The Exhibitions Group has today launched a new pilot grant scheme, offering its members the chance to secure up to £4,000 to improve access to exhibitions across the UK for disabled people.
The pilot – named the ‘Access to Exhibitions Grant Scheme’ – will help to advance accessibility for the exhibitions sector and aligns with the charity’s mission ‘to empower everyone in exhibitions to create relevant, sustainable, diverse and accessible exhibitions’.
Despite progress in some areas, there remains significant evidence that arts and cultural organisations in the UK are failing many people who face disabling barriers – both in terms of audience access and workforce access.
A recent survey by All In found that 7 out of 10 disabled people struggle to find clear accessibility information about cultural events; that disabled visitors are nine times more likely to struggle with booking tickets online; and that 38% of disabled people report missing cultural events altogether due to ‘accessibility uncertainty’.
According to Unlimited – an arts‐funding initiative for disabled artists and disabled-led work – if disabled people make up ~23% of the working-age UK population then arts organisations should aim for similar representation in staffing, programming and leadership – but they do not.
The 2022 Digital Access to Arts & Culture report shows that digital/online access – which might help mitigate physical access barriers – is still patchy: even though online culture expanded during the pandemic, many disabled people still face barriers to physical venues such as travel, cost, and time.
The new scheme reflects the social model of disability and guidelines state that the grant can be used to support a range of relevant work, such as:
- Access consultancy including by disabled people
- Activities by and co-creation with disabled people
- Accessible interpretation. (This could include for example BSL, captioning, audio description, Easy Read, large print, tactile models etc)
- Physical adjustments to improve access to the exhibition experience
- Accessible programming such as events linked to the exhibition
- Relevant staff and volunteer training
This list is non-exhaustive.
Dana Andrew, Professional Development Manager at The Exhibitions Group said:
“We are committed to helping cultural organisations improve accessibility and remove barriers to exhibitions for people who face challenges in accessing exhibitions or pursuing careers in the sector. This includes (but is not limited to) deaf, blind, and neurodivergent people, and people who encounter physical, sensory, cognitive, or systemic barriers. We hope this grant can accelerate progress, and we look forward to developing case studies from the successful applications to inspire others across the wider sector.”
As well as the grant scheme pilot, The Exhibitions Group is currently working with pioneering disability-led theatre company, Birds of Paradise, and leading accessibility & inclusion consultancy, Direct Access, on a range of internal access consultancy and training initiatives. The objectives of this work are to enhance the levels and types of support offered by The Exhibitions Group to the exhibitions sector, and to develop a range of practical, sector-specific accessibility resources.
Grant headlines
- Grants available: £1,500–£4,000
- Deadline: 15 January 2026
- Please read the eligibility and guidelines before applying
- If you’re unable to access the information, links or documents on the grant scheme web page or if there is a way The Exhibitions Group can make it easier for you to access this opportunity, contact us at
The Exhibitions Group is committed to learning from people with lived experience about the best language to use when talking about disability. If you have any feedback or suggestions relating to this, please contact us.
