Difference between revisions of "Disability and equality policy"

Revision as of 16:29, 22 November 2012

Equality of access

Our main venue including all the rooms used for scheduled games, toilets and kitchen (refreshments) are accessible to wheelchairs. These rooms are all on the ground floor, level access with 1 step from the street. Doors are all wide enough for wheelchairs.

The two larger gaming halls can be a little echoey, especially the sports hall. If you have significant hearing difficulties, please contact an organiser or talk to your preferred games' scheduled story guides and we will do our best to ensure your games take place in the lounge, where the smaller room size and soft furnishings prevent any echo.

There are upstairs rooms (no lift) which some freeform players sometimes use as changing rooms. We did once use an upstairs room as a "Wizard's Tower" in the freeform, but if there are players with mobility issues then we will solve this problem by simply declaring the upper floor out of bounds.

Fringe events, i.e. events which do not take place in the main venue, are held in a variety of venues. In 2012 the restaurant and cafés were wheelchair-accessible, but the pub function room was not; it was up a long flight of stairs. In 2013 we hope to pick a more accessible venue. Please mention on the mailing list if you have difficulty with stairs, this will make us even more determined to find an accessible pub function room.

We will provide a car and driver (typically Andrew Oakley) to take anyone with mobility issues to and from Cheltenham's main public transports hubs, including the train station and the bus station. Please contact an organiser or more specifically email Andrew: andrew@aoakley.com

Equality of opportunity

Grand Tribunal UK is open to everyone regardless of gender, race, sexuality, religion, disability or eye colour.

Players are welcome to play characters which are the same as or different from their actual personal characteristics, although most games will have pre-generated characters which fit the specific history of Ars Magica's Mythic Europe environment.

There is no adult content, beyond some infrequent mild swearing from attendees. Children (under 16) may attend if accompanied by an adult; if they wish to play in any of the games then they will need their own ticket. We have no different expectations of child behaviour than adult behaviour. No attendee should disturb or cause annoyance to other players, no matter how old they are. It is the responsibility of the accompanying adult to decide whether the convention is suitable for the child; tickets will not be refunded on this basis. We do not carry out CRB checks.

We are able to provide a quiet room for prayer or non-religious quiet break. However this is likely to be upstairs and not accessible to wheelchairs.

Cheltenham has a number of religious venues, including churches, mosques and a synagogue. Our hosts, the Baptist church around the corner, would love to see you.

Respect for our hosts

Our venue is owned by Gas Green Baptist Church, which is a member of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB). We ask that attendees respect our hosts and do not engage in any behaviour that would bring our hosts into disrepute. Not only do we like and respect them, we want them to welcome us back for future events.

In addition to the fact that our venue is not licensed for alcohol, Baptist churches often do not permit alcohol on their property (according to BUGB). So please do not bring alcohol to the venue.

Grand Tribunal UK is not a religious event and does not promote any religion. We just happen to be using a Baptist venue, and they happen to be really nice people.