News
Opening Doors Across
London
Publication launch at Sadler's Wells
Following the evaluation of our access to buildings programme by
Barry Knight and his team from CENTRIS, we launched our latest
publication based on its findings, Opening Doors Across London at a
seminar on 3 October 2007 held at Sadler’s Wells.
Whilst the evaluation found that overall the programme had
resulted in much improved access in many community buildings, it
also found examples of poor access and architectural advice; poor
quality building work; poor decisions about fixtures and fittings;
and problems with equipment suppliers.
We found that for many people, overseeing a building project is
probably something they only do once in their working lives (and it
was probably never in their job description in the first place!)
and it can all be at best daunting, at worst, nightmarish. Having
the builders in at work is like having the builders in at home,
only increase the stress levels by 1,000 times. Everyone
experiences a similar learning curve and many people encounter
similar issues. Whilst there are plenty of good access and design
guides out there, we felt there was a gap in the market for a
publication that captured some of that learning.
Chaired by Sir Bert Massie CBE, the seminar was an opportunity
to, not only launch our publication, but also promote some of the
other initiatives the Trust is involved in to help the third sector
in London with manage their buildings. There was a lively
discussion panel with Wai-Mei Chan from the Centre for Accessible
Environments whose post we fund; Jo Taylor from the Ethical
Property Foundation where we fund an adviser for community groups
in London; the environmentalist, Donnachadh McCarthy who is
undertaking eco audits on behalf the Trust; and Mark Parker Head of
Development at bassac, an umbrella body of community centres and
social centres in the UK, and a key partner of the ‘Every Action
Counts’ initiative.
The key messages of the afternoon included:
- if you’re thinking about making improvements to your building,
get the best help and advice you can – good sources of help are at
hand
- the Trust should help people to learn from each other by
putting those who have undertaken a building project in touch with
those who are about to embark on the processif you’re taking advice
on how to improve the accessibility of your building, why not use
this as an opportunity to look at your carbon footprint too?
- there may be tensions between good access and good
environmental housekeeping (automatic doors which make access
instant but which lose valuable heat, for example) but we need to
work together to resolve such issues
- yes, improving access costs money but lots of access
improvements don’t have to cost a fortune. Including a quiet area
where people with mental health problems can have some space or
making your written materials available in large print or plain
English cost more in thoughtfulness and planning than in money.
And, a disabled person is more likely to want to use a resource
where they feel at home and welcomed, even if the access is not
perfect, rather than visit a building with state of the art
facilities but where they feel unwelcome or patronised.
The full version of the publication, including a song you can
sing to the builders when you get them in, can be downloaded
by clicking on the following link:
Opening Doors Across London
A summary of the publication can be found in the second edition
of The Knowledge, Learning from London which can be
downloaded by clicking on the following link:
The Knowledge - Issue 2