At Barnsley Museums, we believe that everyone deserves equal access to heritage and the arts, and that our spaces should be there for everyone to enjoy. Whilst recognising we have a way to go, we are committed to making positive change and improving accessibility. Here’s Ally Beckett (Formal Learning and Access Officer) and Michael Hardy, (Digital Engagement Curator) to tell you a bit more about what we’ve been up to in the last 12 months. 

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Family Friendly Award 

We begin this update with the news that we were winners of the Kids In Museums Best Accessible Museum at the Family Friendly Museum Awards 2024. The national award recognises one museum, gallery, historic home, or heritage site in the UK that goes above and beyond in providing an amazing visitor experience for families. Competing against two other museums in the Best Accessible Museum category, the win was sealed as family judges enjoyed the gallery’s accessible offer. They were impressed by the variety of hands-on interaction, including sensory backpacks and toys, as well as the Makaton signage and accessible facilities.

We won the same award two years ago for Experience Barnsley, with Cannon Hall being shortlisted last year.

judges said: 

‘The shortlisting panel were impressed to see Barnsley Museums continuing to offer excellent access provision. Your commitment in this area is exemplary. We felt staff training and consultation were real strengths. The family nominations showed a real appreciation for what you are doing. This was also one of the few applications where we saw that online and take-home activities had been continued post-Covid and we know there were really appreciated by many families.’ 

Changing Places Facility 

A new Changing Places facility has opened at Elsecar Heritage Centre this summer. The facility features a height-adjustable changing bench, a ceiling track hoist, a shower, a washbasin, and a toilet with grab rails. The facility is accessible via a radar key. If you do not have one then they can be collected from the visitor centre or from security. 

New Interpretation

We’ve continued to build on our Makaton and Audio described offer. Our new ‘Chamber of Treasures’ area at Experience Barnsley Museum, featuring diverse objects telling Barnsley’s stories, has several audio described objects and an easy read object guide.

We have also recently had our final Eldon Street HAZ reconstruction, of Eldon Street in the 1930s, audio described as well. We showed this and other audio described films at a special showing at Experience Barnsley on Saturday 3^rd August. Thank you to VocalEyes for working with us again to create these descriptions. 

For the first time at The Cooper Gallery we have made large print labels from an exhibition available during a visit and also accessible online. The Sam Sherborne exhibition features a Q&A blog which also has an audio version.

Bloomberg Connects App

In springtime we launched a new way for visitors to explore The Cooper Gallery, either during a visit or from home

Supported by our friends at ArtUK we joined a small cohort of UK galleries to create a digital guide for the permanent collections at The Cooper Gallery. Visitors can now take an audio tour of our main galleries, the free app also features additional audio descriptions and Makaton videos. We will be using this app more in 2025 as we add content from our temporary exhibitions.

Sensory Touch Tour at Elsecar

Working in consultation with Barnsley Blind and Partially Sighted Association, we have been developing a new sensory/touch tour at Elsecar Heritage Centre. The group assessed our current tour material and gave recommendations, before piloting our new offer. 

Our existing tour has been updated to be more tactile, and the group gave further comments on if these changes worked alongside other suggestions. We also collaborated with Leeds University who have created tactile resources through making raised line drawing maps of the site based on the geophysics. These show historic parts of site that are no longer physically in place to allow participants to experience archaeological heritage.  

Our next steps will be finalising this tour, incorporating all suggestions and then promoting this as part of our tour offer for site legacy.  

Newsletter

We’ve launched a new quarterly newsletter on all things accessibility at Barnsley Museums. We’ll use it to keep people up to date on upcoming accessible programmes and events. You can sign up here. 

Merry Christmas From Barnsley Museums

Throughout 2024 we’ve been sharing regular #MakaktonMonday videos

Recorded in 2023, here’s a version of ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas which was recorded in the ballroom at Cannon Hall Museum

Thank you for everyone who has visited any of our five venues or followed us online in 2024, we can’t to see you all again in 2025. We’ll leave you with one last festive treat. The 12 Days of Christmas in Makaton, using imagery from Brian Wildsmith‘s books. We’ve been celebrating his work in exhibitions at The Cooper Gallery and Experience Barnsley, both of which come to an end on 4 January 2025

Have you read our recent blogs?