Our Communities Together Forum is reaping the benefits of accessibility with a booming membership and a ‘buzz in the air’.
The forum brings together representatives from several of our community groups to share their experiences and advice. It has recently moved to a hybrid format, allowing members to join some meetings online, reducing travel cost and time commitments.
The group has seen more people attending since the move and has been exploring other ways to make meetings more accessible. Most recently, we invested in assistive technology to allow Chairperson Colin Hardwicke to thrive in his role.
Colin uses a wheelchair and, even though he has never let that hold him back from getting involved, there were some barriers to participating fully. The most prominent was Colin projecting his voice sufficiently to manage meetings.
To ensure the forum continues to be tenant-led and to make sure the group could benefit from Colin’s leadership, we invested in microphones that allow Colin to communicate clearly with everyone in the room. Colin is now able to steer the forum on his own and is continuing to build on his success.
Colin said: “I think Communities Together has embraced every aspect of a modern-day meeting. There is a solid membership, we have embraced a hybrid approach and we’re using assistive technology where we can.
“Things have a changed a lot. We’re at a completely different level with a structured calendar throughout the year and a buzz around the room when we’re in there.
“A lot of that comes down to making sure that people are included and can access the meeting whatever their needs are. It feels good to be a part of something that is growing and is having a real impact.”
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