The Galleries of Justice is a fascinating museum looking at the history of Crime and Punishment in Nottingham.
The Museum is committed to providing good services to disabled people which is an exceptional challenge in a building of this nature. Parts of the building remain as they were centuries ago and a well deserved Listed Status with English Heritage places a number of restrictions on their ability to improve accessibility for Disabled Guests.
As such there are portions of the building which are completely inaccessible to guests with certain mobility impairments and wheelchair users. That said the Museum has undertaken significant amounts of work to be able to continue to engage, educate and entertain these guests. This has seen us give the first award of its kind to the Museum: A Partial Pass of their CredAble Access Award.
Those areas of the museum which it was possible to make accessible are now accessible – the front entrance has been impossible to change but improvements at another entrance to the side of the building ensure access is possible.
Nicola Burley, Executive Director at The Galleries of Justice Museum commented:
‘We are delighted to receive the ‘CredAbility’ award as it is a testament to the work carried out by the team here over the last twenty years. During this time we have always endeavoured to present tours and exhibitions that are as accessible as possible in what is an extremely challenging environment. As an organisation we aim to continue to improve the service we offer and take full advantage of the ‘CredAbility’ scheme in order to become accessible to all.
Martin Austin, MD of Nimbus, the company behind CredAbility, said:
The Galleries of Justice Museum is a prime example of what we want to achieve with CredAbility and The Access Card. It may not be perfectly accessible but by the very nature of what it is it won’t be. With CredAbility we can let people know what is available and let them decide for themselves if its suitable for them. The Museum is also happy to offer discounted tickets to all disabled people and also a free +1 ticket for anyone that needs support – The Access Card is the perfect way of demonstrating this need/
Also included in the assessment were the Caves beneath the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre. Again, in terms of level access the caves are not and will not ever be able to be made accessible by modern standards, but a proactive approach by the Museum sees them committed to making the experience as accessible as possible. As such the Caves have been awarded with the CredAble Provider Mark, whilst the Galleries of Justice receive CredAble Provider and partial pass on CredAble Access
Charlotte Throssel is Services Manager for Disability Direct Nottingham, a local organisation of Disabled People:
We at Disability Direct are incredibly pleased to see both the Galleries of Justice and Nottingham City of Caves have gained CredAble status. We welcome organisations who take challenging buildings and have had their creative efforts to make the inaccessible, accessible, highlighted and applauded
