are delighted to be one of the newest organisation to join this programme.
Why is there a DAA?
“To transform the lives of people with dementia and those that care for them through building commitment and actions to deliver the National Dementia Declaration.”
— DAA Mission Statement
As part of the DAA, organisations, charities and venues from
across England commit to three actions to help transform the lives of people
with dementia and their carers.
We have already implemented some great initiatives such as providing Dementia Friends sessions to our staff and volunteers to raise awareness of some of the particular needs that may be associated with the condition. With three trained Dementia Champions now in the team we’ll aim to develop a regular schedule of sessions to ensure they’re available to all our staff and volunteers.
We are also planning to become a member of the Safe Places scheme where we will be considered a safe site for any vulnerable person wanting to find support in a busy and touristic area. We recently opened Shakespeare's New Place as the first SBT property which is fully accessible not only to visitors with physical disabilities, but also to visitors with a range of other additional needs.
We have created Memory Boxes where visitors can engage with items from the past and fully immerse themselves in their environment – we used these during an event celebrating Disabled Access Day 2016 and they were a huge success.
Shakespeare's words and plays have affected so many people through so many generations, which is why we feel that it is important for us to use his life, times and works as inspiration for our sessions and resources. Many people have a favourite quotation or sonnet and we feel that by evoking these past memories of learning about Shakespeare, we can create wonderful reminiscence sessions to help visitors connect with the most famous playwright in the world.
As members of the DAA we will also have the opportunity to share best practices with other participating organisations through regular forums. This is a great way to share our successes and learn from those of others as we continue to develop within the scheme.
Find out more about our action plan on the SBT page of the DAA website.