PEOPLE with disabilities still face barriers going for a night out. Access to venues is the main one, which, although raised many times, has seen little done to improve it. As the world reopens after the pandemic, there is a real opportunity for venues and promoters to ensure the best night out experience for all.
Disabled producer and DJ Sanjeev Mann has now launched a petition to the UK Government to provide the necessary funding to create more accessibility in those buildings.
Mann, who is also journalist and content creator featured on the BBC's The Nine, has a love for all things music. The MLitt Media and Communications graduate prides himself on producing beats for several Scottish rappers. In addition, he is a development worker for the Pathfinders Neuromuscular Alliance, a charity which aims to promote quality of life for people with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and other similar conditions.
"I couldn't get on stage"
When he wanted to scope out the venues who had booked him to do gigs, he was shocked to realise how inaccessible the majority of spaces were.
He said: "I noticed even further when I started to organise and perform at gig.
"I quickly realised I couldn't get on stage - it was a struggle to find a venue that had wheelchair access for disabled audience and performers."
His petition aims to provide funding to make venues fully accessible to music fans and performers, ensuring stages, toilets, bars and viewing areas can be fully accessible to people with a disability.
The entertainment sector focuses primarily on the general public, overlooking the needs and rights of people with a disability. Scotland should lead the way in making a more accessible country, to raise awareness on access issues which impact the lives of millions living here.
It's a basic human right for people to go out and have fun. There are many performers out there with a disability - however as they can't get in to venues, they're often restricted to where they can work. The growth of platforms such as YouTube and Facebook means that someone who can't access a venue can still have access to virtual audiences, though this is not the same.
Under the Equality Act 2010, service providers and venues have to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. Examples of reasonable adjustments could include: Providing ramps and stairway/lifts, making doorways wider, installing automatic doors, providing more lighting, clearer signs and at least one disabled toilet.
Euan’s Guide is a website that features access reviews from disabled people, their friends and families, living in the UK and further afield. Information includes accessible toilets, wheelchair access, and other access features that exist at any one particular venue. Details can be found at www.euansguide.com
Many people have been shut out of venues across Scotland. That's not good enough. Where is the fairness and equality in that?
A successful petition by DJ Sanjeev could mean that in the not too distant future many more venues can be added to Euan's Guide. If you try to think of disabled performers in Scotland's music scene in 2023 you'd struggle, but let's hope that with Mann's help he and many others become household names.
Mann's petition can be found here.
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