Museum of London Disability Equality Scheme 2007-2010

Chairman’s forward followed by the Museum of London Disability Equality Scheme:

We want our Museum to be accessible to everyone. We want to engage with all of London’s communities and individuals, and to attract the widest possible range of visitors, users, and staff. I have great pleasure in presenting here the Museum's Disability Equality Scheme, our timetabled strategy for achieving these goals.

We are striving for equality in all areas: public programmes, collections and gallery developments, and the staff and audiences we attract. The development of this scheme has helped us to pinpoint where we are succeeding, and where we need to do more. We must rectify our shortcomings, build on our achievements, and keep building until disability equality becomes inextricably woven into the fabric of Museum life.

We need equality for disabled people to be embedded in our polices and practices, and in the way we engage with people through our collections and programmes. We need to ensure that all our sites are physically accessible and that we make all the necessary adjustments to meet – and where possible exceed – the relevant requirements.

Some of the Museum’s outstanding successes have been developed through its access and learning programmes. London Inside Out, for example, provided free outreach sessions in special and hospital schools throughout London, and was enjoyed by over 11,500 children. This gave us a valuable opportunity to engage with young disabled people, many whom were previously unable to visit the museum due to physical or learning disabilities.

The Group’s community and inclusion programmes also provided opportunities for us to work collaboratively with disabled groups, and resulted in unique insights into what London means to disabled people. Personal experiences were expressed through art, video, and filmmaking projects. Recent initiatives such as the collections audit Reassessing what we collect, and the ambitious inter-museum website Exploring 20th century London have helped us examine material in the collections that explores issues of disability and disabled people’s struggle for equality.

Developing a diverse workforce is one of the Museum's key priorities. One of our most successful campaigns at Museum of London Docklands was recently featured in Employers Update, the HR newsletter and forum on disability. New staff members, three of whom have a declared disability along with existing staff, provided impeccable levels of customer service as visitor assistants. We expect our strategies to recruit disabled people across the Museum will result in significant changes and improvements over the next few years.

Involving disabled people in creating the Disability Equality Action Plan will be an important step. Establishing an advisory panel will provide greater insight into the experiences and expectations of disabled users, and this group will play a central role in shaping the Museum’s priorities and improving its practices. We look forward to providing exemplary standards of disability equality and to enjoying the huge benefits such inclusivity will bring to Museum life.

Michael Cassidy CBE
Chairman, Museum of London

Read the Museum of London Disability Equality Scheme 2007-2010 (PDF 84kb, opens in a new window)