On Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), this blog revisits the Welcome Project at People’s History Museum (PHM) and how it has revitalised the museum’s visitor experience, building on our vision to be an exemplar for accessibility.
The first stage of the project took place in September 2023, led by Becky Peters, who joined PHM as Interim Director in November 2022. This began with the replacement of the entrance doors with fully accessible sliding doors. The next stage saw the installation of a Changing Places toilet and improvements to the visitor journey, including a new digital screen, accessible signage, and interactive digital elements.
The Welcome Project at PHM is all about evolving the museum’s visitor experience, with a vision for PHM to be an exemplar for accessibility. This means that the museum is as welcoming as it can be to everyone, giving us the opportunity to connect with new and existing visitors.
We began the project by working with partners and funders to map out how to best achieve our aim, which culminated in physical changes taking place at the museum.
A number of key actions included:
There was also a wider community aspect to the project, which as well as improving access to our exhibitions and events, created an accessible civic space in the Spinningfields area of Manchester city centre.
A whole body of work took place alongside the creation of our 2022-2023 exhibition Nothing About Us Without Us (16 November 2022 to 16 October 2023), which explored the history of disabled people’s activism and the ongoing fight for rights and inclusion. The Welcome Project at PHM took the learnings from this work and applied them more broadly to the museum, so that we could ensure that it is as welcoming and accessible a place as possible. In doing so, the project played particular attention to recommendations to improve the experience of disabled people visiting PHM.
We understand that everyone has different access needs and meeting these is part of our commitment to supporting all visitors during their time at PHM. One of the key pieces of work that has informed the project is an access audit that was carried out by Manchester Disabled People’s Access Group (MDPAG) in 2020. It is these recommendations together with the insight of the Nothing About Us Without Us (NAUWU) project steering group, and NAUWU exhibition Community Curators that has driven the progress being achieved.
At the end of September 2023, we welcomed visitors through our new fully accessible sliding doors and a more open visitor entrance to the building.
Then in January 2024 a Changing Places toilet was installed. Also taking place at this time was the installation of a new digital screen and improvements to the visitor journey, which have included new accessible signage and interactive digital elements.
In autumn 2024 AccessAble surveyed the museum building, creating a Detailed Access Guide on their website alongside thousands of venues across the UK and Ireland. All of the information AccessAble collect has been asked for by disabled people and carers, helping to develop the information they hold for those who need it.
The next phase considered how the team could better integrate digital experiences within the museum, added to Family Friendly elements, and update our retail spaces – bringing the museum’s collection and inspiring stories to the forefront from the second you walk through the door.
For International Mother Language Day 2026 we launched our popular Banner Bingo in an additional seven languages. Alongside English, visitors can take their pick from Arabic, Chinese, French, Persian, Polish, Spanish, and Urdu as they take part in the free Family Friendly activity at the museum.
This is a very collaborative project in which the team at PHM have received guidance and support from Manchester Disabled People’s Access Group (MDPAG), the Nothing About Us Without Us (NAUWU) project steering group, and NAUWU exhibition Community Curators.
The work wouldn’t be possible without the support of the following funders: DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund 2022-2024, Valencia Communities Fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Manchester City Council, and the government’s Changing Places Fund.
We would like to thank everyone that is a part of the Welcome Project at PHM.
This is just the beginning of what PHM hopes to achieve, and we have plans to continue to improve the offer for those visiting the museum. The vision for the future is of a museum which is a living, evolving space that inspires and empowers.
Read our blog from our former Programme Officer Michael Powell sharing information about the Nothing About Us Without Us programme and PHM’s four Community Curators who reveal why they chose to get involved.
Visit current exhibitions On The Line: 100 years of strikes & solidarity and the 2026 Banner Exhibition, both of which are accompanied by a range of accessible formats, created to enable visitors to engage with the exhibition in different ways.
Discover further details about access at the museum and our commitment to support all visitors during their time at PHM.
People’s History Museum is open from 10.00am to 5.00pm every day except Tuesdays. Entry is free and most visitors donate £10.
An earlier version of this blog was published on 15 September 2023.
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