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LM@NY22: Accessibility Information


These notes have been compiled by Loving Men community member, Ben Evans, who is acting as our Access Coordinator for LM@NY 2022. If you have any questions, requests or concerns, do please email Ben directly.

Ben will be taking part in LM@NY22, and will be on hand before, during and after, to discuss your experiences, any needs you have, and how we can support access for this event and for future events. Please do get in touch!


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Ben's personal reflections

Over the last 7 years that I have been involved in Loving Men activities I have noticed that the community as a whole, led by the organising team, really embrace the idea of making Loving Men events more accessible to d/Deaf, disabled, neurodiverse and chronically ill community members. As someone living with Chronic Fatigue I have been grateful for the flexibility of the team and community in supporting my needs. But we can always improve, and accessibility is an ongoing process – never something that we can tick off the list and not think about again.

With that in mind, we would encourage any community members, or those thinking about joining one of the events, to get in touch and discuss any access needs you may have. We may not be able to offer solutions immediately, we may reply with a proposed compromise or intermediate solution, or we may have to think about how future events can be organised differently. Nevertheless, we genuinely want an active conversation about how our growing (and aging) community can better support all its members and potential members. So please do keep talking with us.

For Loving Men 2022, I am delighted to say that long before I was involved the team made the decision to move to a new venue: Yarnfield Park. True, we don’t have the rolling hills of the Peak District, nor will we have the Victorian or Edwardian grandeur of previous venues. But many of the access issues previously raised by the community will be either solved or improved hugely by the move to this venue. Thanks to the LMNY team for making this bold decision early on.

 

1. Information relevant to all

 

  • Yarnfield Park is a purpose-built modern conference and retreat centre.
  • There are two separate buildings: The Central Conference Centre (where all of our events, meetings, workshops, meals will be situated), and the accommodation blocks. The accommodation blocks are about 100 metres away reached via covered walkway.
  • The Conference centre is on two floors. There are stairs, a lift, and a dedicated accessible lift between floors.
  • All accommodation is in double or Twin Rooms: gone are the days of 8-person dormitories! More information below about accessible accommodation
  • The car park is 100 metres away from the main entrance. There is flat-level access from the car park to the venue and accommodation.

 

3. Flat Level access for wheelchair users and those with impaired mobility
  • The conference centre is on two floors. There are stairs, a lift, and a dedicated accessible lift between floors.
  • The larger, accessible lift has doors with a width of 91 cm, and maximum load of 400kg.
  • The smaller lift for use by any guest can support a heavier load (600kg), but has a narrower doorway.
  • All rooms and spaces on the two floors of the conference centre have flat level access.
  • Floor plans can be found at the bottom of this document. However, the choreography of workshop spaces for the event will not be completed until December.
  • If you have any observations about use of spaces, please get in touch.
  • Each of the two floors has an accessible toilet.
An image of the Accessible Lift situated in the Foyer across from the main entrance to the ground floor.
    The Accessible Lift is situated in the Foyer, across from the main entrance to the ground floor
An image of the inside of the accessible lift - showing handbar and easy to reach operating buttons.
    The interior of the Accessible Lift, showing the handbar and easy-to-reach operating buttons

 

4. Noise, quiet spaces, anxiety and neurodiversity
  • The experience of people who like quiet spaces will be an improvement at Yarnfield Park on previous venues due to the lack of dormitory rooms, and the ability for members to retire to the accommodation block to the quiet of private double or twin rooms.
  • Yarnfield Park is a large conference centre that can host many guests. Loving Men has exclusive use of the centre, which means we will have a lot more space than previous venues to ensure we interact as much or as little as we want with others.
  • We will create a Quiet Space in the conference centre building– a dedicated room with soft seating and away from the hustle and bustle of the venue: to support those who would benefit from a quiet moment or two during the day without having to head back to the accommodation block. We will create and manage the rules of this space as a community.
  • The dining area is well organised with soft furnishings and room dividers and will be a much more comfortable space to eat in than other venues we have used. There is space to establish a Quiet Eating Zone for meals if needed. This will be adjacent to the main restaurant, but will be specifically dedicated as a space for quiet meals. We will create and manage the rules of this space as a community.
  • The large number of breakout spaces (small rooms) in the conference centre means that at most times participants can also find a completely empty room to sit, lie down and take some time for themselves.
  • LM@NY can be quite an overwhelming experience – more than a hundred participants gathering together at a time of celebration. Some of us are very tactile people who express our love for each other by going in for that hug or embrace; some of us prefer to limit our physical interactions before we know people well; and some of us may display as quite introverted whilst craving that physical interaction.
    At LM@NY22 we will trial the use of a visual indicator of how open participants are to physical touch. These colour & shape–coded badges will help us all navigate our boundaries – including as they may change during the event. We will introduce these at the start of the event.

