An iconic international festival has pledged to provide more opportunities for people with disabilities to enjoy the event.
Officials from the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod are taking advantage of a special project designed to gear-up events and businesses to be user-friendly for people with additional needs.
They took part in an Introduction to Accessibility Awareness workshop and are participating in a pioneering four-day course created by community interest company PIWS to establish Accessibility Champions within the organisations.
Other events that have signed up include the National Eisteddfod that’s being held in Wrexham in 2025, the Urdd National Eisteddfod and the Royal Welsh Show, along with Disability Sport Wales and Wales Young Farmers’ Clubs.
Every year Llangollen Eisteddfod, established in 1947 to promote peace and harmony in the aftermath of the Second World War, transforms the picturesque Dee Valley town into a colourful multi-cultural melting pot.
Billed as the event where Wales welcomes the world, organisers say this year’s festival, that’s being held from Tuesday, July 8, to Sunday, July 13, will be even more welcoming for people with disabilities.
Chair John Gambles said: “Accessibility for all is a huge priority for the Llangollen Eisteddfod. We always act on feedback from our customers to ensure our festival is as accessible as it possibly can be.
“As an organisation, we welcome the opportunity that any further training to improve will bring.
“We pride ourselves on welcoming the world to Wales and that means being as inclusive as we possibly can and sharing best practice with other festivals across Wales.”
If funding allows, Eisteddfod officials say they will look to provide an equipment package to fill one festival tent with specialist sensory equipment suitable for both children and adults of all ages and abilities.
“These including bubble tube, infinity mirror, LED interactive tube, colour changing mood seat, light board and glass pebbles/cubes, fibre optic tails, foam flooring, UV floor tiles, projectors, beanbag seating, music and lots more.
“Four small pop tents within the sensory den space would provide safe spaces suitable for two people in each.
“Two experienced Sensory Support staff would be on-site all day, ensuring the operation and cleanliness of the equipment and offering physical and emotional support to visitors where appropriate.
“As I have said, though any best practice that come to our attention as part of the course will be looked at,” he added.
Set-up in 2018, PIWS is a community-driven organisation dedicated to enhancing accessibility for individuals with disabilities, including autism, learning difficulties, sensory impairments, mobility challenges, and brain illnesses.
Founder Davina Carey-Evans, who has two sons with complex disabilities and whose husband was severely disabled in a fall, is spearheading the project.
As well as being the right thing to do, she said, it can also help the events tap into a lucrative market.
“We hear a lot about the power of the LGBTQ+ community’s pink pound but the purple pound is also very valuable and in accessible tourism across the UK,” said Davina.
“There are 16.1 million disabled people in the UK, this represents 24% of the population and it has been estimated there is an untapped potential value of £15.8 billion a year in Accessible Tourism alone.
“Gearing up businesses to be user-friendly for the disabled isn’t just the right thing to do, it makes commercial sense as well,” she said.
Davina has enlisted the help of three motivated women to run the project. All three have years of experience in the hospitality business and are dedicated to training.
Rachel Jones, who hails from Cardiff but who now lives at Trawsfynydd near Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, said: “I’ve been training in hospitality for 30 years but it wasn’t until I had my own family that I realised how difficult it was for people to access venues if they had additional needs. There were many times when my own family just didn’t go out because it was more trouble than it was worth.
“My passion has always been to help hospitality businesses to be the best they can be. I work mainly with very small businesses and it’s lovely to go back and see the effect training has made so this course has really opened my eyes to the difference we can make for families, for people with additional needs just by adjusting and making a few simple things.”
She added she started working in hospitality behind the bar at her local rugby club when she was 16 and has worked in several five-star hotels during her career.
“I got interested in training and when I began looking for another job I looked at hotel and training opportunities. I’ve done training work all over the north of England and Wales.”
Rachel added as a family once they found an accessible place to visit they would return again and again.
“It’s not about the place as much as the welcome, that is really very important,” she said.
Melanie Cash, from Cricieth but who was born in Cardiff, said: “My Dad was a hotelier and we moved whenever he changed jobs. I was drawn into hospitality on the back of it. I worked in some of the biggest hotel companies like Marriott and Hilton and they were fantastic at training so I’ve benefitted from some very good training. I became interested in becoming a trainer myself predominately in customer service, sales and leadership.
“I set up my own company and worked with big hotels, big venues and visitor attractions.
“Then I moved to Cricieth seven years ago, started learning Welsh and am interested in being part of this project to help people. We hear so often people saying businesses in this area don’t make the best of themselves and see what they can do and seize the opportunity.”
The third member of the team is Tansy Rogerstone from Conwy. She has spent her working life in events, hospitality and product development.
