Reasonable Adjustments

About This Project

Over the last year we’ve been working with our Access Coordinator Julie Fernandez and a fabulous group of people (more about them later) to explore how we can make our programmes more accessible to people who identify as Deaf, Disabled or Neurodivergent (DDN).

Together we created a programme called Reasonable Adjustment. Reasonable Adjustment makes reference to the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act. In 2023 the project included an artist residency, a research residency and events. It culminate around International Day of People with Disabilities in December.

We are busy behind the scenes making plans for Reasonable Adjustment 2.0, which will begin in Autumn 2024 and run into 2025 to mark 30 years since the Disability Discrimination Act. If you would like to find out more or get involved with the planning, please get in touch with us.

Read on to find out more about 2023, and download the Digital Zine!

The Digital Zine

We hadn’t originally planned on creating any kind of booklet / zine, but we got chatting to Gail (one of the participant’s mums) and she suggested we should get a booklet made so the exhibition can live on. So we did!

The digital zine is a downloadable PDF file. It has accessible fonts, colours, letter sizing, image descriptions, and has been formatted for screen reader use. Designed and formatted by the brilliant Fi Cifaldi.

The file is hosted on our google drive. You can download the file by clicking on the download button, which usually appears on the top right-hand corner. If you have any problems accessing the file, please contact Charley on charley.genever@neneparktrust.org.uk / 07435 985935.

Read and Download the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Zine

Artist Fae Kilburn standing in the front entrance doorway of the Reasonable Adjustment Exhibition. Fae has long brown hair, a black jumper and a grey skirt. Her hands are clasped in front of her. The front of the building is mainly large glass windows either side of Fae and aglass door behind Fae, although the exhibition is hard to see from the outside.

Artist Residency: Fae Kilburn

Fae Kilburn is a Midlands based artist specialising in printmaking. Fae was selected by our commissioning panel after a national call-out. Creating disability awareness and incorporating the stories of other disabled people in her art in important to her practice, and that’s how she approached the residency.

Fae ran a series of accessible printmaking workshops to gather the views of disabled, d/Deaf and / or neurodivergent individuals and exploring the barriers they face. These were incorporated into an exhibition, created by Fae, and displayed alongside the participants work. Messages of hope, pain, frustration, and joy in the forms of poems, zines, portraits, artworks, and chairs, filled the walls of the gallery and formed a trail around the city. The Reasonable Adjustment Exhibition launched to the public on International Day of People with Disabilities on 3 December, and ran until 17 December 2023. Huge thank you to Queensgate for letting us host the exhibition in an empty shopping unit!

Audio Description of the Exhibition and Venue - Click here...

To view the map of the chair trail with the locations - Click here...

At least 7 people mostly wearing coats or jackets, are standing in the Reasonable Adjustment Exhibition looking at the art, quotes and pictures in the space and on the white walls.

In the Reasonable Adjustment Exhibition, its an image of an old broken black wheelchair in the corner of the room. Its all black metal and black plastic and black seating with a quote written on the chair by a person with a lived experience of a disability.

Inside the Reasonable Adjustment Exhibition, the image is of mainly of the white wall with colourful art, quotes and Zines on it. Their are exhibition chairs to the far right and a bollard to the left and you can just see some of the floor at the bottom of the image.

An adults plastic yellow chair without arms, metal grey legs, a yellow plastic backrest and base. Its facing away with its back showing. There is someone sitting in the chair facing away too. They have short bobbed wavey hair and a dark winter top on. The writing on the back of the backrest says : "People's assumption is that they know more than me because they can see!" The chair is based as Serpentine Green Shopping Centre in Peterborough. The chair is on the smooth stone floor in the shopping centre with shops blurry in the background.

Research Residency: Sonny Nwachukwu

Sonny is a Peterborough-based dancer, poet, and theatre maker who will be spent time with us on a “listening residency”. He had chats with people about all things access and inclusion, and listened to what they have to say. From this initial research, he hosted an Open Chat in the Reasonable Adjustment exhibition space. People really valued a space to share honestly and openly their feelings and experiences.

A head and shoulders photo of Sonny smiling to the camera. He has short, cropped black hair and a short goatee. He wears a multi-coloured shirt with cartoons and slogans on it.

Reasonable Adjustment community events

We supported 3 local groups and individuals to deliver their own activities.

Fiona Cifaldi: A ‘scratch-building, model-making’ workshop

Goldhay Arts: Fashion Show

Magic Touch: Magic Show

Our dream team of partners

We couldn’t do this work without the support of a brilliant group of partners. They help us shape our project ideas, select the artists and events we support, and think through any access considerations. We refer to them as our commissioning group. They are:

Warren Wilson – RNIB

Sophie Pearson – Scope

Lore Green – Independent Creative

Hannah Shingler – Independent Creative

Julie Fernandez – Access Coordinator

Sam Stokes – Disability Peterborough

Gill Benedikz – Peterborough Council for Voluntary Services

Amy Cassleden – Peterborough and District Deaf Children’s Society

Reasonable Adjustments