 

5. Information for those who are d/Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing.

In the past the facilitator team has collaborated with Sign Language Interpreters to support attendance by BSL users at events.

Regular provision of BSL is a longer-term project for Loving Men.

However, if you would like to attend LMNY 22 and would need Sign Language interpretation do please get in touch and we can discuss if there is any way to support you in attending.

  • As a purpose-built conference centre, Yarnfield Park poses fewer barriers for those with hearing loss than some of our previous venues: for example there are no cacophonous halls and the space is carpeted and has ceiling tiles to deaden the random sound.
  • The experience of people who like quiet spaces will be an improvement at Yarnfield Park on previous venues due to the lack of dormitory rooms, and the ability for members to retire to the accommodation block to the quiet of private double or twin rooms.
  • The dining area is well organised with soft furnishings and room dividers and will be a much more comfortable space to eat in than other venues we have used. There is space to establish a Quiet Eating Zone for meals if needed. This will be adjacent to the main restaurant, but will be specifically dedicated as a space for quiet meals. We will create and manage the rules of this space as a community.
  • Loving Men will bring microphones and amplifiers in case needed when working together in the full group. These have not been needed in the past, but we are aware that different spaces have difference acoustics, and we acknowledge that some people may benefit from amplification of the conversation – especially in large rooms and large groups. We will manage participant’s preferences regarding amplification during the meeting and as a community.
  • As part of our longer journey towards greater accessibility we may choose to experiment with the venue’s Hearing Loop equipment. We have mixed feelings about the value of Hearing Loops in our events, and so before investing in our own equipment, we may use LMNY 22 to trial the use of the venue’s hearing loop on a few occasions. We will be open to feedback during and after the event.

 

6. Accessible Accommodation
  • There are four rooms at Yarnfield Park identified as Accessible bedrooms.
  • Each of these rooms has an accessible bathroom.
  • The bathrooms come in two configurations:
    • 2 rooms have wet-room set-ups, including wall-mounted drop-down seat and the option of a separate free-standing shower seat.
    • 2 rooms have step-in showers with a small step to the shower tray, and the option of a free-standing shower seat.
  • None of the accessible rooms or bathrooms has a hoist.

Please tell us which configuration you would prefer

A photo of one of the accessible bedrooms. A large amount of floor space is visible around a double bed. A desk and chair are in the corner.
    One of the accessible bedrooms
    A large amount of floor space is visible around a double bed. A desk and chair are in the corner.
Photo of an Accessible Bathroom with Wet-room set-up, including wall-mounted drop down seat and the option of a separate free-standing shower seat.
    Accessible Bathroom: Option 1
    Wet-room set-up, including wall-mounted drop-down seat and the option of a separate free-standing shower seat
Photo of an Accessible Bathroom with Step-in shower with a small step to the shower tray, and the option of a free-standing shower seat.
    Accessible Bathroom: Option 2
    Step-in shower with a small step to the shower tray, and the option of a free-standing shower seat

 

7. Access for those with visual impairment
  • As a purpose-built conference centre Yarnfield Park offers fewer challenges for those with Visual Impairment than previous venues: no indistinguishable polished stairs, no rooms with poor lighting, no wonky floors to surprise.
  • If any existing participant or new participant would like a conversation about how we can support your experience at LMNY please do get in touch.
    Possibilities could include:
    • The Loving Men Team improving any signage we find unhelpful at the venue
    • Clearly visible lanyards or labels for the LM@NY organising team
    • Additional visual signifiers such as high contrast tape in any areas of the building where these may be helpful
    • Workshop leaders and participants sharing visual descriptions at the start of workshops
8. Other access needs and personal assistance

As on previous events, the LM@NY22 organisers are happy to help match community members who may need a little support to help them navigate the event with the events team member and with other community members. If you have concerns about attending the event independently, please do get in touch for an open conversation about what we think the community could provide.

We are keen to hear from you think your access needs may not be covered by the above. Please do get in touch with Ben Evans, our Access Coordinator, via his dedicated email address: access@lovingmen.org

9. Conference Centre Floor Plans
Floor Plan of the First Floor of the Conference Building. I have highlighted in Pink the location of the Accessible Lift.
    GROUND FLOOR
Floor Plan of the Ground Floor of the Conference Building. I have highlighted in Pink the location of the Accessible Lift.
    FIRST FLOOR
    I have highlighted in Pink the location of the Accessible Lift