POSTCODE LOTTERY REPORT
Project title
Sight Specific Moves
Application ID
00Qo00000Tgjae
Our initial activity was intended to teach people with visual impairment breakdance as a means of injury prevention and to improve spatial awareness in 5 different cities that run for 8 weeks each. Unfortunately due to the issues brought about by covid we had to significantly rethink our project and decided the best way to move forwards would be as follows:
INJURY PREVENTION COURSE
Due to covid regulations frequently changing it was impossible to provide the full injury prevention courses in person as they do require quite a lot of physical contact. We therefore took time to devise audio described online content which teaches basic creative dance movement which can be practised by people with visual impairment with minimal space required. This was achieved through interested parties getting in touch with us via out website and then we could share with them the accessible dance content. We also promoted our injury prevention courses on our website, social media channels and through organisations such as Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind, Doncaster Partially Sighted Society and RNIB Connect Radio. The sessions were delivered on a one to one basis and altogether we delivered 74 online sessions and 26 in person sessions. Our sessions reached people in Sheffield, London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Liverpool and beyond.
We also partnered with the Royal National College For Blind in Hereford and one of our existing participants who attended there was featured with our charity director on BBC Strictly It Takes Two in December 2020. The television appearance illustrated the impact of the injury prevention course and was broadcast to 3 million viewers!
Please see a below link for your reference (our feature begins at 7:45 into the show)
AUDIO DESCRIBED ARTISTIC CONTENT
During this period of covid a lot of organisations have had to turn to creating online content but not many of them have considered making their content accessible to people with visual impairment. We aimed to fill that gap by creating artistic content that is accessible to people with visual impairment.
We achieved this by creating a number of audio described artistic dance videos which included a special Christmas Dancing Elf film. Our most noteworthy achievement came when we created a fully accessible dance show called Trust In Care in partnership with Derbyshire County Council's Virtual School. The production was audio described and starred a blind dancer who took part in the injury prevention courses. This was incredible as it had a huge impact on the blind participant as it showed them that beyond using the dance movements as a form of injury prevention it can also be used as a poteial career pathway. The production was also made accessible to deaf audiences by having British Sign Language fully integrated into the show. The production was performed at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield to a live audience of 200 which was the venue's full capacity due to covid restrictions. The production not only sold out but got a standing ovation and enhanced accessibility for both non-disabled and disabled audiences.
Excerpts of the accessible production was also featured online at the Children's Media Conference which had an audience of nearly 1000 delegates. Some of who represented the likes of Netflix, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney and YouTube Kids. The content will be made available to the public on the Children's Media Conference youtube channel from September 2021 onwards.
CONCLUSION
This project was a huge success in terms of both impact and audience reach. It allowed our charity to become adaptable and respond to the specific needs of vulnerable people who previously had felt isolated due to the impact of covid. Moving forwards we are now more resilient and better equipped to deal with the uncertain future that has been imposed on our society due to covid. Our online injury prevention course is robust and we have been able to cultivate strong partnerships as a result of this activity. The next stage is to deliver in person injury prevention courses to multiple people in each session now covid restrictions are starting to lift. We would like to thank the postcode lottery for supporting us to deliver this life changing work.
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