Nightclubs, venues & accessibility

[Arcadian]

A wheelchair using campaigner with cerebral palsy, highlights accessibility issues around the night time economy...

BBC News - Disabled people 'don't feel welcome in nightclubs'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-63556274

(I'm lucky that some of the alternative music and niche events I go to, mostly look for an accessible hosting venue and look out for their attendees).

[AngieCanuck]

This can be so hard! Recently wanted to go to a concert but there was no accessible seating available. So disappointing

[Mrs. Taff]

I ended up dropping out of a concert that had standing only…
You don’t realise the challenges of accessibility until you are living and breathing it and a few places pay lip service to it.
Even when venues attain the standard requirements for accessibility, they can still fall short, e.g. a disabled toilet I recently visited had all the mobility handles, raised toilet, etc. but the toilet paper was so far back you needed to be a contortionist to reach it whilst sat on the throne! To top it off, it was paper that needed two hands to break off the required sheets, the flush handle was really heavy to operate and the soap dispenser was again a two-handed job… not really taking into account upper limb weakness there…
Rant of the day over!

[Artie]

I agree about standards for accessibility Mrs. Taff, in particular the toilet paper being too far back to reach in so-called accessible toilets. 😫 Another thing that irritates me is the location of the wheelchair spaces in cinemas. One cinema near me has the wheelchair spaces right at the front of the seating (in one screen, the distance between the wheelchair space and the screen is just two metres). Neck ache, anyone?

[shelly21]

We got tickets for Peter kay when he cancelled.

My husband 3 days ago went on the same booking site and put in 1 plus 1 wheelchair. They wanted £900!

[Arcadian]

I had a slightly unplanned opportunity on Saturday night to attend a large London Goth club for its 35th anniversary event. Somewhere I had a habit of attending a few times a year, up until about 6 years ago.

All of the ground floor appeared reasonably accessible, including a semi-permanent ramp where there had been a step a few years before (the building is a former industrial works premises over 3 floors. Middle floor is split level too, so 4 floors really).
Interestingly, despite occasional queues for the toilets, it was rare to see an adjacent accessible toilet engaged (which is a positive comment on the attitudes of the 500-600 people attending that night). The absence of a lift between floors is a disappointment. What are the boundaries of 'reasonable adaptions' between moral / cost / evacuation safety / etc.?
In the circumstances and rather niche nature of the music range, combined with extended ground floor access / bar / social and music areas - I would reasonably happily return with challenging mobility / wheelchair access requirements. A very practical barrier would be if live music was on an upper floor. (The venue is reasonably clear on disabled access and highlights this for the ground floor only).
Another fringe music / themed event I attend in Manchester, uses an existing back-street music venue every couple of months. The organisers make a point of finding (and retaining) a venue that is reasonably accessible, together with additional access ramps between floor level change and pro-active volunteers and friends for various levels of assistance in a non-patronising / non-invasive way.

I'm not amazingly adventurous travel wise - so tend to go back to UK places I'm reasonably familiar with, or that have an existing work / social / event overlap along the route. I've spent the last 12 months 'planning ahead' for places in my future, regarding the practicalities around the progression of additional needs.
I'm in Marlborough (Wiltshire) a few times a year too - a scenically pleasant High Street. What has surprised me is how challenging the town, shops and bank are around any additional access needs. I had the chance to take a wheelchair user around a while back and for an English high street town, access could and should be a lot less challenging.

Also when 'lived experiences' for me have a higher practical relevance to others, hopefully making useful contributions towards the existing Euan's Guide https://www.euansguide.com/

[Olivia H]

Before the pandemic I travelled a fair bit in Europe, and John Sage's wheelchair guide to most of the major cities was invaluable, very specific details such as the hidden slope access into the Pantheon in Rome, as just one example. I could write a book on my adventures with a wheelchair, and a strong hubby to help, in Europe and further afield. There are some terribly uneven pavements and a shocking absence of decent dropped kerbs in many parts the UK, this is just not right. When they are done well, as they should be, it makes all the difference. The little details to ordinary life should not be such a challenge!