Inclusive Tales

Storytelling for people with sight loss

Having successfully reached the point that we have settled on the format, have more than enough venues in the West Midlands (and occasionally beyond) to tour, established a core fan base and are filling out venues all year round, our new goal is to make Weeping Bank storytelling events as accessible as possible.

In a way, this began by making events affordable and bringing them directly to communities in their local libraries, but now we are also looking at how to be more accessible for people with a visual impairment.

We became aware of this opportunity when we received an unexpected email from Dan, who had first attended a Christmas reading online and then later attended a library reading in person.

"I am writing to let you know how much I enjoyed your Weeping Bank story last night. As someone who has been partially sighted since birth, I struggle to find things to do that are as purely audio-centric as your reading last night was. I regularly listen to audiobooks and podcasts, but they don't come close to sitting amongst your audience, in the dark except for the flicker of candles, listening to you read your dark stories so superbly, while in the background there is the ticking of a grandfather clock and the wind howling outside. It was so good!

My wife is sighted and she enjoyed it just as much, which was lovely because we only really both enjoy something so much if we go to a music concert together.

I'm sure your show would appeal to many other people who are blind or partially sighted. I'll admit I probably wouldn’t have known about it if my wife hadn’t seen it on Facebook. Maybe you could try reaching out to local support hubs and Talking Newspapers to get the word out there? I'll certainly be telling everyone I know in the Visually Impaired Community!

I've been to shows that were supposed to be adapted for the visually impaired and didn’t find them as immediately accessible as your Weeping Bank reading event. You have something really special, so hoping you keep going. I will definitely always be there when I can!"

We were fortunate enough to be acquainted with Lara Marshall, Libraries Engagement Manager for RNIB, so we approached her to see if she could attend our next show in London and let us know what she thought of the reading from a visually impaired perspective.

“Thank you so much for inviting me to your Weeping Bank show. You’re absolutely right - it is incredibly accessible already for people with sight loss.

It’s fantastic that instead of touring theatres in cities, you’re bringing them into local libraries, which are generally well known by the community, staffed by knowledgeable librarians, and are hubs of activity—it encourages those who may not use the library to see all the wonderful resources there as well.

It’s already such an inclusive experience, but there are definitely a few things you could do to be even more so if you’d like to pursue this further.”

And pursue it we did!

So much so that it developed from an informal conversation about accessibility to a proposed 3 year Arts Council funded project to tour the libraries of the West Midlands with a new and improved VI-friendly show, increase attendance from the visually impaired community, train library staff in how they can better support those with sight loss and produce a report to share the learning from the project with other libraries and arts venues around the country.

And all because of that lovely email we received out the blue - thanks, Dan!

This wonderful visit to Coventry Vision Hub has convinced us even more how valuable this project with the RNIB could be to so many people with sight loss in the West Midlands and the lessons learned from the proposed project could be shared with libraries and arts venues nationwide, further improving access to culture for the 2 million people living with a visual impairment across the UK.

If you, or someone you know is affected by sight loss, you can find out more on the RNIB's 'Coming to terms with sight loss' page.

Inclusive Tales

Storytelling for people with sight loss

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