Accentuate

The Hampshire town of Gosport has a long tradition of participating in Heritage Open Days, stretching right back to 1992 when they were one of the first British towns to run a pilot scheme for the new European Heritage Days. In 2012 they are celebrating their 21st participation in the event.

Creative Landscapes has worked with Gosport Heritage Open Days to help them develop and grow, and to build the accessibility of their programme. They have:

• Set up an Access and Inclusion Group of local disabled people who have an interest or professional experience in heritage. This group is active in advising the Steering Committee on all areas of access and is now planning its own accessible Heritage Open Days events. Members from the Group sit on the Heritage Open Days Steering Committee.
• Worked on the design of the event brochure to maximise clarity of text and images, using 14pt text throughout, a simple layout and consistent access information.
• Provided training to event organisers on how to improve the accessibility of their heritage event.
• Hired a community minibus to provide accessible transport for people wishing to visit Heritage Open Days events.
• Run a number of BSL-interpreted events and booked the unique Signalong Choir to add another dimension to local heritage.

For more information on current activity see Discover Gosport.