The Courtyard, Herefordshires Centre for the Arts
Overview
"The Courtyard Centre for the Arts is the leading arts provider in Herefordshire and a registered charity. We have a 400-seat main house, a 120-seat studio theatre, rehearsal rooms, a gallery, meeting spaces and an award-winning cafe bar. Whilst being primary a receiving venue, we also produce in house including our annual panto, youth theatre shows and some co-producing. We have a varied live, film and visual arts programme, a thriving youth theatre and work extensively with people of all ages in the community."
Contact details
The Courtyard Edgar Hereford Herefordshire West Midlands HR4 9JR United Kingdom
https://www.courtyard.org.uk/access/
Access Card notes
Our aim at The Courtyard is to be a welcoming venue for everyone. We want to ensure that every visit is an enjoyable one. We hope to exceed your expectations and give every individual a special experience. Step-free access is available to all public areas of the building and our staff are always ready to assist if needed. The Courtyard was the first dementia friendly arts venue in the UK 10 years ago and since then we have grown and expanded our accessible programme beyond what could have been imagined. We hold regular relaxed and dementia friendly live performances and films. We aim to make all of our workshops accessible and we also hold regular, tailored inclusive workshops for children and young people with a range of needs as well as weekly sessions for people living with dementia. Where possible audio description is available for films as well as some live events where we will hold a touch tour for the audience to experience the set and costumes before the performance. We are also working to advance our programme for our Deaf and hard of hearing customers as well. To find out more about how to access The Courtyard please visit out website.
This venue has been highlighted by feedback from a current Access Card Holder who used their card to gain access or a discount. Information provided in this listing comes from the card holder and also is sourced directly from the venues publicly available information. This is not a guarantee of any set service or policy this organisation might have.
Access guidance
- There is plenty of seating around the building in the Foyer and Café Bar areas.
- We have a lift to all floors and accessible toilets on each floor. We do not have hoist facilities in our toilets but we do have personal care items available and a changing matt for the floor if needed. Both auditoriums have dedicated spaces for wheelchairs and our staff are well versed in which seats are most suitable for different needs i.e. step access. We have a loop system and audio description headsets available on request. We also have ear plugs although we do not currently have over ear defenders. We hold autism hours before and after our relaxed performances where hand dryers are taken out of action, music is turned off and noisy activity is kept to a minimum. We have a large car park with disabled bays near the entrance of the building. There is free parking available for blue badge holders in any bay.
- We have a large car park with disabled bays near the entrance of the building. There is free parking available for blue badge holders in any bay. We are a 5-15 minute walk (depending on your mobility) from the town centre and the nearest toilet with a hoist is within this distance.
- We have a lift to all floors and accessible toilets on each floor. We do not have hoist facilities in our toilets but we do have personal care items available and a changing matt for the floor if needed. The toilets are easily accessible from both auditoriums and our staff members are well versed in access needs and can advise suitable seats at the point of booking if this is a concern. We are a 5-15 minute walk (depending on your mobility) from the town centre and the nearest toilet with a hoist is within this distance.
- Free carers seats are available on most shows for assistance dogs who are allowed in the building. We have a grassy areas outside for toileting and a water bowl. If you are uncomfortable taking your assistance dog into an auditorium we can arrange for a volunteer to sit with your dog during the performance to keep them company.
- Free tickets are available for accompanying carers to most shows at The Courtyard.
- Our website is accessible to screen readers. We have textile maps of the building at various points and have these available from the Box Office on request as well. We have audio versions of our Live Guides available on request which can be posted out free of charge. Our Café Bar staff are also happy to read the menu to any customers who require it.
- Where possible we show subtitled screenings of films and a some touring shows now have captioning included. This is not something we are able to fund across the board at this point. We have one BSL interpreted performance of our Pantomime each year.
- We have tailored social stories available for all relaxed performances and are working towards a generic social story. These can be downloaded from the website or requested from Box Office.