“I jumped at the chance to be part of this project because I want to be involved in something that really makes a difference. It is amazing what Wales has to offer in tourism and events and enhancing that further and offer an even more inclusive destination is imperative and will take it to a whole different level.
“With the Future Generations Act being introduced it’s very important that we follow the framework from the Welsh Government.
“I’m passionate about businesses offering the very best they can and being more inclusive and this is a new way in how we can support them,” she said.
Davina said the course is split up into different segments with the first section focussing on background and introduction.
“The why we’re doing it and hopefully opening people’s eyes to new opportunities. The second day will be broken down into vision, hearing, mobility and toilets.
“Day three is about autism, sensory and brain injury. The last day is about website, marketing, policies and solutions. There’s a lot of information,” she said.
Urdd Gobaith Cymru (Welsh League of Youth) organise one of Europe’s largest youth festivals each spring. More than 50,000 youngsters register to take part in the movement’s Eisteddfod every year.
The youngsters, aged from five to 25, take part in district and county Eisteddfodau earning the right to compete on the main stage at the Urdd National Eisteddfod.
In 2025 event will be staged between May 26 and 31 at Margam Park near Port Talbot and on Anglesey the following year.
Urdd Arts Director Llio Maddocks said the movement “is committed to ensuring that the Urdd Eisteddfod will be a more accessible festival for competitors and visitors today and into the future.”
She added the Urdd Eisteddfod is proud of the fact that it is a festival that develops and listens to recommendations, and following a process of consultation with experts in the field of disability and accessibility to the arts, a series of developments were made in 2024 to ensure that the festival grounds and activities are accessible and inclusive.
These included the appointment of Oliver Griffith-Salter as Accessibility Officer for the Urdd Eisteddfod together with young consultants to assist with the work.
Officials received expert advice on how to improve provision and ensured an accessible ‘high dependency’ toilet is available on the Maes.
In addition a signing service in the pavilions and the Welcome Centre and opportunities for disabled and neurodiverse artists to perform and lead in the arts provision.
Urdd Eisteddfod department staff have received access and disability inclusion training.
Llio Maddocks added: “We are committed to improving accessibility and access to our arts events, which includes the Urdd National Eisteddfod.
“The Eisteddfod is one of the cultural highlights of the Welsh calendar and an artistic festival that deserves to be enjoyed by everyone. As well as developing and adapting the Eisteddfod area, we also want to ensure opportunities for disabled and neurodiverse artists to perform and lead in our artistic provision.
“We look forward to continuing to work together with our partners to ensure that the Urdd’s artistic offering evolves and grows.”
Wales Young Farmers’ Clubs (YFC) will be attending the four-day Accessibility Champion course with .
Over 5,000 young people aged between 10 and 28 years are currently members of the organisation that helps and supports young people to become successful farmers, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens.
Wales YFC have a network of 138 clubs and 12 County Federations and play a major role in events such as the Royal Welsh Show and stage a series of rallies throughout Wales every summer as well as a successful Eisteddfod in the autumn.
Carys Storer Jones, Marketing and Communications Officer at Wales YFC, who works closely with the Marketing and Events committee, will be attending the course on behalf of the organisation.
“We feel that the course will be beneficial for us as an organisation to ensure that all 10 of our competition and events days are accessible to all 6,000 of our members,” she said.
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (RWAS) are hosting the first course and two members of staff will attend the course.
An RWAS spokeswoman said: “We want to improve our offer to those who have disabilities and difficulty with accessing our showground.
“Steps have already been taken to address the accessibility to our facilities but there is much more that we can do. Any assistance we get from Piws will be very welcome as we are on a very steep learning curve.”
She said lifts have been installed in various places to assist with access and quiet areas set aside.
“Parking is an issue which we have addressed. Satellite parking is in use during the shows and we have ensured that the buses used to shuttle people to and from the showground from the car parks are suitable.
“We have made a video which will help visitors visualise this particular journey before they arrive. Assistance dogs are now being allowed on site as well,” she said.
After the initial four-day course staff will assess the steps needed to be taken the spokeswoman added.
“In February we will hold an awareness day for staff, key contractors and some volunteers about what we are able to do to improve accessibility during our three annual shows,” she said.
PIWS focuses on creating an inclusive environment in both local and tourism settings. It started by organising safe space events for families with children with autism, gathering insights to develop practical solutions.
During the past six years its efforts have expanded to address a wider range of disabilities, including partnerships with the tourism and hospitality sectors to make environments more inclusive.
The organisation support families with disabled children and young adults up to 24 years old and its work extends across Wales collaborating with stakeholders to provide accessibility training, raise awareness, and promote best practices.
